Babel-on-the-Bay – Page 144 – Babel-on-the-Bay is the personal website of Peter Lowry. It is a vehicle for political commentaries.

Ontario liberals are down but not out.

November 30, 2019 by Peter Lowry

There are entirely too many media people who think that the Ontario liberals have been shut down. What they do not seem to understand is that a political party is like a very large animal when it has lost a fight. It does not surrender. It might go into a cave somewhere and lick its wounds and think. And some day soon, it is going come out of that cave, ready to fight again.

But before it gets into that fight again, it needs to decide what it wants to be. A political party is not a fixed target. It is made up of an ever-changing mass of people, many with ideas. Some of those ideas are good and some are probably stupid. It is why the party needs to assess its objectives and how it might achieve some of the good ones.

One thing you can be absolutely sure of is that the liberal party cannot win as a top-down organization. It needs a leader who can lead the party where the party wants to go. We certainly do not need another leader who thinks he or she is omnipotent. We need a party that can discuss what liberalism can be in the 21^st Century. It needs a leader who can reflect the ambitions of the membership.

And if none of the six current candidates for the leadership can understand the kind of leadership needed, we better shut down this upcoming convention to choose a new leader. Why would anyone want to repeat the errors of the past that chose Kathleen Wynne?

I am not saying the lady did not try hard. She just did not know what she was doing. She never was a liberal. A liberal is a progressive in a hurry. A liberal is a social democrat with compassion.

What do we do here in Ontario? The job of the provincial government is to look after our people. We look after their education and health. We build a safe, caring environment for them with good food from our well-run farms. We build the infrastructure they need to move easily around our cities and province. We do our best to bring them jobs and opportunity. We are a tourism destination for millions from around the world. Always remember: Ontario is liberal.

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Objectives other than winning.

November 29, 2019 by Peter Lowry

Some people scratch their head and ask why someone will enter a political leadership race when there is little chance of winning? The truth is that there are different reasons and we have seen many of them over the years. Just the positioning of the person within the particular party can be sufficient reason. If you cannot be king or queen, be the king or queen maker.

And never forget that the person who makes you king or queen, becomes a key person in your inner circle.

But first of all, these contests to become the leader of a political party are expensive. If you can prove that you can raise sufficient funds for the task, you have won the party’s confidence of being able to raise the funds for elections.

There are also policy positions to consider. Remember Tanya Granic Allen in the last Ontario conservative leadership contest. She was supported by the anti-abortion, social conservatives. She came last on the first ballot and was dropped from the race. If she had done better, Ford would have been forced to put her voice in the cabinet.

Even in opposition, the leader of a political party has power. The leader makes shadow cabinet, house and committee appointments.

If the party wins, it is those contenders who brought their supporters over to the ultimate winner first, who get first consideration in the formation of the winner’s cabinet.

And you should never assume anything in politics. Looking at the current contest for the liberal leadership, you will never know who is going to win until you can examine the results of the delegate elections in the electoral districts. Here you will find the first whiff of the corruption of delegated conventions. Making the prospective delegates tell who they are supporting means that the delegates are chosen not to represent their electoral districts but the candidate—who might be paying for their membership, their convention expenses and their vote.

But it is at the convention itself that you find the deals between candidates, the manipulation of riding delegates and the fun of the all-night hospitality suites. We will discuss that at another time.

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Chuckles is doing a listening tour.

November 28, 2019 by Peter Lowry

He should have listened before the recent election. We heard the other day that Andrew Scheer is on a tour to hear what the conservatives have to say about his election effort. The words he is hearing are not all that positive.

Luckily, he has just fired his chief of staff and communications director. His campaign manager has already headed back to private practice. Chuckles can just blame any of the three of them anytime anyone complains about the recent effort.

And, if you are fair in your analysis of the recent effort, you will admit that Chuckles did a decent job. First of all, he won the popular vote—no mean feat. He booted a few of the traps laid for him by the liberals but he should hardly expect them to play nice when his people were so busy digging up dirt on them.

