04.03.2012 12:51 PM

Today in Ontario

Don’t be fooled by their bullshit: the Ontario PCs and NDP want to have an election.

They’d better be careful what they wish for. They just might get it.

48 Comments

  1. Michael Bussiere says:

    And Flaherty would not be able to resist opening his mouth in the biggest breach of political protocol ever!

  2. DanO says:

    I think Horwath was pretty shrewd in her request of targetting the super-rich to pay for “struggling families”-though I would like to see the actual cost of her proposals rather than trust their costing for them.
    The Premier is in a bit of a corner (not the first time, and certainly not the last). I think politically, he has to swallow (in some form) the proposed NDP changes.

    • catherine says:

      Do you know how many people in Ontario earn more than $500K/yr? From the Sunshine list it seems there are about 30 people in that category in the public sector. The top 1% earn about $200K or more, which I think captures about 100,000 in Ontario. So, above $500K must just be around 20,000 or so people, right? Not a very large group to count on a fix amount of revenue. It would make more sense to capture the above $150K or so crowd. That would capture hundreds of thousands of taxpayers. Unless the NDP just wants symbolism.

      • DanO says:

        Exactly. I don’t see how this was costed out and suspect a bit of fudging the numbers. And I thought the number was $250,000, not $500,000.

        I was speaking more from a political point -could Mcguinty really face the electorate having turned down a tax increase on thsoe making over $250,000? I wouldn’t want to.

  3. Bruce says:

    Go for it Frat Boy. Perhaps this is the stake the public needs to drive through his cold, smart alec’s heart.

    • frmr disgruntled Con now Happy Lib says:

      Reminds me of that line from Gladiator: “People should know when they’re conquered”…..Fratboy obviously hasnt grasped that yet…….

  4. W.B. says:

    Who advises Hudak these days? Another huge blunder giving instant negative budget response, sending gallery to Horwath, who’s playing it real smart by dragging this out for as long as she can, with all the attention and photos in the media of the deeply concerned serious responsible friend of the working man with the weight of the world on her shoulders. Where’s Hudak? Who cares.

  5. Bubba says:

    As a small-c conservative, the best possible outcome would be an election which the PCs would lose paving the way for Whodat to be punted from the PC leadership – and hopefully replaced by someone who can undo the damage Premier Dad has done. The theme music for the next election should be NoMeansNo’s Dad – great song!…..kinda

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p49qhscXgAs

  6. billg says:

    It would be awesome to see.
    “could you explain your election platform mr hudak”
    “ya sure, but, its all in the Liberal budget we defeated, so, just read that”
    I keep tellin’ all who will listen….McGuinty and Harper play at a higher level then the rest.

  7. Francesco says:

    The chatter around the office is that Hudak looked immature and how do you say “not a leader” when he out rightly rejected the budget without reading it. That is not a poised, mature and someone that is ready to be premier.

    As for the NDP’s gimmick this afternoon all it is a gimmick – you can’t raise over half a billion dollars from raising a surtax on only those making $500K and above. This is nice populist rhetoric but complete b.s. What the NDP really wishes to do is raise the surtax above anyone making $78K a year. Do they really wish to have an election?

    • JenS says:

      Pretty much all of what Horwath is doing is gimmicky. The whole “public consultation” blather is a farce. a) Who does she think she’s going to hear from other than those who have a beef? and B) she’s hearing from people already within her own bubble.

    • Matt Ellis says:

      What office is that? The Premiers?

  8. The Grumpy Dwarf says:

    Maybe.

    But I am a progressive who has voted liberal in almost every election I could. Today I made my first donation to a political party.

    …and it wasn’t for your team. I know I am only one guy, but I bet I am not alone. We are out here and we are angry at what is happening to our province, our country, and our world.

  9. tfalcone86 says:

    The opposition is playing right into McGuinty’s hands. Hudak wants more cuts and Horwath wants to raise taxes. Honestly, could this go any better for the Liberals? Its like right out of an Ontario Liberal election ad.

    • graeme says:

      Yep it’s pretty textbook.

    • william smith says:

      So a tax on the 1% would hurt you? If not then why criticize when that tax estimated to raise 500M willl pay for some good stuff that you might lose anyway!

      • tfalcone86 says:

        I did not say it would hurt me. I said it would be the narrative of the campaign. Interestingly the NDP and the PCPO are creating it themselves. Here is the Liberal message: not only does the Opposition want an unnecessary election, but the NDP want to raise taxes and the Conservatives want to cut your health care and education. This time the public will already have figured this out on their own. Liberals won’t have to convince them because they’ll already know it. This means four more years for the Ontario Liberals.

      • Michael says:

        The problem with Canadians is that they all think they might become rich some day.

  10. Bill From Willowdale says:

    I suppose the Conservatives were smart to throw the “hot potato” to the NDP. It doesn’t appear like there is much room for the NDP to manoeuvre so I expect an election. The budget was crafted with an eye to little impact on the voter so the Liberals are likely to have an edge going into the new campaign.

