2014 Ontario Provincial Election

[Johnny Au]

2014 provincial election: nonsense election

None of the major three parties are any good.

 

[denfromoakvillemilton]

The Liberals who were already mad with the gas plant scandals have already left for the NDP. The other liberals are extremely hardcore almost like Ford supporters, they aren't going anywhere. The NDP call for an election causes those liberals who left to question why did they leave and what is their play now. I think its more likely they come back to being liberal then to go to the PCs. Its easier to vote for someone you dislike but who has your core values in mind then it is to vote for someone you dislike and has opposing values just to make a point.

This statement is very true. Many Liberals supporters are equally illogical and hardcore to the Ford supporters. The only chance Ford has is if the illogical Liberal vote supports Wynne and that riles up the illogical Ford supporters.

Many people who voted for Ford vote Liberal for the provincial and federal elections. Maybe they are the same people.

 

[Rufus8]

How much press do you think the Green Party will get? Already the media are keeping the 3 official parties in the news. What about Mike Schreiner (yes I had to look it up!).

 

[TrickyRicky]

While clearly a politically bias expression look at Magna's comments in an article in the Globe and Mail today. To summarize, while corporate profits are up on strong growth the company does not plan to expand factory production in Canada any time in the future despite the drop in the Canadian dollar. The primary reason of course is insignificant growth in car sales but Canada (read Ontario) has become uncompetitive as an export base. Rising energy costs are one of the primary reasons (thank you McGuinty). The proposed Ontario pension proposal would cost Magna about 36 million dollars per year in added costs (thank you Wynne). So here is one of Ontario's primary industrial success stories basically saying not only are we not expanding but it is hard to maintain existing operations in Ontario.

The Ontario Liberal party did not create the conditions that are leading to the de-industrialization of the province but why do they insist on blowing our brains out with policy that almost purposely tries to make Ontario uncompetitive?

 

[waterloowarrior]

I don't see why progressives would vote for Horwath. No substantial platform; mistake-prone leader; $100 Hydro cheques for everyone from Regent Park to Rosedale; took down the Big Move funding plan and all the work of Golden et all; Can't even sign a pro-transit petition; Removing HST on hydro, gas and fuel to encourage more driving and fossil fuel consumption; tepid support for increasing the minimum wage despite this being in their 2011 platform; abandonment of the labour and environmental movements.

edit: here we go....Rick Salutin: Andrea Horwath's right-wing populism http://www.thestar.com/opinion/commentary/2014/05/08/andrea_horwaths_rightwing_populism_salutin.html

 

[Admiral Beez]

I wish Hudak, and all Con politcos for that matter would stop focusing on job creation ALL the time.

Yes, jobs are important. However, imagine you ran a household and all you worried about was if there was food in the fridge. Yes, you'll die without food, but you still need to focus on maintenance and improvements.

 

[MrsNesbitt]

People make all sorts of nightmare scenarios. But those don't lend themselves to political realities. Here's the reality. 905 wins the parties elections. Not the 416. So getting a setup where GO and the TTC subway network are fare-coordinated will most certainly pay off at election time.

GO doesn't take much subsidies. And last I heard, people keep saying that the TTC subway network is profitable on net. So I don't think it's far fetched to rip out the subway network, merge it with GO and hand it to a Metrolinx that may well have a provincial minister run it. Let Toronto take care of its own buses and streetcars.

This may seem crazy to some, but the PCs are perfectly rational and pick policies that win them suburban votes. When Mike Harris, cut and slashed, he did it with the full backing of the 905 suburban belt. Back then, that suburban belt was more concerned about the deficit and taxes than Toronto's transport situation. Today, the 905 suburban belt is concerned about traffic congestion and transit to some extent. But they don't care about the Sheppard or Finch LRTs. They'll vote for more GO service, TTC fare integration, and subway extensions that benefit them (BD to STC benefits Durham, Yonge North benefits Richmond Hill, DRL relieves severe congestion on Yonge...hurts those VIVA riders). Of course, just as before too, the 905 is still concerned about economic and fiscal concerns before transport. Hence, PC's targeting those issues.

Believing that the PCs are irrational haters of transit is the first mistake that all their transit-loving opponents make. They don't hate transit. They just don't like transit that doesn't have any electoral payoffs for them.

