Paulo Senra and I were there, too.  Our dedication is evidenced by the fact that it is ONE MILLION BELOW ZERO here in Tee Dot.

Here’s Paulo’s pic.  It’s cool (literally).

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• “MAKE PUPATELLO OUR NEXT PREMIER… when this newspaper’s editorial board looks closely at each candidate, we conclude that Pupatello is the candidate we must enthusiastically endorse. She is far and away the best person to become Ontario’s next premier because she has the skill and fortitude to deal with what ails this province…more than any other candidate, with her sterling public and private sector credentials she exhibits the awareness that a dynamic, expanding economy is the foundation for a just and equitable society.” – Kitchener Waterloo Record, January 24, 2013
• “Pupatello is a political force of nature, sucking up all the oxygen in the room. Funny. Quick. Flattering. Self-deprecating. And not a bad listener… Her astonishing comeback – she is on the cusp of claiming power as the presumed front-runner in the Liberal leadership race – is a testament to her political will and force of personality. Pupatello has surged ahead of her rivals by reinventing herself as a political winner with a winning personality.” – Martin Regg Cohn, Toronto Star, January 24, 2013
• “…we favour Sandra Pupatello. Of all the candidates, she stands out as the one with the energy, personality and message that will give her party the best chance to hold on to power in what promises to be a closely fought contest with Tim Hudak’s Progressive Conservatives and Andrea Horwath’s New Democrats. After a year of lurching from one crisis to another, the Liberals badly need to change the channel with a new leader and a new approach. Going with Pupatello would be the most convincing way to do that.” – Toronto Star, January 22, 2013
• “Ontario is facing long-term economic challenges, and of the provincial Liberal leadership candidates with a serious chance of succeeding Dalton McGuinty as Premier, Sandra Pupatello understands that best.” – The Globe and Mail, January 24, 2013
• “Sandra Pupatello is best placed to give the party a new face and energetic new leadership – while keeping it true to the values that make it distinct.” – Toronto Star, January 22, 2013
• “Having spent a lot of time as economic development minister, Pupatello is pretty authoritative on trade file.” – Adam Radwanski, Globe and Mail, January 22, 2013
• “Ms. Pupatello speaks with knowledge and conviction about jobs and the economy… Ms. Pupatello has another advantage over her opponents, and not just in the Liberal leadership race but among opposition parties as well: She is an effective communicator, exuding a personal warmth that may help her sell the inevitably tough fiscal medicine Ontarians will have to take in the years ahead.” – Globe and Mail, January 24, 2013

 

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Ontario is facing long-term economic challenges, and of the provincial Liberal leadership candidates with a serious chance of succeeding Dalton McGuinty as Premier, Sandra Pupatello understands that best.

Ms. Pupatello speaks with knowledge and conviction about jobs and the economy. In her former role as minister of economic development and innovation, she worked closely with business and industry.

Of the other candidates, only Harinder Takhar has demonstrated a similar focus. It is the overarching issue facing the next premier. As they meet this weekend, Liberal delegates should reflect on what the economist Don Drummond tried to drill home in his report issued less than one year ago: “We can no longer assume a resumption of Ontario’s traditionally strong economic growth and the continued prosperity on which the province has built its public services. Nor can we count on steady, dependable revenue growth to finance government programs.”

It is all well and good to do as Kathleen Wynne, the other leading Liberal leadership contender, and some of the other candidates have done in this campaign, and emphasize social issues. Ms. Pupatello would doubtless also like to live in an idyllic society, but she understands that what is required first is economic and fiscal leadership.

Again from the Drummond report: “Unless policy-makers act swiftly and boldly … Ontario faces a series of deficits that would undermine the province’s economic and social future.”

Ms. Wynne is a tenacious and earnest competitor. But her strategy is flawed. Offering herself up as the conscience of the party might appeal to some delegates who equate Liberal values with leftish activism.

In fact, that is what the NDP already does, and the idea that Wynne-led Liberals would hive off support from the social democrats is a stretch. It could just as well work the other way.

Under Mr. McGuinty, Ontario started to adjust to its immense fiscal challenges, including confronting public-sector pay demands, even at the risk of alienating the Liberals’ base. Finance Minister Dwight Duncan announced this week a glimmer of light, that Ontario’s deficit is $3-billion lower than projected, thanks in part to some of these difficult decisions.

Ms. Pupatello seems to understand that deeper deficit financing is not the answer, and that this is the start, not the end, of what is required. Yet she is not endorsing anything more radical than a better managed version of the status quo.