  11. Steven says:

    I am curious to see which NDP MPP’s (especially the skin-of-the-teeth winning or Lib/PC vote -splitting NDP MPP’s) don’t show up for any non-confidence vote on the budget.

  12. Tiger says:

    If both opposition parties want an election, well, they do have a majority of the legislature.

    So they’ll get it.

    Not sure whether they do want it.

  13. Trevor says:

    As a lifelong Ontario Liberal Party supporter, I would naturally prefer an Ontario Liberal Party MAJORITY government at Queen’s Park. I also do not believe that the Ontario Liberal Party should cave into PC or NDP demands. HOWEVER, there
    is one Ontario NDP proposal from the 2011 Ontario provincial election, which I fully support, and which I believe the Liberals and NDP should both seriously consider adopting.

    The Ontario NDP proposed last year that the Ontario Energy Board would be given responsibility for overseeing the price
    of gas. Each week, the board, which already regulates the price of electricity and natural gas, would set a maximum price for retailers as is currently done in Atlantic provinces. The price of gasoline won’t go over that ceiling and drivers will know what they’re going to pay that week. No surprises. No shocks. This would be a very populist and likely vote winning idea which I believe both the Ontario Liberals and NDP should support. Perhaps the McGuinity Liberals could adopt this proposal in exchange for the Horwath NDP’s support in passing the 2012 Ontario budget?.

    During the 2011 Ontario provincial election, Transportation Minister Kathleen Wynne said Horwath’s gas-cap plan sounds unworkable, and that it was a “populist soundbyte”. Yeah so?. Canadians motorists are currently experiencing some of the highest petroleum costs in living memory. While geopolitical events and market forces are largely responsible for these higher costs, it remains an undisputed fact that Canadian motorists are being gouged at the gas pumps, by way of predatory pricing by oil and gas corporations from to coast to coast.

    Sadly, much of the OLP and LPC grassroots membership are born again free market neo-liberals in the mold of Chretien, Martin, Dion and Iggy, but some of us are still social-liberals and liberal economic nationalists in the mold of Turner, Trudeau, Pearson and Walter Gordon. This would be a truly populist and vote winning idea for the OLP to adopt. It may
    also win over the Horwath NDP in supporting the 2012 Ontario Budget without caving into their other demands…

    • Tim says:

      Interesting idea Trevor, doesn’t Quebec do this also.

    • Jon Powers says:

      Wait, assuming that those on the Left are all (mostly) anti oilsands/pro-environmental – shouldn’t high gas prices be considered a good thing by you guys? Higher gas prices mean people drive less, turn down the heat in their homes = better for the environment and a happy David Suzuki! You want to cut down on carbon emissions? Make people pay for it.

    • Michael says:

      Turner is a social liberal? I think he forgot to tell his friends on Bay Street.

  14. Dan says:

    Remember when you wrote this, Warren?

    http://www.woodstocksentinelreview.com/2012/02/24/left-behind-when-it-comes-to-ideas

    Or how about this?

    http://www.woodstocksentinelreview.com/2012/02/24/left-behind-when-it-comes-to-ideas

    Let’s see if all that Liberal rhetoric about equality and fairness counts for anything.

    Who’s gonna pay for the budget shortfall: those who can afford it, or those who can’t?

    • allegra fortissima says:

      “Capitalism, in its current form, has no place in the world around us.” Sheesh, Dan… Mr. Kinsella wrote this more than 2 months ago! LMAO

  15. Trace says:

    The more you write about Justin Trudeau, the more I’m convinced that you’re a closeted gay man.
    Then again, so is Justin.

    • Lala says:

      Well, Trace, you’d be wrong about that – as I suspect you are about most things. As his girlfriend, I can tell you with absolute certainty that Warren is not gay.

      You couldn’t even begin to understand how not gay he is.

    • que sera sera says:

      @ Trace:

      The more you complain about the heat Trudeau generates, the more envious you appear.

    • Tim Sullivan says:

      Trace, why are you brigining up the Minister of International Relations, the Hon. John Baird? I resent the implication!

  16. Matt says:

    Might be time to serve up a big serving of HudakHelper to Andrea.

  17. Geoffrey Laxton says:

    This from one of the staunchest defenders of the Harper Government in the press.. Gee, and just days after Flaherty attacked the Ontario Government on their economic reputation.. Hubris is a bitch…
    http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/john-ibbitson/tories-economic-reputation-shot-to-pieces-by-fighter-jets/article2391501/

  18. Tiger says:

    So, are you lads and lasses going to meet the NDP’s asking price?

    http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/politics/article/1155861–ontario-budget-make-the-rich-pay-ndp-demands

    Or are we going to the hustings?

  19. Tim says:

    I do think it might be to McGuinty’s advantage to wait and let a hard right social conservative Wildrose government come into power in Alberta. Then he can point to a real life example of what a Landowners Association Hudak/Hillier/McLaren government would look like. It is rather interesting reading materially looking at the biographies of all of the Alberta Wildrose candidates. Haven’t had this much fun since I got the Ontario Landowners Association membership list. I do have to say I am disappointed we haven’t heard much from Ragin Randy or his pal Jack Maclaren lately.

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