Lordy, I see young Tim Hudak is hurling those sticks and stones again. Won’t that boy ever try acting like a grown man?
Recommend this Post
|
Apparently not: A rally was held today at Queen’s Park to oppose the Liberal Party government of Ontario. It was supposed to call attention to their crimes and scandals. [...] The event was a total disappointment. Less than 100 people showed up, most of them middle-aged or elderly. There’s more. Some of its sexist, but all in a tone of sour disappointment that I found very amusing. There’s a video clip of some guy talking. A camera man films part of it, gets bored, wanders away… Somebody bangs their walker on the ground in a threatening manner…. The revolution obviously needs some viagra. Oops: AM640 ‘s Lou Schizas calls Andrea Horwath a ‘whore’ | canada.com o.canada.com/2013/06/12/and… via @natnewswatch— Lorrie Goldstein (@sunlorrie) June 13, 2013 @mistervermin @natnewswatch Exactly.— Lorrie Goldstein (@sunlorrie) June 13, 2013 Filed under: Canadian politics Tagged: AM640, Andrea Horwath, Lorrie Goldstein, Lou Schizas, Ontario NDP, Ontario Politics, Sun Media, The Happy Capitalist Whether or not you live in Ontario, you may find Martin Regg Cohn’s column of some interest in illustrating the fractured and uneven relationship that Federal Finance Minister Jim Flaherty has with the provinces. Writing in the voice of Ontario residents responding to Flaherty’s finger-wagging over the MetroLinx proposal to raise the HST one point to help meet the GTHA’s transit needs, he observes, Your latest letter takes federal-provincial pugilism to a new level of aggression — lecturing and hectoring [Ont. Finance Minister] Sousa by telling him what he already knows: That he cannot create a regional GTA sales tax, (Read more…) It is safe to say Toronto Mayor Rob Ford is under more pressure and is more vulnerable than he has been for the duration of his political career. Nominations for the 2014 municipal election open up in a few months and he would be wise to consider the implications that will have on him. The Mayor’s decision to skip Toronto’s pride festivities for yet another year is an example of a bad decision that is compounded by his current state of affairs. Rob Ford is a political animal. But knee jerk decisions like this that are made based on personal (Read more…) Working in public relations and government relations requires a lot of reading, watching and listening to the news. Knowing what is being reported helps to shape the narratives we develop for our clients and the discussions we have on their behalf. I like being on top of the news and between ‘as it happens’ media scans provided by our media monitoring service on client files and keeping on top of four to five TV news outlets and more than a dozen papers, it is safe to say I probably spend too much time being in the loop. That said, this (Read more…) @andreahorwath @rmarchesempp your unwillingness to have #AdultConversation re #UserFees 4 roads led me to cancel my @ontariondp mmbrshp :0(— Trevor Haché (@trevorhache) May 30, 2013 From The Liberal Scarf: Hache twice ran for the NDP in Ottawa-Vanier, and as Policy Director for Ecology Ottawa, a major Ottawa-area environmental organization which he was also a founding member of. (In the interest of full disclosure, I also worked for Ecology Ottawa for several months as a fundraising canvasser.) Horwath moved the ONDP away from promoting public transit and sound environmental policy in the last election when (Read more…) It could have been worse. When the Department of Fisheries and Oceans announced on May 3 that a Grass carp caught in the Grand River near Lake Erie was sterile, biologists and invasive species experts on both sides of the Canada-U.S. border could breathe a sigh of relief. But not a big sigh of relief. As it stands, evidence that a 40-lb, 44-inch Grass carp was caught by an angler on April 27 is still cause for concern given that it, along with Silver, Bighead and Black carp are all highly worrisome aquatic invasive species whose possession in Ontario (Read more…) A new poll out this morning that should cheer the Ontario Liberal Party and the Premier, Kathleen Wynne: The Liberals and Conservatives are each at 36 per cent while the NDP has slipped further behind to 24 per cent, with Mike Schreiner’s Green Party at 4 per cent, according to the Forum Research survey for the Star The key to that poll is that with concentration of voters, if it were to hold on an election day vote, the Ontario Liberals would be likely to win a majority government, despite the “tie” – one of the faults of a First (Read more…)
