The true politico pays attention to what is happening in the electoral districts. Those readings mean far more than the public opinion polls that are such a waste of time in the year before the election. If you do not grasp what is happening in the field, you are not
Continue readingTag: Provincial Politics
Babel-on-the-Bay: The poop power in waste water.
The one thing for sure is that some reader somewhere is going to give me heck for talking about fecal matter instead of politics. It seems that everyone is expert when it comes to human waste. It was delightful to read though the other day the Ontario’s environmental commissioner wants
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Planes and Trains and…
Flying used to be glamorous. Not any more. It has become a demeaning and uncomfortable experience. Those people in line for security in their smelly stocking feet should bleat like sheep as they are fleeced by money-grubbing airlines. They are shoved into uncomfortable seats only to be abused by airline
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Tory Odd Couple Challenge Wynne.
A pair of losers could be Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne’s nemesis. Meet ‘The Kid’ and the ‘Big Guy.’ They just got back from the Soo were they took a solid Liberal seat in a bye-election by 40 per cent of the votes. These cowpokes are riding high in the saddle.
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Keeping B.C. on edge.
It looks like friends and family in British Columbia could be kept on edge politically for much of the next four years. A one-seat majority in the Legislature holds no promise of stability. The accord between the provincial New Democrats and the Green Party holds no guarantee of long-term success.
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Ontario’s Trillium Party wins an MPP.
What? You have never heard of Ontario’s Trillium Party? Just think of founding a new party like the creation of a fine wine. First you have to plant the vines. It is a lengthy process before you need a bottling plant. While the Trillium leadership—a guy named Bob Yaciuk (and
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: “Snatching defeat from the jaws of victory.”
That hackneyed expression is used to describe politicians who stupidly work to defeat themselves. A good example today is the desperation we are seeing at Queen’s Park as the Liberal’s Premier Kathleen Wynne continues to destroy the Liberal legacy in Ontario. She has so many irons in so many fires
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Everyone’s an expert on High-Speed Rail.
You can hardly blame an old friend such as David Collenette. His career has been in service to the Liberal Party. He was executive director of the Ontario party in 1974 when he was asked to be the federal candidate in York East when the earlier nominee had to resign.
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: We can blame Cousin Oliver.
It is all Oliver Mowat’s fault. The myopic Father of Confederation had a mainly rural and agrarian Ontario to oversee in the early years of confederation. His picture hangs over our desk today, not as a distant relation but in the form of a preserved and framed, full front-page of
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: The anger is real Ms. Wynne.
It is the time of year when Canadians come out of their winter refuges. We travel. We talk to each other. And if we are smart, we listen. What we are hearing here in Ontario is the strong desire for change. That is not necessarily bad if Ontario Premier Kathleen
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Fixing Ontario’s out-of-date work laws.
Ontario Labour Minister Kevin Flynn has a tough road to travel with the Wynne Cabinet. He is seeking to address the antiquated labour laws in Ontario. He wants to restore balance to the rights of part-time workers. He wants to guarantee a minimum wage on which someone can live. What
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Take it to heart Ms. Wynne.
Yes, there is a lesson to be learned from the B.C. provincial election by Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne. The lesson is that when voters are mad, you best get out of the way. Take a page from former Premier Dalton McGuinty’s book: he knew when to get out of the
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Those tree-hugging Greenies did it!
When we wrote our Morning Line for the British Columbia provincial election, we admitted the weakness to our assessment. Here it is four days after the election and we still know very little. Blame the Greens! With the B.C. Liberals one short of a majority, the absentee ballots and the
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: A politico posits on Patrick Brown.
One of the more interesting aspects of some politicians is the effort they will take to make sure you do not know them. It is like Ontario voters should be less worried about Ontario Conservative leader Patrick Brown’s lack of policies than his lack of personality. Having moved to Barrie
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Is Andrea Horwath circling the drain?
There had to be some confusion in Ontario New Democratic Party ranks last week. It was caused by an unfortunate story about the NDP getting a second wind “With Horwath at the helm.” This was after the party had the wind taken out of its sails by the Liberals announcing
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: A rookie mistake in Don Valley North.
In October last year we wrote some personal comments about the area of Don Valley North electoral district in Toronto. The wife and I had our home there in that part of North York for more than 20 years. It was just down the street and around the corner from
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Creating conflict for city and province.
They really cannot be doing it to ‘sell’ newspapers in this day and age. The Toronto Star has been busy building a supposed conflict between Mayor John Tory of Toronto and Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne. It is based on the recent Ontario budget that did not mention more funds for
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: The piecemeal processes of Premier Wynne.
“Ladies and gentlemen and children of all ages: Let me draw your attention to the left ring of our three-ring circus. Here for your entertainment and edification is our finance minister who has just passed the miracle of a balanced budget. Charles Sousa will now amaze you further by proposing
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: On being bullish on Brown.
There is lots of laughter at the current argument among Ontario Conservatives about whether their leader Patrick Brown has policies. Some Conservatives think it would be nice if they knew where their party is headed. Others think policies should be kept secret so that the opposition does not belittle them.
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: The myth of being Liberal.
One of our respected progressive bloggers from British Columbia wrote recently something less than a paean (song of praise) about the Liberals in that province. His thesis is that B.C. Liberals are just Conservatives in sheep’s clothing and now the federal sheep have joined them. He insists that the Liberal
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