They might not be Ginger Rogers and Fred Astaire (if you are old enough to remember the era) but Toronto Mayor John Tory and Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne have more than voters in common. Tory is a left-leaning Conservative and Wynne is a right-leaning Liberal. And they dance to the same tunes.
Pundits seem surprised at how quickly the Premier is buying into Tory’s SmartTrack proposal. They should not be. Wynne’s Liberals have already bought into the proposition of electrifying the GO trains in the Greater Toronto Area. Tory’s SmartTrack solution can only work with an electrified system as electrified trains can come up to speed faster and provide faster service to more stations.
And there was no animosity between Kathleen Wynne and John Tory when they ran against each other in Don Valley West in 2007. It was home turf for both of them. Besides, John Tory defeated himself. To offer full funding to faith-based schools in Ontario in that election was anathema to Ontario and the voters of Don Valley West. Tory could have defeated Wynne if it were not for that gaffe.
But the two became friends in that election. It also probably gave Wynne the impetus to enter and win the Liberal leadership contest when former Premier Dalton McGuinty bowed out. There is a mutual respect.
John Tory has even offered to act as a go-between to get Wynne an appointment with Prime Minister Harper. Wynne has a long action list for the federal government that Harper has no wish to address for her. He will do something about some of her issues but only if he can mask them as federal Conservative initiatives.
There is an open door though for John Tory at the Prime Minister’s Office. He is not only among the elite of Toronto Conservatives, he has a history of experience with former prime ministers Brian Mulroney and Kim Campbell. He knows his way in that federal world better than at Toronto’s city hall. Tory might not get all he asks for but he will be sure of a polite hearing.
As Fred Astaire was king in his genre back in the golden years of Hollywood studios, John Tory is the closest thing to nobility we have in Toronto these days. Wynne does not mind being his dance partner as long as he remembers, she is the Queen!
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Copyright 2014 © Peter Lowry
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