But it is hard to believe that three such staff experts would be blind-sided on global warming. Surely one of these so-called experts should have been able to see the trap ensnaring them. Quebec alone, was a path straight down hill.

And for another thing, a federal leader who is outflanked by his party’s provincial premiers is a sorry sight. Personally, my money was on Alberta’s Kenney doing more damage to Scheer than Ontario’s Ford.

Scheer is obviously enjoying the thought of all the money he is socking away while living rent free at Stornoway, the leader of the opposition’s residence. And that is not even considering the extra $80 thousand, he is paid, as leader of the opposition.

But the real danger for Scheer is the April 2020 conservative party meeting. His job is on the line and he will not pass the test easily. Between now and then, he has to find a rationale for him to be allowed to keep his job. The conservative party is waiting.

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Gunfighter versus Gunfighter.

November 27, 2019 by Peter Lowry

It’s a classic Hollywood film script. The ‘good’ gunfighter has to buckle on his six-gun just one more time to take on the ‘bad’ gunfighter. Whether the ‘bad’ guy is coming in on the noon train or waiting down behind the livery barn, there is always a lot of worrying and fretting by the town folk.

And all you have to do is substitute billionaire for gunfighter and you have the current situation in the good-old U.S. of A. It is multi-billionaire Michael Bloomberg pitting his billions against Donald Trump’s billions to see who spends the next four years running things from the White House.

It has come to who wants to spend the most money. The expert at this is actually Bloomberg. He spent hundreds of millions on his three self-financed campaigns for the New York mayoralty, while his wealth kept growing by the billions. And when you are among the 15 richest people in the world, what’s another 100 million dollars?

Compared to Bloomberg, Trump might be considered just a petty grifter who bamboozled his way to a few billion.

The serious difference is that Bloomberg built his empire on his skills as a security broker with high technology smarts and a sense of what the business audience really needs: timely news and information.

In practice, Michael Bloomberg is considered more of a right-wing liberal, than a social conservative. He seems to be able to live with abortions and same sex marriages but some of his business-oriented solutions to social issues, while mayor of New York, came to unhappy endings. He has been both Republican and Democratic and is quite independent. And with the money he has to spend, why not?

He is only a year younger than Bernie Sanders but obviously better preserved. You can be sure he would not want Bernie Sanders on the Democratic ticket with him. That would be unless his pollsters told him he needed more credibility on Medicare.

But it has come to this, ladies and gentlemen. One presidency is up for auction. Gone once, gone twice, sold to the gentleman at the back of the room with $58 billion to spend.

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Liberals think they won?

November 26, 2019 by Peter Lowry

There seems to be a new definition of winning. There was a lengthy Insight article in the Toronto Star last weekend on how the liberals think they won the last election. Signed by the Star’s Susan Delacourt, it must have been dictated by the liberal campaign head Jeremy Broadhurst. Even with that amount of bias, the most you can say is that the election was a draw. Nobody won.

Broadhurst (blushingly) gives the credit to the troops doing the grunt work on the ground game. What stunned me of all the figures kicked around in that article was the figure he used to show the liberal ground strength. He talked about 90,000 volunteers across Canada. We used to have more than that just in southern Ontario—and that was back in the day when you paid a membership fee to be considered a liberal.

And then he points to the 250,000 Canadians who signed up to be a free liberal. I would like to know how many got sick of all the pleas for money and hit the ‘unsubscribe’ button?

Maybe the lists needed some culling as there was likely a preponderance of seniors in the previous membership lists. And what have Justin Trudeau and his team ever done for seniors, other than ignore them?

During the campaign, I had a demonstration in the local liberal committee rooms of the smart phone app used in this campaign by liberal workers. I found the system to be too impersonal and too subject to interpretation. As a campaign manager, I often had to chase down canvassers the next day to get their comments on what they were hearing at the door. There were also times I would grab a canvass kit and spot check an area to verify what was being heard.

I am not sure where the party is getting its campaign managers today but building the competence of the party to win elections is a task that begins the day after the previous election. Technical gimmickry aside, you cannot leave team building for after the writ comes down.

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Who will rule? Google, Huawei or Microsoft?

