SmartTrack (Proposed)

[Palma]

However, keep in mind that the PCs are very beholden to the interests of the rural crowd. They're the group that forms the bulk of the party membership, finances, committed support, and current caucus. When John Tory tried that trick of moving the PCs to a more centrist urban-friendly tone a la Bill Davis, the rural caucus had none of it. There was very serious talk of leaving the PC party in favour of a new "true blue party" among the Randy Hilliers and Monte McNaughtons of the party.

The PCs will have a very hard time drifting away from being the party that criticizes the sex-ed curriculum, attacks wind power, opposes cap and trade, wails on about the "War on Christmas", and dumps on urban needs. And while they fail to do that, they are ultimately unable to win government.

well i am liberal but there has been a "war on Christmas", and I have doubts for this climate change. There was a documentary i saw on netflex on the cause of global warming being cows and the story no one talks about because beef is big business. My son actually saw it in school and told us about it.
World-wide, there are about 1.5 billion cows and bulls. All ruminants (animals which regurgitates food and re-chews it) on the world emit about two billion metric tons of CO2-equivalents per year. In addition, clearing of tropical forests and rain forests to get more grazing land and farm land is responsible for an extra 2.8 billion metric tons of CO2 emission per year!. And I too have issues with the sex ed.

Well middle of the road worked for Bill Davis and the P.C for 42 years

 

[Adjei]

However, keep in mind that the PCs are very beholden to the interests of the rural crowd. They're the group that forms the bulk of the party membership, finances, committed support, and current caucus. When John Tory tried that trick of moving the PCs to a more centrist urban-friendly tone a la Bill Davis, the rural caucus had none of it. There was very serious talk of leaving the PC party in favour of a new "true blue party" among the Randy Hilliers and Monte McNaughtons of the party.

The PCs will have a very hard time drifting away from being the party that criticizes the sex-ed curriculum, attacks wind power, opposes cap and trade, wails on about the "War on Christmas", and dumps on urban needs. And while they fail to do that, they are ultimately unable to win government.

The PCs are supposed to win the upcoming election, just like they were supposed to win the last 3.

 

[kEiThZ]

The PCs will have a very hard time drifting away from being the party that criticizes the sex-ed curriculum, attacks wind power, opposes cap and trade, wails on about the "War on Christmas", and dumps on urban needs. And while they fail to do that, they are ultimately unable to win government.

The PCs are supposed to win the upcoming election, just like they were supposed to win the last 3.

People thought that Mike Harris could never get elected either. Unless the PC are incredibly ignorant, they've realized by now that Ontario's demographics have changed substantially and that they'll have to campaign on a suburban platform. John Tory didn't get done in by his own party. Despite the easy temptation to think that way. He got buried by Wynne. If rural PC voters cared at all substantially, about Tory's platform, he would've never become leader. But given the dissatisfaction with the provincial Liberals, I really wouldn't discount the PCs now. Forget the past scandals. Just wait till the post-privatization hydro bills hit households and the Ontario pension plan starts reducing take home pay all at the same time. Those maybe great ideas, but most voters don't like paying more and there will be political hay to make for the opposition.

On topic, if you're the PCs, why the heck would you risk virtually turning the entire 905 against you by cutting RER (something you can be sure the Liberals will run on)? The 905 is the only place they stand a chance of picking up seats. They know rural voters aren't going to vote Liberals. And they know most of the 416 won't be voting PC. I really have doubts that any political leader and party is so beholden to their party's base that they'll ignore the risk to their own political fortunes by adopting a platform that the majority of voters will dislike. That's incredibly naive.

well i am liberal but there has been a "war on Christmas", and I have doubts for this climate change. There was a documentary i saw on netflex on the cause of global warming being cows and the story no one talks about because beef is big business. My son actually saw it in school and told us about it.
World-wide, there are about 1.5 billion cows and bulls. All ruminants (animals which regurgitates food and re-chews it) on the world emit about two billion metric tons of CO2-equivalents per year. In addition, clearing of tropical forests and rain forests to get more grazing land and farm land is responsible for an extra 2.8 billion metric tons of CO2 emission per year!. And I too have issues with the sex ed.

