2014 Ontario Provincial Election

Boom goes the dynamite.

The New Democrats vote against the budget; election likely for June 12.

Ontario heading for election next month as NDP rejects budget

EXCERPT:

A June election is a certainty after NDP Leader Andrea Horwath said her party could not support the budget tabled by Premier Kathleen Wynne’s minority.

By: Richard J. Brennan, Robert Benzie, Rob Ferguson, Published on Fri May 02 2014

Ontario voters are heading to the polls next month.

A June election is a certainty after NDP Leader Andrea Horwath said her party could not support the budget tabled by Premier Kathleen Wynne’s minority Liberals.

Speaking to reporters about the budget for the first time Friday morning — she declined to discuss the spending plan the day it was unveiled — Horwath said it’s time for a change in the province.

“I have lost confidence in Kathleen Wynne and her ability to deliver,†the NDP leader said at Queen’s Park.

“I cannot in good conscience support a government that people don’t trust anymore,†she said.

“It’s time for a change . . . we will be voting against this budget.â€

Horwath said a budget in which the government “threw (in) the kitchen sink†was not enough to keep her on side with the Liberals.

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Must have been a tough call for Horvath, as on the surface it looked like the perfect NDP budget, with lots of taxes, wealth redistribution and protection for lower income folks.

This is Hudak's last swing I'd say. If he can't win a majority with the scandals over Ornge, gas plants, eHealth, etc, etc.... he never can.

Yeah, and I found none of the three main choices palatable at all. It's disgusting.

AoD

Be careful what you wish for. The NDP & Liberals may split the vote so that the PCs could get in.

This is a case for proportional representation in the provincial (and federal) governments. See link.

Hudak will win. Wynne loses and will leave politics. Andrea thinks she can be premier.

@ W.K That could be the case but since this is decided riding by riding it seems to me like the most likely way for the PC's to get into power is if the NDP takes a bunch of Liberal held urban seats while the conservatives take a few liberal held suburban seats. Enough so that the conservatives can squeak into power. I'm not sure the conservatives are really going to make that big of a dent themselves in the 416. I mean its certainly possible that they might, but to me the chances of the conservatives gaining support in the 416 with Hudak at the helm are not as strong as they would be with another leader. I guess we will see.

AlvinofDiaspar said:

Yeah, and I found none of the three main choices palatable at all. It's disgusting.

AoD

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Can't argue with you there, but considering this is Urban Toronto, there is one party that I cannot vote for, the Ontario PC party. If Hudak gets in we can kiss goodbye any chance for a DRL or all day GO/regional express, and he believes in reversing the green belt policy so we can have more urban sprawl and clog up our already jammed highways. He's promising subways like Ford, but has no plan to pay for them and until very recently was saying that extended the Yonge subway to Richmond Hill was the number 1 priority for the TTC

Now for those who life up North, they may have different priorities, but for TO proper (and the GTA as a whole for that matter) Hudak would be 10x than RoFo getting reelected. To make matters worse, there will still be many who vote for the NDP (who have no transit plan for our region other than saying corporate taxes should increase to pay for transit), even though they have no chance in hell of winning a majority, but could very well lead to the PCs getting one to vote splits.

In terms of what's best for Toronto, our only hope is the Wynne's Liberals. It pains me to type that but that is the reality. Even if Chow wins as mayor of TO (probably will), can you imagine her and Hudak working together for a better Toronto, especially when it comes to transit? Fat chance of anything tangible happening. Even with their history, a Tory-Wynne municipal/provincial partnership wouldn't be as nearly disastrous.

Tim Hudak as our majority provincial leader is an even scarier thought than having another 4 years of Ford, at least he can be contained in council. In a perfect world we'd have better leaders/parties in place, but given the options (or should I say lack thereof), I have no choice but to vote Liberal.

All the me me me me's in Ontario should be happy. Last time the PC's were in, they did said what they would do, and people got mad once their special interests were cut. I remember how the teachers unions stabbed Bobby Rae in the back. All everyone does anymore is complain about taxes, without thinking or caring about the future. When Hudak gets in (and he will, people are angry at Kathleen for something she had little to do with.) I don't want to hear one person complain about anything! Enjoy your world's longest commutes, enjoy your rotting gardiner and enjoy no new GO service. After all you wanted lower taxes right? Let me see the teachers union out striking 2 years after an election where they supported the PC's... I'll let it rip on them! Andrea Horvath is out of her mind and after election day when she is not premier, I wonder what she'll tell us?

Horwath's Decision:

Wow, difficult decision for Horwath I'm sure. Already a lot of progressives calling her out for voting down "the most progressive budget since the Rae years."

Still, Horwath probably made the right decision. She defended it on two fronts: that Liberal corruption shows that they are unfit to govern, and that the Liberals have little record of a socially progressive agenda, so Ontario should be suspicious of their promises. You can bet there will be knives out if Hudak ekes out a majority.

