Coming into the dog days of summer is a good time to reflect on what we want in our political party. Speaking from hard won experience, we know starting from scratch with a new type of party is not the best of ideas. People will step boldly into the future
Continue readingTag: Provincial Politics
Babel-on-the-Bay: Trump versus Trump-Lite.
It seems that we have spent enough time by now to have taken off our sackcloth over Doug Ford and the conservatives winning the Ontario election in June. Yes, I pooh-poohed the outrageous idea that Doug Ford could lead anybody anywhere. And we have certainly had enough recriminations about Kathleen
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: For love of money.
Never having met Mayo Schmidt of Hydro One, I really cannot pass judgement on the six million dollars he was reportedly being paid. Not that I think anyone is worth that much, unless he can also guarantee that the Toronto Maple Leaf hockey club will win the Stanley Cup. But
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Trump-Lite’s Triumph.
On returning to Rome after winning wars, Roman generals were customarily awarded a triumph. This was a parade through the streets showing off the slaves and other booty of war. In Ontario, this triumph takes the form of a ritual parade through the legislature to the chambers where the lieutenant
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Changing politics in Toronto.
We are seeing increased efforts in Toronto to end the frustrations and lack of direction for the city. What we are seeing though is a mishmash of solutions that are counterproductive and going nowhere. Most of the action is coming from interest groups that in themselves have nowhere near enough
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Sales people can be the easiest sale.
Justin Trudeau blew it the other day. His task was simple. He was to sell Premier Ford of Ontario on helping to save the environment. And while he was at it, he also needed to help Ford understand that Canadians try their best to help refugees. At the same time,
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Secrets of the speech writer.
There seems to be a wealth of expertise today on why the Ontario liberals failed us in the June election. One of the more recent apologists was a speech writer who tells us he has spent, probably too much, time at Queen’s park. His article made me wonder about how
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Patrick Brown is back.
The wife was worried with my unrestrained laughter over breakfast. “Brown is back,” I finally managed to tell her. It was word in the Toronto Star that Barrie’s own Patrick Brown is running for chair of Peel Region that had sent me into paroxysms of laughter. She did not think
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Voting reform or disaster in B.C.
Our friends on the left coast must be already smoking something serious. I am stunned by what they are suggesting as the choice for reformed voting in British Columbia. While the proposition is obviously designed to push people to proportional representation. I would suggest that they consider the better option—for
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: By Golly, It’s Ford Folly.
After spending some time checking out the line-up of found-ins referred to as the Ontario cabinet, we have an uneasy feeling in the middle of our back. This is supposed to be the people’s cabinet. We are not sure just who the people are to whom this refers. The cause
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Let’s settle this silly supposition.
According to Toronto Star columnist Bob Hepburn, political guru David Herle says the results for the liberals would have been worse if Wynne had not announced that they would lose. I must be missing some common sense. Since most of my Canadian readers are fairly knowledgeable about politics, I would
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: From Penny Dreadful to false news.
If you think false news is new news, you are only about 300 years behind the news. Watching the efforts of past politician Patrick Brown to communicate with his constituents during his time in Ottawa, I used to think of his efforts in terms of the penny dreadful publications that
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Do polls prove their point?
Reading a recent newspaper article about the pollsters congratulating themselves on their accuracy in the last provincial election was enough to make me ill. The more serious question on that provincial election was whether the polls followed the voters or did the voters follow the polls? Opinion polls, focus groups
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: LDP 03: A favour from Ford.
If a stronger, more democratic political party is to rise from the ashes of the Ontario liberal party, we can thank premier-designate Ford for one bit of help. Ford has refused to fund the liberal MPPs in Queen’s Park as a political party. It means those who want to have
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: The Ego Has Landed.
Premier designate Doug Ford is in Queen’s Park. His reign of terror in Ontario is moving into gear. Before he has even unpacked, he is terrorizing the civil servants and attacking some of the better programs of his predecessors. Why he is being allowed to do this before being sworn
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: LDP 02: What is in a name?
One of the responses we received about a proposed new liberal democratic party (LDP) was from a reader who thought we could just join the Green party and be done with it. As much as I have admired green leader Elizabeth May’s hard work and leadership of the Green Party,
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: LDP 01: A new liberal party.
It appears that we need to start with a new liberal party in Ontario. Creating and launching a new political party does not happen overnight. A new party has to start with the need at the grass roots; platforms and leadership can come later. This series of postings will present
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Did Brown lay the table for Ford?
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
Continue readingBabel-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
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