For years in the 1900s when the Ontario Liberals were out of office and during the few years they were in, they refused to consider certain moves. The first of these moves was to amalgamate the City of Toronto. Right or wrong, that was done by former Premier Mike Harris. Now we have the argument about the antiquated Liquor Control Board of Ontario and the Beer Store. Premier Wynne and her cabinet are ignoring these long overdue issues. It could cost them the election.
The problem is that their pollsters are telling them that these are not hot issues with Ontario voters. They will become issues if they are made an issue. What Wynne and Company fail to understand that many of those who do care about this sort of issue are soft Liberal votes. These are voters the Liberals cannot afford to lose.
As matters stand today, the Liberals are counting on Horwath’s New Democrats and Hudak’s Conservatives running true to form and delivering a minority government to the Liberals. Even a minority could give then at least three to four years of relative peace to get their act together. At the same time, it could give the Conservatives and the New Democrats time to put new leaders in place.
But what if the Conservative’s Timmy does not screw up? What if he got his act together and stopped shooting himself in the foot every time he opens his mouth?
Nobody cares about the computers in the Premier’s office. Nobody cares about gas plant waste. What if Timmy actually stuck to talking about things people care about? What if he promised lower energy costs? What if he promised Ontario lower gasoline prices? What if he promised a smart sale of the LCBO to pay for the Ring of Fire and Toronto subways? What if he kept his word about having beer in convenience stores?
There is no question that Kathleen Wynne’s concern for pensions is striking a responsive cord but you can hardly run an election on just the Boomer generation. She has to take a hard look at the Liberal demographics and broaden her reach. If Timmy beats her to her own voters, she is in trouble.
Sure, she knows that Timmy would be a disaster as Premier—worse than Mike Harris and not as street smart as Rob Ford—but if he got the proper management for his campaign, a lot could be forgiven and forgotten in the time for the election. And Timmy wants it bad enough to do it.
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Copyright 2014 © Peter Lowry
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