Readers of Babel-on-the-Bay have gotten the impression that we do not approve of the Ontario government of Premier Kathleen Wynne. The truth is there is a small possibility that she might gain some traction with us if she did not call herself a Liberal. As it stands, she has nothing to commend her beyond the fact that her opponents are far worse news.
But it is Ms. Wynne’s approach to any improvement in how Ontario functions that can really rile a real Liberal. Take some of the things with which a real Liberal might agree such as improved pensions or expanded alcohol distribution.
The main concern with pension plans is the administrative costs involved. To add a separate Ontario plan to the Canada Pension Plan (CPP) adds needless expense to the taxpayer. If the federal government refuses to update the CPP then the answer is to take over the federal plan á la Quebec Pension Plan. Paying for two government plans should not be tolerated by Ontario taxpayers.
This is also when Ontario beer drinkers should recognize the money-grubbing approach that the Ontario government is taking to expanding alcohol sales in the province. When only 15 per cent of Ontario’s larger supermarkets have been allowed to pay for the privilege of selling beer under stringent rules and at considerable extra cost, the Wynne government is still fixing the prices.
Our main complaint about Premier Wynne is that she is a reactionary. She first got involved in provincial politics to try to stop Premier Mike Harris from amalgamating Toronto into the present day city. That is what reactionaries do: they wait for someone else to propose something and then they object. Anyway that was what drew her into provincial politics.
And yet Mike Harris’ plan to sell off portions of Hydro One are now being embraced by the money-hungry government. She is more than willing to sell the golden goose.
Her next stunt, when elected to Queen’s Park was to finagle the rules to gain advantage at the convention electing the replacement for Dalton McGinty as premier. Reactionaries are very proud of how they twist rules to their advantage. The timing of her deal with now Minister of Transportation Glen Murray threw his supporters into the pool of real independent voters, corrupting the vote and giving her an advantage.
And she continues to mock the rules to keep her and her party in office. She will let flunkies take the fall for her when she bends election rules such as in the Sudbury by-election. She continues to think she is indestructible.
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Copyright 2016 © Peter Lowry
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