If elected, she may yet have to follow some more of Mr. Drummond’s advice and pursue more aggressive change: “Do not hang onto public assets or public service delivery when better options exist. Consider privatizing assets and moving to the private delivery of services wherever feasible.”

Ms. Pupatello has another advantage over her opponents, and not just in the Liberal leadership race but among opposition parties as well: She is an effective communicator, exuding a personal warmth that may help her sell the inevitably tough fiscal medicine Ontarians will have to take in the years ahead.

The Liberals have not really recovered since winning the last election with a minority. Mr. McGuinty failed to adjust to the party’s reduced circumstances, and allowed the opposition to define the political agenda.

Ms. Pupatello was out of politics during this shambolic interlude, and is largely untarnished by it.

With Sandra Pupatello, the Liberals will have focused and energetic leadership to make up for lost time and lost credibility. She is the best choice for Liberals.

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Watch this.  Take a couple minutes, and watch it.  If this woman doesn’t make you smile, at least once, you’ve got a stone for a heart.

When I finally got around to watching this, I just kind of knew that she would be Ontario’s next Premier. In a contest between your political head, and your political gut, the gut should always win.

This woman is a winner. And my gut tells me, now, that she’s going to win.

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Here.

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Not bad.  

Now, maybe someone on another campaign can call a reporter and complain about how mean it is to, you know, talk about it.

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Date: Tue, 22 Jan 2013 06:20:05 -0800
Subject: Sad life
From: thecuttingedge180@gmail.com
To: warren.kinsella@sunmedia.ca

Who do you see in the mirror I think its evil you see in your face

Comments (6)

I will miss her a lot.

It was a host-guest thing at the outset, but then we became good friends.  She brought the fledging network plenty: she was a journalist, with a journalist’s impatience for bullshit, and she was far less interested in opinion than in telling a good story – which is what the best journalism is all about.  She was smart, and she knew what she was doing.

I am very confident she will go on to do great things on the other side of the pond.  And that she will be back, as an even-bigger name, in no time at all.

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Interesting.

“May you live in interesting times,” sayeth the font of all acquired wisdom – ie., Wikipedia – is an ancient “Chinese curse.” As in, if you live in an interesting age, you’re not going to be terribly happy.

By that measure, federal Liberals who endured their party’s first leadership debate should be deliriously happy.

That’s because the first Grit leadership debate was not very interesting, and that’s putting it mildly. It was more boring than an Antiques Roadshow marathon. It was more boring than a week-long jazz festival.

It was boring. It was not interesting.

There were some attempts at making Sunday’s debate in Vancouver less dull, inadvertent though they were. The pitiless moderator, for instance, recalled Austin Power’s ‘Dr. Evil,’ but with none of the charm. 

For reasons none could fathom, the audio was also wildly out of sync with the candidate’s lips. It was like a Sergio Leone spaghetti western, but with none of the requisite carnage to keep you glued to your seat.

And finally, there were no less than five (5) contestants who could not recently win a seat in the House of Commons, but who feel that they should be leader of the Liberal Party of Canada.

They were sort of interesting, too, but only in the way that unbridled immodesty and sheer gall are interesting. You kept asking yourself: “Why do these people think they can win the country, if they couldn’t win their own hometown?”

Other than that, it was – as noted – coma-inducingly dull. Justin Trudeau was a little less dramatic than before (good), and Marc Garneau was a little more dramatic than before (also good). They both acquitted themselves well.

Now, we know what you’re thinking: “It’s better to live in interesting times, isn’t it? Better than being dull, no?”

Well, no, actually. Per the Chinese aphorism, being too interesting is still bad. Especially in politics.

Liberals, for instance, had a series of debates in 2006 that were highly captivating. They were extremely interesting.  Contestants like Michael Ignatieff, Stephane Dion and Gerard Kennedy went at each other hammer and tong. They were fiercer than a bunch of cobras at a sock hop.

At the time, they probably thought they were making things interesting, and that interesting was good. Except that, when the election rolled around, the Conservatives ran ad after ad showing the interesting Liberal leadership aspirants scratching and clawing each other.

Their message: “These clowns are more critical of each other than we are. Do you really want them running the country?”

Short answer: no.

Journalists, naturally, love conflict. It makes their bells go off. So, too, the Libs’ political opponents. They adore knock-down, drag-’em-out political leadership races.

Blood sells papers. And, for a Conservative, it’s always better to see Liberal blood spilled blood than your own. 

Thus, Liberals are being very, very careful this time around. They are disinterested in giving the media more prime time Grit fratricide. And they are particularly disinterested in giving Stephen Harper more fodder for TV attack ads.

May you never live in interesting times? Damn straight.

Those ancient Chinese sayings-makers knew what they were talking about.

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