Well middle of the road worked for Bill Davis and the P.C for 42 years

Having grown up in the Middle East and a bit in India, I find the whole "War on Christmas" thing very unusual. Nobody in India or the Middle East says "Happy Holidays". Even non-Christians would find this unusual. They says Merry Christmas, because it's Christmas. And expect reciprocal wishes for Diwali and Eid. It's really a North American, politically correct thing to say "Happy Holidays".

And totally agree on the global warming issue and beef. I alway tell people that there's 3 things you can do to reduce your global footprint. 1) Live close to work. 2) Live in a smaller space. 3) Eat less meat, especially red meat. A lot of people who say they care about the environment, or global warming, etc. aren't really interested in the hard lifestyle choices. It's much easier (and more politically correct) to call for a carbon tax on the oil sands. I'll start believing the public (and politicians) are sincere when people start putting their money and actions where their mouths are. When people start buying electric cars, cut back on EVs, live in townhouses and condos, and take transit more, I'll actually believe Canadians are interested in change.

 

[mdrejhon]

Incentivization. Make it easier to make the lifestyle choices. Some countries are doing it successfully.

Look at how car happy Amsterdam was in the 1970s, for example.

Not saying we have to go full Amsterdam, but we can still make it much easier to make certain lifestyle choices, at least in the next generation.

 

[kEiThZ]

Incentivization. Make it easier to make the lifestyle choices. Some countries are doing it successfully.

Look at how car happy Amsterdam was in the 1970s, for example.

Not saying we have to go full Amsterdam, but we can still make it much easier to make certain lifestyle choices, at least in the next generation.

The biggest issue our (Canadian) next generation faces is economic. With 7 digit home prices in Toronto, without salaries keeping up, there's going to be a lot more people moving to places like Scarborough (which everybody loves to slam) when they have kids. Not like they are making downtown very family friendly anytime soon. Those high home prices though, are coming with higher prices for everything else too. And I'm not sure, we'll have the tax base to move to a more efficient low carbon economy in anything but a very slow transition. The Liberals are spending $125 billion over several decades. In reality, we'd have to spend close to that in a single decade to make any seriously noticeable difference.

 

[Hopkins123]

It's unhealthy for a democracy to have one party in power for too long. Change can be a good thing.

 

[nfitz]

It's unhealthy for a democracy to have one party in power for too long. Change can be a good thing.

It can be ... though the best years for transit for transit (and GO) in Toronto was under the left-wing of the Conservatives, who were in power for 42 years from from 1943 to 1985 (ignoring the last 4 months of 1985, under Miller, who was more on the right wing of the Conservatives).

The Liberals by comparison have only been in power for just over 12 years. Based on history, one might argue that on the transit file, we have seen some real progress in the last 7-8 years, and the best thing we can do is give them another 30 or so - until the 2040s, to make some real progress.

And then, yes, a change of government would probably be a good thing. Or I fear that we risk that we'll fall into the trap of what happened in the previous short-term governments from 1985 to 2003, where there was little progress, and whenever one party got something going, the next came in and changed directions.

 

[Palma]

It can be ... though the best years for transit for transit (and GO) in Toronto was under the left-wing of the Conservatives, who were in power for 42 years from from 1943 to 1985 (ignoring the last 4 months of 1985, under Miller, who was more on the right wing of the Conservatives).

The Liberals by comparison have only been in power for just over 12 years. Based on history, one might argue that on the transit file, we have seen some real progress in the last 7-8 years, and the best thing we can do is give them another 30 or so - until the 2040s, to make some real progress.

