Martin Regg Cohn has an interesting post mortem of the Ontario election. He concludes that, because the Liberals pulled their bacon out of the fire a couple of times, their fall was destined to be a hard one: Had the Liberals not risen from the grave in the three previous
Continue readingTag: The Ontario Election 2018
Northern Reflections: Short-Termism
Susan Delacourt writes that Ontario’s election highlights how short voters’ attention spans have become. After all, ghosts haunted each of the party leaders: The ironic part of the past Ontario campaign, as several commentators pointed out, is that all the leaders were contending with ghosts: Kathleen Wynne with the memory
Continue readingNorthern Reflections: Dark Nights — And Days — Ahead
It was a dark night. You could see it coming. But that didn’t make digesting the outcome any easier. H.L. Menken didn’t have any respect for the folks Doug Ford calls “the people.” He called them “the booboisee.” Last night, the people elected a card carrying member of the booboisee.
Continue readingNorthern Reflections: One Big, Happy Family
The Ontario election took yet another weird turn yesterday, when Renata Ford — Rob Ford’s widow — sued her two brothers-in-laws for $16.5 billion dollars. Kevin Donovan writes in The Toronto Star: The widow and children of former Toronto mayor Rob Ford are suing his brother Doug Ford, alleging he
Continue readingNorthern Reflections: Now, That Was Unexpected
Yesterday, Kathleen Wynne dropped a bombshell. She announced that she knew her party could not win the election; and she asked Ontario voters to give her party a place in a coalition government. Things are looking grim for the Liberals. Some projections have the party winning as few as two
Continue readingNorthern Reflections: The Third Round
Yesterday, Ontarians watched the third and final debate. It was the best of the three encounters. Martin Regg Cohn’s observations are pretty accurate: First, despite the attempts by both the Tories and Liberals to paint the NDP as dangerously radical, Horwath held her own. She not only gave no ground,
Continue readingNorthern Reflections: On The Rise
Andrea Horvath’s political stock is on the rise. Tom Walkom writes: A funny thing happened on the way to the June 7 election. The voters discovered in New Democratic Party leader Andrea Horwath another alternative to Wynne. What’s more, to so-called progressive voters, Horwath seemed to offer the best of
Continue readingNorthern Reflections: Math Challenged
Over the weekend, it emerged that Ontario’s NDP had made an error when costing the party’s platform. Adam Radwanski writes: As Ontarians were settling into their long weekends, perhaps discussing among themselves whether they should for once consider voting for an NDP government on June 7, news came of a
Continue readingNorthern Reflections: A Fact Full Election?
Last week, Bob Rae told a crowd of distinguished dignitaries, “Facts matter. Our politics needs to understand and respect this.” Robin Sears wonders if Ontarians do understand this: Like travelling medicine shows and revival preachers of old, their caravan booms noise and angry rhetoric but leaves little behind as it
Continue readingNorthern Reflections: Horvath May Be The Next Premier
Andrea Horvath is on a roll. Martin Regg Cohn writes: This time, unlike last time, the New Democrats are putting forward voter-friendly policies such as partial pharmacare and cheaper child care. While their platform has echoes of the Liberal program — with the notable exception of an NDP promise of
Continue readingNorthern Reflections: A Very Select Few
The Conservative Party of Ontario prefers cult to policy. That’s increasingly obvious in the Ontario election. Martin Regg Cohn writes: At a Doug Ford rally, the leader is always late, leaving extra time for his populist anthem to penetrate your being. A throbbing earworm that burrows deep inside your consciousness.
Continue readingNorthern Reflections: He’s A Fraud
Efficiencies. That’s the word Doug Ford is using instead of “cuts.” That’s because he — or his party — have learned something from the last time around. Linda McQuaig writes: Former Conservative leader Tim Hudak went into the last Ontario election humming the familiar right-wing refrain about government waste and
Continue readingNorthern Reflections: The Old Paradigm
In Ontario, the conventional wisdom dictates that elections are won in the middle. That wisdom goes all the way back to the 1940’s, wen the Progressive Conservatives won 12 consecutive elections. Steve Paikin writes: In 1943, the Tories had a 49-year-old war veteran named George Drew (born 124 years ago
Continue readingNorthern Reflections: An I.Q. Test
Michael Harris writes that the Ontario election is an I.Q. test for voters. And the question is, “What will voters do with a tired government that has been around for 15 years and wants another term?” There is no doubt that the Liberals are getting long in the tooth. But
Continue readingNorthern Reflections: Youth: The Wild Card
When it comes to elections, a lot has been written about the apathy of the young. Recent polling in Ontario suggests that apathy may no longer be the default position for millennials. Martin Regg Cohn writes: Among those aged 18 to 24, only one in three (34 per cent) said
Continue readingNorthern Reflections: An Empty Barrel
Back in February, Doug Ford told a a private gathering that he was going to open up the Greenbelt — which surrounds Toronto — to housing development. Fortunately, what he said was caught on tape. And it created a firestorm. Edward Keenan writes: It was a pledge he made privately
Continue readingNorthern Reflections: Ford’s Definition Of Change
Doug Ford became the leader of the Ontario Progressive Conservative Party by forming an alliance with Tanya Granic Allen. Martin Regg Cohn writes: Homophobia. Islamophobia. Anti-abortion hysteria and harassment. Demonizing gay marriage. Lord knows, and Ford knows, the camp of Granic Allen — an anti-gay, anti-abortion, anti-Muslim, burka-baiting candidate —
Continue readingNorthern Reflections: We Don’t Need No Education
That’s the title of Paul Krugman’s column in this morning’s New York Times. This spring, in several states, teacher’s strike are springing up like dandilions. Krugman explains what’s been happening: So what happens when hard-line conservatives take over a state, as they did in much of the country after the
Continue readingNorthern Reflections: Ontario And The Rest Of Canada
The Liberals held a convention in Halifax this week. Policy ideas — like legalizing sex work — were discussed. But, Susan Delacourt writes, if you want to know what policies the Liberals are considering for the next election, look to the Ontario election on June 7th: Basic income and pharmacare
Continue readingNorthern Reflections: Don’t Believe It
California Governor Jerry Brown visited Ontario this week. He’s worried that the province will back track on its promise to fight climate change. Tom Walkom writes: The governor has harnessed his power as a populist-environmentalist to lead the crusade against global warming — by pushing back against the climate-denier-in-chief in
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