— —09.07.2011 04:05 PM

Star: Tea Party Tim’s policy is “divisive, angry and ugly”

New immigrants to Ontario must wonder how they suddenly went from being valued Canadians, whose skills our economy needs, to being publicly derided as “foreigners.” On day one of a provincial election campaign, no less…

Hoping for political gain, Hudak is happily stirring up tensions by claiming that unemployed Ontarians will be left behind. His party even rushed out a new campaign ad saying that “Ontarians need not apply” under the Liberal plan…

But the controversy that Hudak is stirring up is not about the substance of particular policies. It’s about wedge politics. On Tuesday he claimed that the tax breaks offered by the Liberals would help companies hire “anybody but you.”

That kind of language divides Ontarians into an “us” and a “them.” Creating divisions between struggling, unemployed workers and newer immigrants is dangerous to our long-term social cohesion. In Toronto, half of us were born outside Canada. There is no us versus them. Theyare us. And the faster we get newcomers into good jobs in the workforce and paying higher taxes the better for us all.

There’s a lot on the line during an election and parties often go a bit overboard to score points on their opponents. Hudak’s rhetoric and the PC party’s “Ontarians need not apply” ad go too far. It amounts to a thinly veiled attack on immigrants.

There may be political advantage to be had in this approach; we’ll find out on Oct. 6. But regardless of the outcome, this is the politics of division. It is angry. It is ugly. And it’s not what Ontarians are about.

 

9 Comments

  1. Iris Mclean says:
    September 7, 2011 at 4:16 pm

    In my riding, Leeds Grenville, that sort of anti-immigrant crap seems to resonate with the voters.
    I wish I could cast my vote in a different riding.

    Reply
    • Michael S says:
      September 7, 2011 at 4:47 pm

      Guess where Tim was resonating today? “Foreigner”: Lousy Band. Lousy politics.

      Perhaps Warren can make fun of Timmy with some of Foreigner’s (the band, not the wedge issue) craptacular hits:

      “Feels Like the First Time,” (Feels like Mike Harris’s First Time!)
      “(You’re as) Cold as Ice”
      “Long Long Way From Home.”

      Of course “Dirty White Boy”, is sadly off the table.

      And on election night, it looks like Timmy might as well play “I Want to Know What Love Is”.

      Reply
  2. Attack! says:
    September 7, 2011 at 6:26 pm

    he — i.e., WK — did (‘insist’)? where?

    Because the post using that word was a quote from Dawg’s Blog:

    http://warrenkinsella.com/2011/09/dawg-open-racism-from-tim-hudak/

    I haven’t checked, yet, but the correct answer is likely to be:

    permanent residents.

    http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/newcomers/about-pr.asp

    Or ‘Ontarians,’ as WK put it.

    (or in your old-school, divisive, phased-out vernacular: ‘landed immigrants’)

    Reply
    • The Doctor says:
      September 8, 2011 at 2:12 pm

      “The term “Landed immigrant” (“Immigrant reçu” in French) is an old classification for a person who has been admitted to Canada as a non-Canadian citizen permanent resident. The current official classification for such a person is simply “permanent resident”. Nevertheless, the term “Landed immigrant” has been in use for so long that it is still part of the Canadian vocabulary and even still appears in some government publications and forms.”

      Reply
    • Attack! says:
      September 9, 2011 at 2:37 am

      ‘kay, I stand corrected.. or clarified:

      “McGuinty and the Liberals went to great lengths Thursday to explain to reporters that their program would only help those people who had become Canadian citizens, a process that takes three years, and means that only 1,000 to 1,200 people would be eligible each year…. [if they’re a] trained lawyer or architect or engineer or accountant who’s been trained abroad who’s yet to receive their Ontario certification.”

      http://www.torontosun.com/2011/09/08/mcguinty-contradicts-party-member

      Reply
  3. Christian Giles says:
    September 7, 2011 at 6:31 pm

    I can certainly attest to the ugliness part. Its only day one and I’ve already had my Helen Burstyn sign stolen! Called the campaign office and apparently its been happening all over the riding. Not good.

    Reply
  4. Political Outsider says:
    September 7, 2011 at 11:20 pm

    Is there a link to the $10,000 tax credit policy? I can’t find it at the Ontario Liberal website.

    Reply

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