Members of the provincial Liberal Party in Babel are watching their e-mail in-boxes. We are waiting for news of our Liberal candidate for the June 12 election. You would think that with all the support Kathleen Wynne got from this riding in her run for the Liberal leadership, it would be ready with a candidate for her first date with Ontario voters.
That seems to be a problem in electoral districts that are run by the old guard. They scare off anyone who might have ideas or gumption and stick to the old tried and true. That is why there is a schism between the federal and provincial Liberals in Babel. It is also why we so rarely write about Babel in this blog. Nobody really cares.
But in microcosm, it reflects much of the Liberal Party’s problems in Ontario. There are not just two widely divergent liberal parties in this province, there are about seven. Understanding the problems this causes also gives you an understanding of politics in Ontario. And there are foolish people who think just Quebec is conflicted!
First and foremost, there are two sort-of related parties in Toronto and area. The reason there is any similarity between them was the cost savings of former Premier Mike Harris. He made the province use the same riding boundaries as used for federal elections. It reduced the number of people being elected to the legislature and saved the bother of periodically realigning riding boundaries provincially—let the feds do it. As Toronto is very much the heart of liberalism in Canada, it was the federal organization that became the dominant force in most Toronto and area ridings. It kept things simple.
But the parties are more insular in rural areas. The Liberals tended to become separate entities with segregated memberships. Northern Ontario is a special needs area for both federal and provincial parties. Windsor and South-western Ontario are way out in left field, so to speak. Hamilton, Kitchener-Waterloo, London and Ottawa are urban orphans with minds of their own.
But the news media treat Ontario as a cash cow and do not bother trying to understand its needs and directions. Radio and television are just commodities today that serve no needs but their own. Print media outside of the major urban areas are dying from neglect.
But knowing this does not produce a candidate for the Whigs of Babel. The powers that be will get around to telling us—eventually.
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Copyright 2014 © Peter Lowry
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