So, to all my Conservative commenters who told me Dalton is toast…

…or that abortion “isn’t an issue,” or Harper’s “hat trick” speech was no biggie, what do you say now?

In a flash sample poll conducted last weekend on 400 decided voters, Ipsos Reid found that the gap between Hudak and McGuinty continues to narrow. Of those polled, 38% say they would vote for Hudak and the Conservatives if an election were held tomorrow, while 36% would stick with McGuinty and the Liberals.

And:

Those surveyed also believed McGuinty only fared better than Hudak in one leadership quality: someone who has a hidden agenda. The premier garnered 46% in this area, while Hudak came in at 35%, Horwath at 14% and Schriener at six per cent.

This was a large improvement for McGuinty who dropped 10 points in this poll compared to when the same question was asked last year, according to Ipsos Reid.

My, my. If you don’t mind, I think I will continue to pay attention to Tim Hudak’s dishonesty on reproductive choice – and on his desire to have the same political party run the GTA, the country as well as the province.

My, my.


Memo to PMO

Dear PMO:

So, does this rule apply to your Prime Minister, who came to Toronto a few days ago to call for a Conservative Party “hat trick” – so that the same Conservative cabal is running Canada, Canada’s largest city, and Ontario, too? Does the rule apply to him, as he tries to influence the outcome of the Ontario election?

Sincerely,

Warren

P.S. Here’s the “Conservative political dynasty” video evidence you tried to scrub from the Internet, PMO, in case you need reminding – you know, the “hat trick” stuff.


In today’s Sun: Bruno’s story

If you are Canadian, and if you have been to Toronto, the chances are pretty good you’ve been here. You might have even seen him.

He’s Bruno the barber.

Wayne Gretzky has been here for a haircut. Darryl Sittler, too. A framed photo of the famed Leafs captain is on the wall, by the single sink. “Go Leafs!” he wrote.

For 50 years, Bruno Villanova’s been here in Union Station, Canada’s crossroads. His barbershop is between the washrooms, not far from gate 3. If you’ve been here, you’ve seen it.

Every town has a guy like Bruno. Less than 20 bucks for a cut. Not bad.

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…and, just in case you thought the Ontario NDP weren’t dumb, too (updated)

Check out this, from Ontario MPP Cathy Crowe’s Twitter page:

What’s the big deal, you ask?

Well, “Cathy Crowe MPP” isn’t an MPP.

Perhaps it escaped her notice.  You know, that she wasn’t elected and all.

Or, perhaps, she’s taking cues from her leader’s moral gymnastics on the HST – you know, lying in ads about swiftly getting rid of the HST, when her platform makes clear that she’ll do no such thing.

Ontario’s NDP: where even the truth gets airbrushed.

UPDATE: wk.com gets results, folks!


No Con hat trick

Enzo weighs in – and he writes for a Dipper paper!

Not to overstate it, but a hat trick for the Cons – Rob Ford in Toronto, Stephen Harper in Ottawa and Hudak at Queen’s Park – would unalterably change the landscape for years to come, in my opinion for the worse. We’re already seeing what the Ford and Harp electoral victories have meant for the tone of public discourse.

Hudak seems to be relying, too, on the prevailing nastiness, saying just about anything he thinks will get him elected, even bending the truth a little when it suits him. Call it the new truthiness in politics. Say something often enough…  It worked for Ford right?

Hudak’s shocking meanderings on the energy file is one example of this. It’s easy to knock the Grits for rising hydro rates. Only, it was privatization, deregulation whatever you want to call it, of the energy sector under the Harris government, in which Hudak was a minister by the way, that caused the ballooning rates Hudak’s trying to blame the Libs for now…

The Grits, unlike their counterparts in the federal wing of the party decimated in the last election by years of complacency at the grassroots, have been dogging Hudak at every turn, playing up his double-talk on certain policy issues, (HST, all-day kindergarten, Green Energy Act) and getting nasty when they’ve needed to be. (See Hudak’s flip-flop on abortion; George Lepp and the mystery penis).

Grit efforts seem to be paying off, with the most recent poll showing Hudak’s lead shrinking.

 


London’s Burning, redux

Some of you didn’t get the punk rock reference in the post below. So, here’s the Clash song that I was shouting – in a Toronto-bound car, and at the top of my lungs – on the weekend, just before the riots broke out. (I should shout “I won the lottery!” too, and see if that helps.)

God, these guys truly were the only band that mattered.  Look at them move.