The ideal scenario in my books would be a minority Liberal government with a larger NDP caucus holding the balance of power. Fresh off an election Wynne and Horwath would have to play ball and they could jam through some solid legislation on the social policy and infrastructure front.


416 seats to watch:

In the last provincial election only one riding changed colour - Davenport going NDP - and I wouldn't expect too much change this time around. Hudak continues to poll low in the 416 and I imagine Doug Holiday will remain their only Toronto MP. He could very easily form a minority government with only one 416 seat.

There was some internal Liberal polling showing that the Liberals could upset the NDP in some ridings - notably Trinity-Spadina, Parkdale-High Park and Beaches-East York - due in large part to Wynne's personal popularity in the city. However, internal polls can be deceiving. The Liberals came within a nose of MPP Rosario Marchese in T-S last election but had a high profile candidate in Sarah Thomson. Their new candidate is a virtual unknown. I don't know why Thomson didn't give it another go instead of running as a fringe mayoral candidate

mjl08 said:

416 seats to watch:

In the last provincial election only one riding changed colour - Davenport going NDP - and I wouldn't expect too much change this time around. Hudak continues to poll low in the 416 and I imagine Doug Holiday will remain their only Toronto MP. He could very easily form a minority government with only one 416 seat.

There was some internal Liberal polling showing that the Liberals could upset the NDP in some ridings - notably Trinity-Spadina, Parkdale-High Park and Beaches-East York - due in large part to Wynne's personal popularity in the city. However, internal polls can be deceiving. The Liberals came within a nose of MPP Rosario Marchese in T-S last election but had a high profile candidate in Sarah Thomson. Their new candidate is a virtual unknown. I don't know why Thomson didn't give it another go instead of running as a fringe mayoral candidate.

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Good info here...I think Marchese wins again, he's done a lot in terms of getting the condo act in order as well as going after the OMB, his efforts won't go unnoticed. Given how Thomson has conducted herself during this years mayoral race, it's probably a good thing she has nothing to do with the Liberals. It'll be interesting to see what happens with the other TO ridings, maybe previous NDP voters will vote strategically this time around just to keep Hudak out. Mind you, it's a pretty scary thought Hudak can win a minority even with a dismal showing in the 416. I wonder if voter turnout will even crack the 40% mark this time around.

Corruption is too strong a word; I would say the Liberals made dreadfully costly mistakes, but there is no indication elected officials have committed crimes.

I tend to vote for the future; I am not at the ballot box to express my point of view on the incumbents. It seems Wynne has proven that she is on the left of her party, and after McGuinty, I find her promising, but she would need a majority government. I used to support the NDP but Horwath has been far too populist for my taste, and her lack of position on the minimum wage is disconcerting. Considering his various policy pronouncements over the last few months, I have no respect whatsoever for Hudak. Electing him would be a huge mistake.

Bayer said:

Corruption is too strong a word; I would say the Liberals made dreadfully costly mistakes, but there is no indication elected officials have committed crimes.

I tend to vote for the future; I am not at the ballot box to express my point of view on the incumbents. It seems Wynne has proven that she is on the left of her party, and after McGuinty, I find her promising, but she would need a majority government. I used to support the NDP but Horwath has been far too populist for my taste, and her lack of position on the minimum wage is disconcerting. Considering his various policy pronouncements over the last few months, I have no respect whatsoever for Hudak. Electing him would be a huge mistake.

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Pretty much my mood too. Well put.
All three parties would have cancelled the plants. All three parties would have likely got caught in a boondoggle involving overpaid consultants (eHealth) at some point. This isn't corruption, but bad politics, clear and simple.


I'm in Trinity-Spadina (for now). While I'm very much upset with the NDP for forcing this election, I somewhat understand why they did it. Marchese will likely get my vote, but it will be a vote for Marchese, not for the NDP.

ShonTron said:

I'm in Trinity-Spadina (for now). While I'm very much upset with the NDP for forcing this election, I somewhat understand why they did it. Marchese will likely get my vote, but it will be a vote for Marchese, not for the NDP.

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I am in Trinity-Spadina as well, and indeed if I hesitate it will be because of Marchese. I also am not vary familiar with Han Dong, the Liberal candidate.

ShonTron said:

Pretty much my mood too. Well put.
All three parties would have cancelled the plants. All three parties would have likely got caught in a boondoggle involving overpaid consultants (eHealth) at some point. This isn't corruption, but bad politics, clear and simple.


I'm in Trinity-Spadina (for now). While I'm very much upset with the NDP for forcing this election, I somewhat understand why they did it. Marchese will likely get my vote, but it will be a vote for Marchese, not for the NDP.

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The Gas Plants crossed the line into corruption for me when they embarked on a systematic deleting of emails....you don't do that if you believe it is just misjudgement and the facts will show that you did nothing that the other two parties would have done.

TOareaFan said:

The Gas Plants crossed the line into corruption for me when they embarked on a systematic deleting of emails....you don't do that if you believe it is just misjudgement and the facts will show that you did nothing that the other two parties would have done.

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Except that ALL the provincial parties wanted to cancel the gas plants.