The only newspaper in Ontario that gave a real damn about the lynching of conservative leader Patrick Brown back in January was his hometown Barrie Advance. It is owned by the Toronto Star and while it is just a poor quality shopper in which to wrap grocery flyers, the publication
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Babel-on-the-Bay: What muted the proportional vote advocates?
It must be the shock of the recent Ontario election has not worn off. You would normally expect a hue and cry by this time for proportional representation in the legislature. It is when you hear about the so-called ‘wasted vote’ and the unfairness of first-past-the-post voting. It is certainly
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: A fleeting fondness for Ford.
Does premier Ford really feel the love? Sorry Dougie, it’s temporary. The same rage as put a Ford in the premier’s office can just as quickly send him to the same scrap heap as Kathleen Wynne. Ford began and ended his campaign for Ontario in his mother’s basement. Both he
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Some thoughts on the liberal rout.
The hardest thing to digest from the recent election in Ontario was the anger that fueled the liberal downfall. It was similar to a situation with a child who feels wronged and in the midst of a tantrum of tears and frustration. They often will strike out at the adult
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Don’t blame me, I voted liberal!
From the catbird seat yesterday: I felt as though I was on the lip of an active volcano watching the devastation of the countryside. It was both a sad and a challenging night. A new day dawns and Kathleen Wynne is gone; that is good. We thought Ontario voters were
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: All bets are off.
For the first time since I first got involved in politics, I cannot make a guess on the outcome in an Ontario election. Results that used to be so easy to fathom, have gone murky and I will be hanging out by the television tonight hoping beyond hope that common
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Has Doug Ford ever lied to you before?
Have you dug into Doug Ford’s ‘fully-costed’ plan for Ontario? I trust it has satisfied your thirst for knowledge? It reads like a used-car salesman’s figures done on the back of an envelope. And the figures never add up. But that is the problem we have always had in working
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: A real liberal never gives up!
Kathleen Wynne betrayed Ontario liberals yesterday. She surrendered, she gave up, she quit and she did the unconscionable. She ended her run as Ontario liberal leader the way she began: breaking the rules. Kathleen Wynne never put the party first and the party is paying the price. From the time
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Yes, but did the fat lady sing?
Listening to and reading analyses of the Sunday night political leaders’ debate in Toronto, you wonder if they were at the same debate. Frankly, the analyses were better than the debate. Kathleen Wynne did less than expected. Andrea Horwath was rude and foolish. Doug Ford made you wonder if they
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Considering consequences of change.
Step right up Ontario. If you want change, you can have it. You can get it in spades. The only problem is this change is like a game of snakes and ladders—where both the snakes and the ladders are slippery slides to disaster. It is time to face the facts.
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Confounding a confluence of conservatives.
It is all happening Monday at Toronto’s stuffy old Albany Club. As I told my host last time I was invited to the club, this is no place for a left-wing liberal. The 125-year old building on King Street East has been the spiritual home for Canada’s conservatives since the
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Mixing baloney and beer.
People in Ontario are starting to laugh over the desperate efforts of conservative leader Doug Ford to promise voters anything to vote for him. It took him until halfway through the campaign to come up with something I liked. Doug Ford has promised to have beer in in convenience stores.
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: We are not ready to surrender.
What are we coming to? When fair weather warriors are conceding defeat, are we all supposed to lay down our arms? I have been involved in too many comebacks to go along with that. We should not get mad about the current situation. The smart get to work. What have
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Mother’s magic money.
Listening to Ontario conservative leader Doug Ford recently reminded me of my early childhood in Toronto. Doug Ford never seems to worry about where the money for his promises will come from. Neither did I—as a child. I remember during the Second World War and my mother was sole support
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: The Morning Line: Ontario’s dilemma.
This is probably the most difficult Morning Line Babel-on-the-Bay has produced in ten years. It might just be the one that besmirches our reputation. The question in this election are the polls following the voters or are the voters following the polls? But I am convinced that the pollsters are
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Three-ring circus versus horse race.
Whatever you want to say about the Ontario election that is going on now, it could never have been a three-ring circus production by P.T. Barnum or his partner James Bailey. The simplest explanation is that if you consider the performer who keeps multiple plates spinning atop long sticks, you
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: The Opera ain’t over.
First off today, we want to apologize. We have been thoroughly castigated by family and readers for being rude to Ontario NDP leader Andrea Horwath the other day. I sincerely apologize to her for my comments on her weight. That was inappropriate. At the same time, I stand by my
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Which half will vote?
There is a supposition that following the low turnouts of voters in Ontario elections in 2011 and 2014, there will be a similar low turnout in June of 2018. The question that confounds politicians and pollsters is which half of the voters will come to the polls. And if you
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Prepping politicians.
Whatever happened to the time-honoured prepping of politicians for Monday’s debate in Toronto? That opening debate was a disaster for all concerned. It is CITY-TV that should be embarrassed. The candidates’ handlers failed to convince their debaters of anything. And the moment is gone, never to be recovered. It was
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Meet the Northern Mockingbird.
While the Northern Mockingbird has a smaller head and a longer tail than others of its specie, it uses the same tricks as other mockingbirds. It can fool you by using the song styling of different birds and even a dog’s bark. It is like Ontario conservative leader Doug Ford
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