While acknowledging that Ontario politics is likely of little interest to those living outside the province, I think there is much wisdom in former U.S. Speaker of the House Tip O’Neill’s observation that “All politics is local.” If it affects a constituent ‘where he or she lives,’ either in the physical or the mental/philosophical sense, I regard much of what occurs in our country politically as local. For example, it was local politics when, in his ongoing attempt to hobble scientific study and muzzle voices of reason and expertise that demonstrate his policies to be fraudulent, retrograde and (Read more…) Enbridge buried pipeline marker – east Toronto. Credit: Adam Scott/Environmental Defence. Federal opposition MPs and environmental groups are crying foul over what they see as the government’s attempt to curtail public comment on Enbridge’s proposed 639-km Line 9 reversal pipeline route through southern Ontario and into Quebec. Tucked away in last spring’s Bill C-38 omnibus budget bill from Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s Conservative government is a requirement that any member of the public or other stakeholders wishing to comment through the National Energy Board on Enbridge’s proposed pipeline must apply for permission to comment on the project by filling out (Read more…) Flickr photo by phault. Energy Minister Bob Chiarelli confirmed early last week that anyone anxious for offshore wind development in Ontario’s portion of the Great Lakes to resume will have a long wait ahead of them. Indefinitely, it would seem. “All I can say at this point is that offshore is still in a moratorium and it’s likely to stay that way for some time,” he said. Asked to explain why Ontario’s offshore wind development remains in indefinite limbo, Chiarelli said it has everything to do with how well established offshore wind development is in Ontario. Or, rather, how un (Read more…) it is compared to other forms of renewable power. “The basic reason is that all the other elements of green energy have been implemented in various jurisdictions,” he said. “Wind was well established in Ontario, solar was well established, biomass was well established in various . . . → Read More: the reeves report: Great Lakes offshore wind moratorium to remain ‘for some time’ Building off the idea that few comprehend the environmental challenges occurring in their backyards better than those who witness them daily, the Ontario government has re-launched yet another program to solicit local engagement in improving the province’s natural spaces. The Land Stewardship and Habitat Restoration Program– operating under the awkward acronym LSHRP – will award small grants of up to $20,000 for communities, municipalities, businesses and First Nations groups to aid in conducting terrestrial remediation efforts across Ontario, provided the group can match the funds donated by the Ministry of Natural Resources. In its previous incarnation, the $300,000 fund . . . → Read More: the reeves report: Local Knowledge Key in Land Restoration Program
The other day, in my post on political leadership, I chose Toronto Mayor Rob Ford as the figure to contrast what I consider to be the much more mature and thoughtful approach of Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne. My exclusion of the more obvious figure of comparison, Progressive Conservative Leader Tim Hudak, was intentional, given that I have written so much about him in the past, each post essentially observing the same thing: his addiction to ideological bromides as substitutes for real policy. That dearth of vision was much in evidence in Hudak’s fundraising dinner in Toronto the other day. Saying . . . → Read More: Politics and its Discontents: More Reflections on Leadership
Inveterate cynic that I am, I have long believed that most politicians see us, to borrow a phrase that I think originated in The Depression, as ‘easy marks,’ people who are especially susceptible to manipulation and victimization. The fact is that as a species we are a mass of contradictions, at times incredibly weak and at times surprisingly noble; and it is a rare politician indeed who chooses the path less traveled by appealing to our better natures through logic, respect, and conviction instead of rhetoric that plays on our fears, prejudices and attraction to easy ‘solutions’. So it . . . → Read More: Politics and its Discontents: Reflections on Political Leadership Alison Redford’s approval ratings have fallen to “Stelmachian” levels Angus Reid has released their quarterly Premier approval ratings. As per usual, Brad Wall is more popular than God, and everyone else is a little more human: Wall (SK): 64% approve, 28% disapprove Alward (NB): 41% approve, 50% disapprove Selinger (MB): 38% approve, 49% disapprove Wynne (ON): 36% approve, 37% disapprove Marois (QC): 33% approve, 62% disapprove Dexter (NS): 30% approve, 62% disapprove Redford (AB): 29% approve, 66% disapprove Clark (BC): 25% approve, 67% disapprove Dunderdale (NL): 25% approve, 73% disapprove While Wall’s number sticks out, there are a few . . . → Read More: Calgary