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 readingTag: Provincial Election
Babel-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: 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: Lesson for today: Silk purses, sows’ ears.
Listen up children; Our lesson for today is that you still cannot make silk purses out of sows’ ears. Excellent examples of this aphorism are the conservative leaders in both Ontario and Alberta. Having observed both gentlemen over their time in Canadian politics, I can assure you that the description
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Picking politicians.
We now have our main candidates here in Barrie—Springwater—Oro-Medonte. No, nothing exciting. The local liberals had an acclamation. Only one candidate came forward. The conservatives appointed their candidate when Doug Ford got impatient. So much for democracy in the electoral district! Ford appointed a loser. He is a former Orillia
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: On the street of broken hearts.
There are questions we need to ask of candidates in the coming provincial election in Ontario. This is not to embarrass anyone. It is to challenge their thinking. It is about what they hope to do for those trapped on the margins of our society? It is a simple question.
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: A legislature of eunuchs.
Listening to voters and to people at Queen’s Park, there seems to be a general opinion that there should be a sign from Dante’s Inferno over the legislature entrance “Abandon hope all ye who enter here.” All power and importance are vested in the premier and less and less is
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Privacy passing.
Political wannabes never seem to understand the lost privacy of politics. There is less and less every year. Privacy is a passing possibility. I can remember back in the early 1980s when taking part in a business conference in Calgary. Former finance minister John Turner was the guest speaker one
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: A vote Granic Allen won’t get.
Checking out Mississauga Centre electoral district for the coming provincial election, I see I have an old friend voting there. She is 97-year old former Mississauga mayor Hazel McCallion. Hazel claims no political affiliation but conservative Tanya Granic Allen is just not likely Hazel’s cup of tea. Hazel is the
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Horwath has been heard from.
News from the front lines of the pre-election election campaign in Ontario: The New Democratic Party does exist. As irrelevant as the NDP might be in this pre-election period, it was nice to see what might be the entire membership of the party forming a human wall for their leader.
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Ford’s flock is fleeting.
In analyzing a political situation, you have to weigh many factors. According to the public pollsters, the upcoming Ontario voting seems to be decided. I hate to poop on the pollsters’ parade but you should always check some very pertinent points before buying into the B.S. The questions start with
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Please come back Patrick Brown.
We will have to take back some of those nasty names we have called Barrie’s Patrick Brown. Sure, he is a sleazebag but he is hardly as ignorant or as frightening as Doug Ford. If we could just have our choice of sleazebag, I guess we would prefer the one
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: A Truth Squad for Doug Ford?
Here is a million-dollar idea for the Ontario liberals. It came to me as I read the news that the party was going to waste a million dollars on television advertisements to tell Ontario voters that Doug Ford tells lies. I suppose I should charge them, but it was not
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: The end of the gas plant affair.
The Ontario gas plant affair has ended badly. There are no good guys in the story. It was a sorry tale of misinformation and harangue. It was public participation gone rotten. It was political perfidy. It cost us all. And David Livingston is the fall guy. He was premier McGuinty’s
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Has anybody seen Jagmeet?
This is becoming ridiculous. The New Democratic Party of Canada has to have some leadership. Without leadership, it is going to become the forgotten party and the efforts of many fine people over the last 80 years will be wasted. The party can hardly continue as present with no leadership,
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Getting to know Doug Ford.
It takes time. Over the next six to eight weeks, more and more Ontario voters will start to think seriously about the June 7 provincial election. To many, it will just be a bit of a bother, a minor blip in an otherwise busy life. The actual turnout at the
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Trump-lite is not Trump.
Have you been reading the media pontificators who are comparing Ontario conservative leader Doug Ford with U.S. President Donald Trump? It is a sad comparison. It would annoy Donald Trump, if he cared. Doug Ford is a wannabe. He would dearly love to have as much money as Trump and
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