Most successful politicians feed on their egos. It is what carries them through the tough times, the questionable times and eases their doubts and concerns. It also blinds then to the disasters of their own creation. For Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne, it is her ego that prevents her from realizing that she is head of a less and less viable political party. Little is left of the Provincial Liberal Party structure she took over from former premier Dalton McGuinty.
And the dry rot of the Ontario party that is so evidenced in constituencies across the province has finally been discovered in the heart of Toronto. It took a wake-up and a shake of his head for former deputy premier in the McGuinty government, George Smitherman, to find that his once vibrant party organization in Toronto Centre is now moribund.
Not that it matters for George! When some of his supporters suggested him as a provincial candidate again in his Toronto-Centre constituency, they were told that he is unacceptable as a candidate. It seems no has-beens need apply.
The reason, we hear, is that the riding, which is centred in Toronto’s gay community, is being offered by the premier to Toronto councillor Kristyn Wong-Tam. A publicly declared lesbian, Wong-Tam is better known as a New Democratic Party supporter and she most often votes with the downtown NDP councillors. It is hard to imagine Wong-Tam running for the same political party as the right-wing Liberal councillor Shelley Carroll. Carroll has been appointed as Liberal candidate for Don Valley North in North York.
You will note that the Liberals seem to appoint their candidates in most ridings today as the Liberal party continues to deteriorate under Wynne’s leadership. In Barrie, we have the embarrassment of the provincial party not even seeming to have a constituency association to support a candidate in the Barrie—Springwater—Oro-Medonte electoral district. Maybe some sacrificial lamb will be chosen closer to the election to put up a few signs and serve as the Liberal candidate.
The fact that it is the electoral district chosen by Conservative leader Patrick Brown makes it seem doubly foolish. Many Barrie residents are in a mood with Brown to reject him as a candidate and the Liberal Party, if it were run properly, would accept the challenge of encouraging the best possible candidates to contest an open nomination. Patrick Brown can be beaten.
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Copyright 2017 © Peter Lowry
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