Grit: Provincial Unrest Irony: The Canadian job-killer Gord Nixon, president and CEO of Royal Bank of Canada (RBC), is also the head of the Ontario Liberal government’s Jobs and Prosperity Council. What an insult. For continuing coverage of RBC’s latest attacks on Canadian workers, see http://www.facebook.com/BoycottRoyalBankOfCanada . . . → Read More: The Ranting Canadian: Irony: The Canadian job-killer Gord Nixon, president and CEO of Royal Bank of Canada (RBC), is… Peter Kormos memorial on May 11, 2013 in Thorold, Ontario: Click on the above link for details, and see my last post for more information about his life, which ended far too soon. If you see grey boxes above, click on one of them to see photos of Peter. Last weekend, Canada lost a beloved, well-respected, honest, persuasive, gruff-voiced, hard-working, non-conformist, friendly, principled, down-to-earth man of the people who drank and smoked, wore cowboy boots, stood up for the little guy and was re-elected several times. No, I’m not talking about that asshole Ralph Klein, whose merits and accomplishments are more myth than reality. This is about Peter Kormos, the former Ontario New Democratic Party (NDP) MPP for Welland. The larger-than-life rebel, who was serving as a Niagara Region councillor, died at the age of 60 on March 30, 2013. Unlike many so-called populist politicians, Peter actually did (Read more…) Outspoken Mississauga mayor Hazel McCallion lit up the Standing Committee on Justice Policy at Queen’s Park Thursday morning with testimony on the government’s 2011 decision to cancel a proposed gas plant in a residential neighbourhood. Mississauga Mayor Hazel McCallion Though a witness called by the Liberal government, McCallion was blunt in her appraisal of the proceedings that have ground on at the provincial legislature for more than a year, calling the committee’s investigation into who knew what and when a “waste of time.” “I don’t know why you’re wasting a lot of time at Queen’s Park on something that . . . → Read More: the reeves report: Mississauga mayor urges government to move on from gas-plant hearings Lake Huron shoreline/Photo by Jimmy Brown In the face of decades of environmental, pollution and development stresses on the shorelines, wetlands, river basins, flora and fauna of the Great Lakes, the government of Ontario realized making a difference in the health of these critical water bodies would require all hands on deck. Provincial dollars would be needed to help improve the vitality and strengthen protections of lakes Huron, Erie, Ontario and Superior (in addition to the St. Lawrence and Ottawa rivers and any water basins that drain into the province’s four Great Lakes). But how to allocate the money? The . . . → Read More: the reeves report: Next Steps in Protecting the Great Lakes
It occurs to me that perhaps the limited appeal of young Tim Hudak, the increasingly out-of-touch leader of the Ontario Progressive Conservatives, might be related to the retro mentality that periodically pops up in North America. You know, that nostalgic pining for a non-existent past where everyone lived harmoniously in a semi-suburban environment, when men would daily don their work attire (usually a suit and tie), go forth bravely to earn the family’s bread, and then return home to be greeted by the loving, doting wife, clad, in the mode of June Cleaver, in apron and pearls. And, of course, . . . → Read More: Politics and its Discontents: Pining For A Non-Existent Past
I wish I could take credit for the title sobriquet describing Ontario Progressive Conservative Leader Tim Hudak, but that distinction lies with Val Patrick of Hamilton whose letter, along with several others that appear in today’s Star, I am taking the liberty of reproducing below. Enjoy! Tea Party Tim Hudak has launched into another round of union-bashing. This time he is focused on the thousands who have no right to strike and are required by law to have wage and benefit disputes settled by arbitration. His target this day was the firefighters of Stratford. Attacking the decision in their . . . → Read More: Politics and its Discontents: Some Thoughts on ‘Tea Party Tim’ ….but Tim Hudak seems like an angry guy these days. The modus operandi of the Ontario PC leader seems to be to “attack” everyone and everything these days as a way to try to get himself elected – an angrier version of ex-Premier Mike Harris, if you will. Polls seem to indicate (though I’d like to see more then one pollster saying this) that Ontario voters so far like Premier Wynne’s style, and are willing to give her a chance – not angry Tim, though. He wants to go now! There is only so much of a base for
And, as usual, has nothing to say to anyone with the capacity to think. H/t Kev Recommend this Post |
||
|
Copyright © 2013 Progressive Bloggers // Blogues progressistes - All Rights Reserved |
||
