So, do you feel better after the Whitby-Oshawa provincial by-election? What do you expect when only 25 per cent of the voters would brave the cold to vote? Frankly, the results might have been the same on a warm spring day. Nothing changed.
The only good news for the day is that auto repair places sold more batteries and Tim Horton’s franchises in the electoral district sold more coffee. It was colder than expected.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has returned to Ottawa and he has his own problems.
Premier Kathleen Wynne has checked with her banker advisor and he had no advice for her. She will continue to be incremental in booze distribution reform. She will continue the ill-advised sale of Hydro-One. She will fail to reform Ontario’s outdated and easily corrupted political finance laws. She will continue to fail to give Ontario the leadership it needs to kick-start the province’s economy.
New Democrat Leader Andrea Horwath was among the missing. When the NDP falls to below 20 per cent of the popular vote in the heart of Ontario’s auto production country, it is time to reassess. It has been obvious since the last provincial election that Andrea has to go but, more important, what is the future for the NDP? That requires thought.
And then there is that disgusting Patrick Brown. As leader of the opposition at Queen’s Park, you hardly think of Brown as one of the Three Amigos. Brown, Horwath and Wynne are more of a triumvirate of disappointments. Ontario does not deserve them.
The situation in Ontario calls for revolt. The revolt needs to originate among the political parties. How anyone who respected the decency and concern of Progressive Conservative leaders such as Bill Davis can tolerate the deceit and chicanery of a manipulative little man such as Patrick Brown, is beyond us. Conservatives: Take back your party!
The Liberal Party of Ontario is well within its rights to order a new leadership convention. It should be an open convention and properly regulated. Every Liberal in the province should be entitled to vote without surprise new memberships bought by unknown interests.
The people with the toughest problem are Ontario’s New Democrats. Our attitude is that the real progressives in the NDP could accomplish more as activists in the Liberal Party than as fringe socialists. They need to think about it.
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Copyright 2016 © Peter Lowry
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