I disagree that the PCs are not haters of transit though. In reality, they're haters of most "unnecessary" "expenses" which don't appeal to the 905-belt voters that may carry them to victory this election, and transit is one of those things. They will only support transit, like Yonge North or BD to STC, when it politically benefits them. It has happened before and it will happen again.

The 905 was happy to whine when the teachers went on strike. Of course, they are the ones that will feel the pain first when it happens again. There are a lot of greedy people in Ontario.

I hear that much. If anyone thinks that the teachers won't suffer under a PC government, and I personally know some people who think just that, they're deluding themselves.

 

[TOareaFan]

The 905 was happy to whine when the teachers went on strike. Of course, they are the ones that will feel the pain first when it happens again. There are a lot of greedy people in Ontario.

I hear that much. If anyone thinks that the teachers won't suffer under a PC government, and I personally know some people who think just that, they're deluding themselves.

Again, I am confused....what evidence is there that people the 905 whined about teachers on strike and what evidence is there that they were unique in this and that parents in the 416 did not whine about it?

 

[denfromoakvillemilton]

Again, I am confused....what evidence is there that people the 905 whined about teachers on strike and what evidence is there that they were unique in this and that parents in the 416 did not whine about it?

Who said they were unique and why is the 416 coming up? I just said they were happy to vote for him until they knew the costs.

 

[denfromoakvillemilton]

I disagree that the PCs are not haters of transit though. In reality, they're haters of most "unnecessary" "expenses" which don't appeal to the 905-belt voters that may carry them to victory this election, and transit is one of those things. They will only support transit, like Yonge North or BD to STC, when it politically benefits them. It has happened before and it will happen again.



I hear that much. If anyone thinks that the teachers won't suffer under a PC government, and I personally know some people who think just that, they're deluding themselves.

Well of course. I know some teachers that support the PCs. Let them have it.

 

[TOareaFan]

Who said they were unique and why is the 416 coming up? I just said they were happy to vote for him until they knew the costs.

Well by singling out the 905ers as the ones who "whined" I took it that you were excluding the 416 from the whining....if not, why not say everyone in the GTA?

 

[MrsNesbitt]

Well of course. I know some teachers that support the PCs. Let them have it.

It's cringe-worthy listening to teachers talk about the evils of the Liberal government and their intent to vote PC. Utterly cringe-worthy.

Well by singling out the 905ers as the ones who "whined" I took it that you were excluding the 416 from the whining....if not, why not say everyone in the GTA?

I personally live in the 905...unfortunately...the 905 is the region which is likely to carry the PCs as opposed to the 416 anyways.

 

[TOareaFan]

I personally live in the 905...unfortunately...the 905 is the region which is likely to carry the PCs as opposed to the 416 anyways.

Not disputing that the 905 has tended to move back and forth (as opposed to the 416 which has shunned the PC party) but the suggestion was that it was only the 905 that whined when teachers went on strike......I have a hard time believing that the parents with students in TDSB schools (the largest board in the country) just shrugged and said "ah well, no problem".

For the record, I too live in the 905 and do not think it is at all healthy that Ontario has avoided labour disruption in the school system....it is just a sign that we have given too much power to a select and very expensive component of our public sector.

 

[denfromoakvillemilton]

Well by singling out the 905ers as the ones who "whined" I took it that you were excluding the 416 from the whining....if not, why not say everyone in the GTA?

Because the question was about the 905 suburbs, that's why.

It's cringe-worthy listening to teachers talk about the evils of the Liberal government and their intent to vote PC. Utterly cringe-worthy.



I personally live in the 905...unfortunately...the 905 is the region which is likely to carry the PCs as opposed to the 416 anyways.

Because people only care when it hits them. They did the same to Rae. If Hudak is elected, he should carry out his mandate.

 

[JasonParis]

I don't see why progressives would vote for Horwath. No substantial platform; mistake-prone leader; $100 Hydro cheques for everyone from Regent Park to Rosedale; took down the Big Move funding plan and all the work of Golden et all; Can't even sign a pro-transit petition; Removing HST on hydro, gas and fuel to encourage more driving and fossil fuel consumption; tepid support for increasing the minimum wage despite this being in their 2011 platform; abandonment of the labour and environmental movements.
edit: here we go....Rick Salutin: Andrea Horwath's right-wing populism http://www.thestar.com/opinion/commentary/2014/05/08/andrea_horwaths_rightwing_populism_salutin.html

She also criticized Wynne for dealing with Norm Kelly instead of Rob Ford!?!