And then, yes, a change of government would probably be a good thing. Or I fear that we risk that we'll fall into the trap of what happened in the previous short-term governments from 1985 to 2003, where there was little progress, and whenever one party got something going, the next came in and changed directions.

you have got to be kidding? Give the Liberals another 30 years? just for transit - assuming they will be building for 30 years

 

[ottbike]

The Liberals by comparison have only been in power for just over 12 years. Based on history, one might argue that on the transit file, we have seen some real progress in the last 7-8 years, and the best thing we can do is give them another 30 or so - until the 2040s, to make some real progress.

You can bet the liberals will be "cashing-in" on projects that will be complete just in time for the 2018 election, and will heavily capitalize on projects that will almost be open. Not to mention projects that will likely see funding commitments before 2018, e.g. the DRL.

 

[Palma]

You can bet the liberals will be "cashing-in" on projects that will be complete just in time for the 2018 election, and will heavily capitalize on projects that will almost be open. Not to mention projects that will likely see funding commitments before 2018, e.g. the DRL.

what will be complete other than Spadina? And though the Crosstown will be almost complete, the thing is any government that gets in will not be able to cancel it at that point and voters will know that. That means no loss if Liberals get defeated

 

[ottbike]

what will be complete other than Spadina?

off the top of my head:

- Waterloo LRT
- Confederation Line LRT (Ottawa)
- Spadina Subway
- UPX
- All day GO service (on some lines)

 

[Palma]

off the top of my head:

- Waterloo LRT
- Confederation Line LRT (Ottawa)
- Spadina Subway
- UPX
- All day GO service (on some lines)

you think Toronto will care that Ottawa and Waterloo have LRT? And we all know the UPX trains run 1/2 empty and that people think it should be used as a commuter service; we know the majority of the people do not know who funded the Spadina extension, know about the cost overruns by the TTC and which most Torontonians feel the extension is wasteful money to run underground subways into fields and they know that GO costs a fortune for them to hop on in Toronto and is not easily accessible never mind the residents that live near those GO stations i.e Weston and how they wanted electrification of the UPX when it started running through those neighbourhoods instead of sometime in the future and it never happened

 

[Adjei]

you think Toronto will care that Ottawa and Waterloo have LRT? And we all know the UPX trains run 1/2 empty and that people think it should be used as a commuter service; we know the majority of the people do not know who funded the Spadina extension, know about the cost overruns by the TTC and which most Torontonians feel the extension is wasteful money to run underground subways into fields and they know that GO costs a fortune for them to hop on in Toronto and is not easily accessible never mind the residents that live near those GO stations i.e Weston and how they wanted electrification of the UPX when it started running through those neighbourhoods instead of sometime in the future and it never happened

Do you know what a period is ?

 

[1overcosc]

People thought that Mike Harris could never get elected either. Unless the PC are incredibly ignorant, they've realized by now that Ontario's demographics have changed substantially and that they'll have to campaign on a suburban platform. John Tory didn't get done in by his own party. Despite the easy temptation to think that way. He got buried by Wynne. If rural PC voters cared at all substantially, about Tory's platform, he would've never become leader. But given the dissatisfaction with the provincial Liberals, I really wouldn't discount the PCs now. Forget the past scandals. Just wait till the post-privatization hydro bills hit households and the Ontario pension plan starts reducing take home pay all at the same time. Those maybe great ideas, but most voters don't like paying more and there will be political hay to make for the opposition.

Privitization of Hydro One will have zero effect on hydro bills and will not change the pace of increases. Hydro rates are regulated by the OEB and the IESO and that doesn't change whether a utility is public or private. Many of the transmission utilities in Ontario are already private.

 

[W. K. Lis]

Privitization of Hydro One will have zero effect on hydro bills and will not change the pace of increases. Hydro rates are regulated by the OEB and the IESO and that doesn't change whether a utility is public or private. Many of the transmission utilities in Ontario are already private.

Must not forget that Ontario is considering to buy electricity from Québec. See link and link. Ontario has very few places where they can put new hydro generating plants.