Larry's Corner

Provincial Election: Some Early Observations
By Larry Di Ianni
(posted September 12, 2007)

Of course, some will say that as a nominated Federal Liberal candidate I am biased towards my party, but I will try to give as open-minded an assessment as is possible on the local provincial election scene.

First, let me begin with some commentary on the leaders: Dalton McGuinty has grown tremendously as Premier and leader over the last four years. What was once an irritating staccato style of speaking has actually become an endearing cadence as McGuinty has learned to emphasize the important points and mix his message in with down-home personal homilies about growing up in a big family which was always strongest when its members worked ‘together rather than as individuals’. His main drawback is the introduction of the Health Care Premium after he said he would not raise taxes. I give him a B+.

John Tory is no Mike Harris, or at least he has said so right from the beginning. His policies are much more middle of the road and less divisive. His main problem is that there are still Harris-ites in his caucus and they may turn out to be a mill stone around his neck. His biggest asset so far has been in steering a middle course; his biggest drawback has been in succumbing to the right wing of his party in wishing to extend full funding to all faith-based groups, thereby reducing expenditures for public education. Also, his musing about tampering with ‘creationism’ in the science curriculum and his determination to reduce the budget (without service cuts? Where have we heard that before?) by $1.5B have hurt him. I give him a C because opposition leaders always have a harder time.

Howard Hampton has the least charisma of any of the leaders. He speaks awkwardly and in clichés. He has been smart enough to concentrate on ridings where he perceives that his candidates have a chance of winning; and he has made the most out of some by-election wins. His message is inconsistent on environmental issues, saying one thing in the North and quite something else in the south of the province, so he loses ground on that. By circumstance, Howard’s party has nowhere to go but up and he is playing for third place, with the hope of holding the balance of power in a minority government. If he doesn’t do as well as he did in the last election, he will be the first to be asked to leave by the leadership by his party, so a lot rides on this election for Mr. Hampton. I give him a D+.

There is also a leader of the Green Party cycling around Ontario to deliver his message. I understand that he has headed north which means that he will be in Southern Ontario sometime in January or February. I cannot honestly remember his name, which should tell you something about him, or maybe me. That is too bad because the Green Party does have a message worth hearing.

In terms of platforms, the Liberals and Conservatives are saying many similar things. The NDP is doing what it does best by criticizing at the top of its lungs, knowing that it cannot form government or opposition.

The main difference thus far between the two main opponents seems to be in faith based funding for education. The Tories lose on this issue as recent polls are suggesting. Will it be a ballot box question? Time will tell, but for it to benefit the Liberals, they must link this imprudent policy by the Tories with a reduction of public service funding. If they succeed, it will be the wedge that keeps them in majority territory. So far it’s looking good for Mr. McGuinty.

As far as a record of performance for Hamilton is concerned, the Harris Tories almost totally ignored this city with the exception of restoring funding for the Red Hill Expressway. Their biggest drag on our taxpayers was the downloading of costs regarding welfare to the municipality. Prior to that the NDP government of the day presided over an economic melt-down in our city and province, allowed Stelco to escape its obligations to pensioners, cut off funding for the Expressway, but to their credit, invested in our waterfront. The Liberals have done more than the other governments combined. They have invested in infrastructure, improved our hospitals, built a Hospice, contributed to our Social Services funding, put Hamilton in the GTTA and committed to cleaning up Randle’s Reef, and shut down a notorious crack house in the city. All are good initiatives.

Next blog: I will look at the local Hamilton scene and our local issues.