“For a so-called advanced civilization – where we speed around in high-tech cars below skyscraping architectural marvels – people can be awfully uncivilized. And according to a Toronto etiquette expert, its only getting worse.”

I’m on my way to give a speech to a few trade unions, but the above story had me laughing out loud. Among other things, how do “experts” measure this stuff? “Day 15: Am in week two of scientific study of rude Torontonians in the wild. Just this morning, the team observed a banker loudly slurping a latte at bus stop in Leaside. Have captured and sedated the specimen. Could be a breakthrough.”

Anyway, my “expert” analysis is that (a) you can get a student loan for just about anything, these days and (b) the friendliest (and therefore most courteous) folks are in the Atlantic provinces. Least friendly place I’ve lived? Vancourver, by a long shot.

There, I have now impolitely set off an Internet stink bomb. What’s your view, O ye civilized wk.com readers?

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They’re just like the Tim Hudak’s Ontario PCs – they say one thing, and they do another.  Whiplash-inducing reversals don’t begin to describe either of them.

Hudak said he’d “stop the HST in its tracks,” quote unquote.  Now he has admitted he will keep it, in the unlikely event he is ever elected.

Horwath, meanwhile, is just as bad.  Remember her web site, www.unfairtaxgrab.com, which she promoted all over the place, including in slick commercials, and which was accompanied by a petition and whatnot?

Well, as the screen grab below shows, it’s now gone. It’s been airbrushed out of existence.  So, too, her previous opposition to the HST, which she said she’d “cancel,” quote unquote.  Now she’s all for keeping it.

 

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A very smart friend just remarked:

“The Ontario PCs and NDP are trying to offer status quo and change at the same time. Politically, that won’t work.

“People don’t like everything you guys have done. But they know that the things that matter are heading in the right direction. I think you’re going to win.”

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Clip and save, from a regular reader.

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Here.

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I’m no Bob Rae bestie, and vice-versa.  But it seems to me his job description is pretty straightforward:

1. Show a pulse.
2. Get noticed in the media as much as you can.
3. Be ready for opportunity when it comes.

And that’s it.

Free advice for Grits from pollsters and pundits is worth what you pay for it: nothing.  Stick to the three points above; they’re simple and do-able.

Rae’s doing what he needs to do.

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…just in case you think I’ve moderated my view from last Summer.

Rob Ford is a bloody fool. He isn’t fit to be mayor.

He knows, and we know, that he isn’t skipping Pride to be at the cottage. So why doesn’t say what he really thinks about Torontonians who aren’t like him?

C’mon, big guy. Be true to your convictions. Your “Ford Nation” awaits your wisdom.

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“We cannot remember encountering such an aggressively stupid political campaign as the Progressive Conservatives are currently running.”

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“…the Liberals have raised some important questions about how a Hudak government can deliver gain without pain…Surprisingly, the Tories count on private sector forecasts to show an extra $500 million windfall from higher annual tax revenues by 2017. Who knew that the PCs had such confidence in the Liberal fiscal plan for economic recovery?  The Tories also fail to account for key campaign promises, the Liberals claim: 200,000 new apprenticeship spaces would cost an extra $200 million annually; improved student aid would add another $40 million; tax credits for language training could cost $60 million.  Then there is a Tory plan to cut 2 per cent annually from everything except health and education. That adds up to $600 million in their first year in power, reaching $2.3 billion in cuts by their fourth year, which the Liberals keep warning will be painful — especially if the cuts stray into health and education…In their hastily convened counter-briefing yesterday, the Tories tried to explain everything. And while they offered a few clarifications on spending timelines, they had a hard time justifying the removal of the DRC from hydro bills (acknowledging that the debt is still there)…The auditor is expected to release his verdict later this month on the Liberals’ latest budget. If he finds the government’s cost constraints are tight, it will only increase the skepticism about how a future PC government would do it any better.”

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