November 25, 2019 by Peter Lowry

Who is kidding who in the high-tech wars? Based on what Google Analytics can tell us about readers of this web site, I think you should all sit up straight and try not to drool as you keyboard. No, it’s not that bad. It’s worse. Big Brother is alive and well and running the World-Wide Web. Why wait for Huawei?

Google’s Sidewalk Labs only wants to take over Toronto. I just found out that Microsoft is making a lunge for the whole country. And I would trust the Peoples’ Republic of China before I would ever trust the evil empire of Bill Gates and Company.

I did not spend 30 years in the computer industry, just learning how to keyboard. I remember a conference sponsored by Gates and Friends in Seattle one time. When the guru from Microsoft finished his presentation, I grabbed a floor microphone and told the audience of over a thousand techies “I might speak with a Canadian accent but when it comes to Microsoft’s promises, I’m from Missouri.” There was a lot of laughter before Microsoft lackies could recapture the mic.

And yet, the other day, Microsoft sent me an e-mail offering me, the Microsoft version of MyAnalytics, for my exclusive use. It seems this small addition to my software could help me improve my focus and wellbeing. Not only that but it promises to improve my networking and collaboration. With Microsoft? And they tell me this is for my personal use. Oh?

Now, how quickly can you tell me how many of you use Windows? And how often do you accept Microsoft updates to your software? And you do know that information goes both ways when you do, don’t you?

It is certainly not my intent to create any paranoia here but you would be amazed at what Microsoft already knows. It might not be as exciting as the traces of bodily fluids that you and a friend left on the back seat of your daddy’s Chevrolet but almost as embarrassing.

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With no respect for the U.S.A.

November 24, 2019 by Peter Lowry

Every once in a while, it seems necessary to mention Donald John Trump. He is a man who has taken on the presidency in the United States of America. It has been a destructive act. He did it because he could. A corrupt system of governance allowed him to purchase the presidency. And based on his usual business practices, he did it on the skinny, with trickery and malice. If for no other reason, Americans should be embarrassed that they rented out the White House, as a four-year AirBnB, so cheaply.

There is nothing special about this man. His business practices are questionable. His relations with people are deplorable. He buys what he wants from women.

And what kind of president is he? This man has a grade school understanding of economics. He has a comic book understanding of foreign relations. His social skills are limited and crude. Treaties and pacts and agreements between countries are meaningless to him. They are but the thinnest of tissue to be discarded after use.

And his voters hardly understand that he is harming America’s reputation around the world. They do not care. He promises to make America great—just for them.

But what else is he doing for them?

There are the threatening clouds of carbon from oil, coal and gas consumption continuing to darken our earth. The raging fires of forests, the dreaded tornadoes of the wind-swept prairies, the hurricanes sweeping the coasts are but the tempests of a wounded nature. Why should he care if the end of days for our earth is 50 or 100 years from now? He knows it will not be his problem.

That can be the mantra of all Trump supporters. “It’s not our problem” they can chant in unison. It seems to be what America says to the world all the time: ‘It’s not my problem.’

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When you don’t trust your MPP.

November 23, 2019 by Peter Lowry

To get this straight, you can be sure I never voted for this guy. Doug Downey MPP does not live in our Barrie riding. He has been the go-to guy for Ontario conservatives up in Severn Township in north Simcoe County. I expect, his appointment as candidate in Barrie—Springwater—Oro-Medonte in the last provincial election was a reward for his loyalty. As Doug Ford’s attorney general, he seems more of a disaster than his predecessor, Caroline Mulroney.

This embarrassing subject came up earlier today when a friend called me to check on any update I might have on funding of legal aid in Ontario. This was one of the stupider cuts attempted earlier this year by the Ford government. The last I had noted on the subject was a lecture Dave Lametti, the federal attorney general, gave Downey in June about the formula used to assess the federal and provincial sharing of legal aid costs.

But if you are really curious about the failings of Ontario’s attorney general, you should note the current hue and cry for his head by senior lawyers. It seems Ford and Downey are displeased with the non-partisan method of appointing competent judges in Ontario. This province has one of the most respected systems in Canada for vetting and recommending prospective judges.

