Cornwall ON – We are living in scary odd times. In the US, where terms like Neo-Con get used a lot, George Bush and his cronies were tossed out after eight years in office. War, an
economy nearing Greek like stages; and public dissension probably not seen since the 60’s rule many parts of the country.
Inflationary food and fuel prices; a housing bubble burst; deregulation and some really bad tv shows; not too mention Lady Gaga, American Idol, and Canada’s revenge; Justin Bieber and even I’d vote for Barack Obama!
Flip the station to Canada and you had a government that chose not to jump into Iraq; coming off record surpluses that was managing the economy well in spite of the Ad Scam allegations. If the Chretien government; and then the Paul Martin government could do that and steal…..
But Mr. Harper; with Mr. Layton’s support took the Liberals down. Even though with only a minority government Mr. Harper’s grip on Canada was fierce and that fierceness has changed our political landscape. Five years of Harper rule shifted the country combined with power politics that led to scores of MP’s being elected without many voters even knowing who they voted for?
Canada now has record deficits; its own economy is starting to sputter and losing its ability to fight off the oncoming inflation that will see interest rates rise dramatically; real jobs are not being replaced and the government is about to cut many public workers and services. More jails will be built. I, like many of you don’t understand what’s happened to Canada and Canadians? Because it was we Canadians that voted Mr. Harper in. He won; fair and square, and even though his majority was bought with less than 10,000 total votes it was a clean win.
Attack ads. They are effective in that they get people to vote. Are they best for a country or do they get the best person elected? Nope. Again; Canadians voted; they spoke and this is what we have.
Now across Canada there seems to be a Blue wave. It’s not even about what’s good rather about trying to punish and eradicate Liberals politically. The NDP are riding this wave. They’ve hitched their wagon to the Conservatives and are enjoying more seats without gaining more power. Federally even though they are number two with a record number of MP’s; by having a majority government they have little if any power.
Rob Ford is mayor of Toronto? And now Ontario is on the precipice of turning a very dark shade of Blue; perhaps even darker than those Mike Harris days. And many are waiting to see what if anything Premier McGuinty can do. Last year over drinks with some politically astute people the theory was presented to me that Mr. McGuinty was to be the Lion that tamed Mr. Harper. That after winning the next Ontario election he’s shift to Federal politics and defeat Mr. Harper.
Now Mr. McGuinty may be hard pressed to not pull an Ignatieff. The interesting thing for him is right now the polls show that the Conservatives are more popular than their leader Tim Hudak while for him it’s the exact opposite; he’s more popular than the Liberal brand.
And he seems to be holding back and waiting to get as close to election time as possible to roll out his own game plan. The Conservatives have been pressing hard with daily missives from the Hudak offices blasting away. In the meanwhile the same game plan is being executed by the Conservatives that Mr. Harper used. Don’t attack the NDP and let them get some media love because they are the wedge that can put them in office.
And like his Federal uncle Mr. Hudak doesn’t want to just win; but wants to spank the Liberals because he knows that any votes that Ms Horvath gets will not be coming at the expense of his party.
Threehundredeight.com is a fascinating site that has made some interesting predictions. Right now they predict a majority win for Mr. Hudak with Ms Horvath in second. 67 Conservative seats; 23 NDP, and 17 Liberal. If those numbers were to pan out that surely would be the end of Mr. McGuinty.
It should be an interesting rest of the summer and fall here in Ontario where voters will decide on the future of Canada’s largest province and most likely the future of the country….
Jamie Gilcig – Editor – The Cornwall Free News
Country economies are large and changes occur slower. Canada has been somewhat sheltered from the issues affecting other countries, and as we catch up, go down actually in the world wave, our world trade partners should be rising. We have over a billion dollars a day trade with the US so waves affect us eventually.
I wonder if people are not growing frustrated with current methods of dealing with our tax dollars as we here McGuinty say he will not raise taxes but takes more anyway. The high paying manufacturing jobs of yesterday with steady income and pensions are not there for our kids. Government supplied programs are costing more and instead of dealing with issues, more money is thrown that way.
Since we do not stop asking for more programs, we NEED a Leader to stop them for us before bankruptcy. But how can you get elected on that premise?
Make that “When does Liberal become a bad word?” Easy, whenever people opt out of the social contract and buy into the Darwinian it’s-each-man-for-himself (aka regressive Conservative) mantra.
weird hypothesis
Weird indeed for one who goes by Non Compos Mentis!