No one knows who will win the Ontario election, two of the three leaders remain virtual unknowns, and the campaign still lacks a ballot question. Yet somehow, without warning, Ontario finds itself just 9 sleeps away from Voting Day.So tonight’s debate …
Continue readingTag: andrea horwath
CuriosityCat: Ontario NDP’s Andrea Horwath can remedy the democratic deficit, massive poll says
We are close to the wire in the race for a new provincial government in our most populated province, says a massive new poll. The chances right now are high that neither the Liberals nor the Tories will win a majority.And the NDP will emerge as the one…
Continue readingPushed to the Left and Loving It: Another Word Tim Hudak Should Avoid on the Campaign Trail: Cronyism
Tim Hudak is on the campaign trail accusing the McGuinty government of “cronyism”. I thought this was a dangerous path for Hudak to take, given the fact that his former boss and current mentor, Mike Harris, had made cronyism an art form.A friend shared…
Continue readingRedBedHead: Harper-nomics Is Recipe For Global Depression & Trade Wars
I feel like I’m repeating myself, having just written that the global crisis is not a crisis of debt but, rather, that the debt is a symptom of the long term decline in the rate of profit. Now, I read Stephen Harper and British Tory Prime Minister Davi…
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: A propos of nothing
While much of the NDP’s federal election result has been painted as the result of Jack Layton’s popularity, it’s worth noting exactly how the party results compared to some of the different measures used to track leadership preferences. In the weeks be…
Continue readingthe reeves report: Horwath downplays coalition talk; asks Toronto Council to halt TTC cuts
Anyone hoping that a recent plea from provincial NDP leader Andrea Horwath to Toronto City Council to hold off on transit cuts will make a difference is kidding themselves. Or the have a lot more faith in Toronto mayor Rob Ford’s desire to listen to left-wing politicians than I do. According to Horwath as reported … Continue reading »
Continue readingthe reeves report: Ontario Green vote projected to drop – but it doesn’t have to
Just about the only thing that all parties and observers can agree upon about the upcoming Ontario election is that the high vote percentage gained by the Green Party of Ontario (GPO) in 2007 will not be maintained in 2011. And it is expected to drop for a number of reasons, but not all of … Continue reading »
Continue readingRedBedHead: Toronto: Mayor Ford Retreat, Tory Vote Meltdown
Ah, I love the smell of self-inflicted Tory panic on a Monday morning. It seemed only a year ago that things were heading towards Tories at all levels of government. Harper was riding high – and would soon win a majority – Ford won a majority of vot…
Continue readingThe Liberal Scarf: Ontario Liberals protecting the environment and moving Ontario forward
Ontario Liberals are taking the next steps to safeguard our environment for Ontario families. Liberals are protecting precious water resources for future generations with a Great Lakes Protection Act that will be the next chapter in clean water for Ont…
Continue readingCanadian Progressive World: Ontario New Democrats Steer Clear of US-Style Dirty Politics
“Unofficial political” websites are the new tools for smearing dirt on opponents. Both Tim Hudak’s Progressive Conservatives and Dalton McGuinty’s Ontario Liberals have them. PC: www.ontariansneednotapply.com and www.liberalreview.ca….
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: The Timidity Of The Ontario NDP
I wrote earlier this month about the growing call from certain monied sectors for an increase in their personal taxation rates, arguing that they are not paying their fair share to support the country in which they grew and prospered. That plea, as no…
Continue readingImpolitical: Horwath weighs in
Finally addressing the big issue of week one that the NDP curiously declined to speak about: For a week, Andrea Horwath has been reluctant to talk about the issue sucking the air out of the campaign so far – the Liberals’ plan to give employers who…
Continue readingRedBedHead: Killing The Bob Rae Myth
Watching the Ontario election you’d think that there was nothing of much import going on in the world. Why else would there be so little difference in the platforms of the three major parties in this election? For instance, you’d never know that a majo…
Continue readingRunesmith's Canadian Content: The Orange and the Green
When provincial NDP leader Andrea Horwath announced this summer that her party wanted to reduce the HST on gasoline, I must say I raised an eyebrow. After all, the NDP is supposed to be (among many other things) an environmentally friendly party, and conventional environmental wisdom states that high gas taxes are an effective way to reduce consumption.
Now, it’s one thing to argue against that premise, and certainly many have done just that. But to completely ignore the environmental implications of cutting an energy consumption tax and just drop it straight into the ‘saving taxpayers money’ file seems a little… well, un-NDPlike.
Apparently I’m not the only one who thinks so.
NDP losing its green allies
In a stinging letter to Horwath, circulated to members of a green coalition, Environmental Defence executive director Rick Smith complained that her party had lost its way:
“Some of your existing policy positions are not in the best interest of environmental or human health protection,” Smith wrote last month.
“How can any party that claims to be concerned about global warming advocate de facto subsidies for buying oil and gas. This is absolutely the wrong direction.”
Significantly, Smith is a former chief of staff to the late federal NDP leader, Jack Layton, who made environmentalism a cornerstone of his campaigns in a way that Ontario New Democrats have not. The party’s former research director, Hugh Mackenzie, has also condemned its recent positions.
Ouch!
The article also calls into question Horwath’s delicate dance around the issue of wind turbines, in which she seeks to simultaneously avoid offending either her green allies or her sizeable rural constituency without tying herself in a knot and falling off the stage.
I’m sure some political operative is telling them that this is the best way to capitalize on the perceived momentum from their federal cousins. And maybe they’re right. But if the provincial NDP really wants to bask in the orange afterglow from Jack Layton’s passage, they might want to try adopting his principles and his strength of resolve instead of emulating his opponents’ political flexibility.
Continue readingRunesmith's Canadian Content: The Orange and the Green
When provincial NDP leader Andrea Horwath announced this summer that her party wanted to reduce the HST on gasoline, I must say I raised an eyebrow. After all, the NDP is supposed to be (among many other things) an environmentally friendly party, and conventional environmental wisdom states that high gas
Continue readingRunesmith's Canadian Content: The Orange and the Green
When provincial NDP leader Andrea Horwath announced this summer that her party wanted to reduce the HST on gasoline, I must say I raised an eyebrow. After all, the NDP is supposed to be (among many other things) an environmentally friendly party, and conventional environmental wisdom states that high gas
Continue readingImpolitical: Ontario election notes this eve
A few things noticed in the news this evening that may be of interest… 1. Notable column on the NDP’s environmental policies in Ontario: “Cohn: NDP losing its green allies.” Prominent environmentalists are denouncing the NDP and publicly defending th…
Continue readingProgressive Proselytizing: Green Energy Proposals Part II: Party Positions
In Part I, I sketched an overview of the consequences of various green energy proposals. Because it is election season in Ontario, let me note the following party observations with respect to these various green energy proposals.
Firstly, Conservative…
Continue readingBlunt Objects: Hope for McGuinty and Horwath?
(Sorry if anyone missed my wonderful revelations over the past few days, but a workin’ man has things to do)The common assumption these days is that current Ontario Liberal Premier Dalton McGuinty is more or less doomed come October 6th, when Ontarians…
Continue readingImpolitical: Thursday drive-by blogging
1. Wouldn’t Andrea Horwath have more credibility in proposing conservation policies if her party platform didn’t contain $2.8 billion in energy tax cuts on fossil fuels? 2. Robert Asselin’s take on the Liberal party’s future, worth a read.3. Ed Miliban…
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