But Ford and Downey seem bent on replacing this proven system with their own patronage-based system for worthy conservatives. The non-partisan system that they were dishonouring in this manner was the legacy of the late Ian Scott, the liberal attorney general for the former Peterson government. The difference between Downey and Scott is that Downey is a small-town lawyer and Scott was a highly regarded law professor.

It appears that since Ford was unsuccessful in putting a crony in charge of the provincial police that they are still looking for patronage opportunities.

What is even more discouraging about the Ford government in Ontario is its bumbling, ill-considered cost cutting that ends up costing far more in penalties, catch-up and reparation. They should take the time to think things through. They should be willing to listen to complaints about delayed action instead of taking precipitous action.

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And now for some slow news?

November 22, 2019 by Peter Lowry

It is now revealed. The Toronto Star tells us that what we write as instant commentary on a news event is called a ‘Hot Take.’ This was the same day as there had been something catastrophic at the Star’s out-of-town printing plant. The news about Hot Takes and Slow News came at the same time as an e-mail from the company telling subscribers that they would be receiving two copies of the Star Friday morning.

Actually, I was impressed. For the first time that I can recall, TorStar fessed up to having a problem before I could call to complain. Good on them. I warned the wife that I might require two cups of coffee today, to get through two days of comics.

But I really like this ‘Hot Take’ idea. It sounds so much better than ‘carping.’ I have often felt that Babel-on-the-Bay might reach greater numbers of readers if it was just more positive. People need good news.

But we live in confused times. Trump in the White House! Brexit in the offing. Big mouth Doug Ford at Queen’s Park. I think of it as the displeasure of our times.

And I am sorry that Justin Trudeau does not seem to know what he is doing. He seems to have some hate on for political parties. He thinks of us liberals as a financial resource. He has some idea that the party should be a cult and do what he tells it.

His father knew better. Pierre Trudeau used to laugh when he saw me and ask how the ‘Get Off Your Ass’ club was doing. He had no problem with the liberal party pushing for progressive policies. He found it challenging.

The liberal party is a resource that Justin Trudeau could have made better use in the last campaign. We lost ridings that we could have won with a stronger party organization.

But I better get busy. This new liberal cabinet is going to need a lot of Hot Takes.

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But who’ll fix the marijuana mess?

November 21, 2019 by Peter Lowry

Swearing in the new cabinet at Rideau Hall was a painful process. Maybe it would have worked better if all the retreads with the same portfolios got sworn in together. It was only the cabinet changes that the media and public wanted to examine. And I, for one, think a cabinet member should get one thing right before he (or she) gets a chance to screw up more serious matters.

I’ll bet you think I am going to bitch about Carolyn Bennett being kept in her ineffectual role of looking after aboriginal affairs. Well, I am not. I figure if the various councils and tribes, and pow-wows and reconciliations cannot come to grips with our aboriginal needs and wants, who am I to complain on their behalf.

While I am willing to give the new cabinet an opportunity to show its stuff, I do have one small caveat. I think that people such as Toronto’s Bill Blair should clean up the mess made in his pot-promoting lily pond before he goes on to more serious responsibility in a larger pond.

And what idiot thinks a police background is suitable experience to become a spy master? I think Bill Blair is the last person who should ever be in charge of intelligence. Admittedly, the Canadian Intelligence Security Service has always been a bit of a tongue in cheek affair but it is hardly a bunch of Keystone Kops! CSIS relies heavily on technology today to give it the leg-up it has among intelligence operations.

Blair has none of the technical background necessary to discuss clandestine surveillance in Five Eyes meetings. He is just not the sort of person you trust to protect our rights and freedoms. He was the person in charge of the police who broke trust with Canadians in June, 2010.

But the latest problem we have with Blair is the crock-up he has made of marijuana sales across Canada. By not understanding basic merchandising and a marketing rollout, he set the provinces up for a marketing disaster. I think it is fair that Blair should wear the dunce cap for the pot problem.

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