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Tim Hudak wins PC leadership - Who Will Be Premier in 2011?

Who Do You Prefer to Be Premier in 2011?

  • Dalton McGuinty (Liberal)

    Votes: 32 72.7%
  • Tim Hudak (Conservative)

    Votes: 8 18.2%
  • Andrea Horwath (NDP)

    Votes: 2 4.5%
  • Frank de Jong (Green Party)

    Votes: 2 4.5%

  • Total voters
    44
It goes to show that polls are usually the wishes of those being polled but have nothing to do with who will win elections.
 
It'll be interesting to see how well Hudak can court the GTA while attempting to steer the PC party back to the right.
 
Hudak is shooting himself in the foot every time he plays his "DST" sales tax gimmick. We all know the HST idea was pushed by the Harper government, and it's largely PC base (business owners) who will benefit the most from HST.
 
Yet, he's apparently beating Andrea Horwath in our poll.

Well, she's been squeezed out by default by being chosen leader earlier. Still, given the nature of what some assume to be "UT types", it's a little odd that as of this post, NDP + Green have only 3 votes between them...
 
The provincial NDP have never been particularly urban-minded, which may explain part of that.
Not even in Lewis/Rae days? Heck, in the 70s, Stephen Lewis was much more the cosmopolitan urbanite choice than the Bob Nixon Liberals. And Rae vs Peterson = Toronto vs London, even if that's a weaker metaphor.

I wouldn't expect that to change much either under Horwath.

She ain't Tabuns or Prue, but she ain't Bisson, too.

But what you're saying definitely proves there's a touch of Howard Hampton-era stigma to be overcome...
 
Canadians and/or Ontarians really seem to love their political dynasties - witness the poll results above - and I think we suffer for it. In my opinion it's far better for us to keep it fresh and vote in a new party with new ideas, if only to keep the old and stale ruling party on its toes. Problems occur when a ruling party starts to take its hegemony for granted and Toronto is the classic example: the conservatives spend no money here because they know there's no votes for them, and the liberals don't have to spend any money here because they know they'll get the votes anyway. Contrast this with the situation in Montreal where all the political parties scramble and vie for popularity with their funds when in power and their promises when not...

Besides, it's not as if McGinty's been so fantasticly irreplaceable or that the PCs would be so intolerably eggregious, is it? Lets drop the partisan bullshit, which helps nobody, and ignore the political mudslinging propaganda (pcs are nazis and liberals are commies) and maybe, just maybe, if politicians knew they had to actually fight for power in Toronto they'd likely be more accountable and more generous to the city that unfortunately they tend to take for granted as in the 'back pocket'.
 
I don't think that's fair. Why should we vote for a party with whose ideas we don't agree, just to get "noticed". That's what I hate about current federal politics, why must I vote conservative in order for the conservative government to spend any money in my riding. That's redicilous. I find that pretty partisan

Back to the provincial example, the PC was fine with John Tory, but he had a very similar platform as McGuinty, plus the stupid faith-based school funding, and more funding for private hospitals. Now, with Tim Hudak, there is no way in hell the PCs will win. The guy is a complete Mike Harris clone.

And for all the power McGuinty has, he's been a pretty responsible and good leader, and no he's not irreplaceable, but what he IS is better than Tim Hudak, and most people agree with that.

EDIT
ps, remember Alberta and their dynasties
-Liberals 1905-1921
-United Farmers 1921-1935
-SoCreds 1935-1971
-Cons 1971-present
 
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Dynasties may be bad, but so is lurching from left to right and back. Ontario's history over the past 20 years should show that.
 
Canadians and/or Ontarians really seem to love their political dynasties - witness the poll results above - and I think we suffer for it. In my opinion it's far better for us to keep it fresh and vote in a new party with new ideas, if only to keep the old and stale ruling party on its toes. Problems occur when a ruling party starts to take its hegemony for granted and Toronto is the classic example: the conservatives spend no money here because they know there's no votes for them, and the liberals don't have to spend any money here because they know they'll get the votes anyway. Contrast this with the situation in Montreal where all the political parties scramble and vie for popularity with their funds when in power and their promises when not....

The problem is that there aren't really any fresh ideas coming from any of the party leaders right now. McGuinty is going to keep on doing what he's doing, Hudak's talking about some Common Sense Revival, and Horwath's toeing the party line hoping that being a woman and being from Southern Ontario will pay of electorally more than new policies. No one has proposed anything significant we haven't heard before - it's just the same-old same-old lightly sprinkled with "after the recession is over" nonsense.

Besides, it's not as if McGinty's been so fantasticly irreplaceable or that the PCs would be so intolerably eggregious, is it? Lets drop the partisan bullshit, which helps nobody, and ignore the political mudslinging propaganda (pcs are nazis and liberals are commies) and maybe, just maybe, if politicians knew they had to actually fight for power in Toronto they'd likely be more accountable and more generous to the city that unfortunately they tend to take for granted as in the 'back pocket'.

The problem is it's all about the leaders now. Look at the poll here - we ask which leader we'd like as premier instead of which party we'd like to see form government. I'm not crazy about Horwath, but I believe there are members of the NDP caucus who'd be great in goverment so I voted here for her.

Would Toronto MPPs stand up for their city/riding if it meant going against their party leader? I doubt it. And that goes for MPPs of all stripes with only a few select exceptions.

Maybe I'm naive, but I still believe the best solution is electoral reform. The current system just continues to maintain the status quo of needless and arbitrary regional tensions in politics. Can you imagine Queen's Park where the PCs get the seats they deserve in the 416 and the NDP get the seats they deserve in the 905? There would be virtually no party without representation in all regions, and no party without a vested interest in maximizing their voteshare even in areas where they would not otherwise receive a plurality of votes - or conversely, in areas (like Toronto) where a sweep could no longer be taken for granted and every vote matters.
 
The problem is that there aren't really any fresh ideas coming from any of the party leaders right now.

In a way I'd agree with you which is why I do not understand the dogmatic partisan viewpoint that JKS would advocate. Further, if election results were not always such a foregone conclusion the political parties might actually have to be more innovative in their policies and more responsive to the electorate. Instead, the system in Ontario seems to breed dynasties, the most successful of which tend to master a 'don't make waves and we'll be okay' stance.

I don't think that's fair. Why should we vote for a party with whose ideas we don't agree, just to get "noticed"....why must I vote conservative in order for the conservative government to spend any money in my riding.

It's not a question of 'fairness' it's simply the reality that Torontonian's have created for themselves. You should absolutely vote according to your conscience but beware of politicians that abuse this to ensure your vote by raising contentious issues at election time so as to mobilize and secure the support of its electoral base (the Republicans in the US love to do this with the gay marriage question), and beware of the polical spin/propaganda churned out by political parties and their allies to create a heightened false sense of polarization to secure your vote (the liberal left in Toronto has done an amazing job of this against the PCs and the result is that they cakewalk through election results in the GTA).

No political parties or political platforms are entirely right and/or entirely wrong, especially in a Canadian context where according to almost any barometer imaginable our mainstream parties are virtually tied to the centre of the spectrum in their ideology and policy for fear of political suicide. The implications and accusations of radical leanings tend to be grossly overplayed and are largely political spin/ideology at work. I'm not implying this is unique to the Liberal left agenda in Toronto, the right-wing conservative agenda in some parts of the country is equally as disingenous in its machinations. The problem is when we as voters fall prey to this kind of manipulation. The sky will not fall if the conservatives are elected in Ontario or if Toronto supports its federal MPs and be careful of any political rhetoric that would try and convince you it would. On the contrary we would most likely see a little more political balance and government largesse if this were the case.
 

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