Tim made a brief reference to the Ontario race. Since that contest hasn’t been covered so much in these pages—and since the political significance of Jack Layton’s passing has been covered extensively—let me offer some perspectives on federal politics from inside the Ontario Liberal war room.

For those who still cling to the view that Stephen Harper is a Master Strategist, take my word for it—he isn’t. In fact, if Ontario Tea Party leader Tim Hudak loses on Oct. 6—and I believe he will—Harper is one of the three federal Conservatives who will share the blame.

Just a few weeks ago, you see, Harper and his hangers-on journeyed to Toronto for a back-slappin’, good-ol’-boy Conservative barbecue with far-right Toronto mayor Rob Ford. There, as someone videotaped the proceedings, Harper called for a Conservative “hat trick”—in effect, so that the same conservative cabal would run the province, the GTA, and the country.

Harper’s remarks were a disaster. The PMO scrambled, comically, to scrub the evidence from the internet, but it was too late. Ontario voters—female voters, in particular—saw what he said, and they didn’t like it. Hudak started a downward slide from which he has not recovered. Ontarians do not want the same wrecking crew running everything.

The second federal Conservative to hammer Hudak’s chances was Harper crony, and MP, Scott Reid. With his immense personal wealth, Reid bankrolled a coup against progressive Ontario PCs, and helped finance his Ontario Landowner Association pals Randy Hillier and Jack MacLaren. With Reid’s help, Hillier and MacLaren split the Ontario PCs into two warring camps. And Hudak’s inability—or unwillingness—to deal with the resulting rebellion led to his two predecessors, Ernie Eves and John Tory, to denounce the Ontario PCs. The party is now like the federal Conservatives in 1993—Reformers on one side, and truly progressive Conservatives on the other. Both sides despise each other.

The third federal Conservative to play a role in the destruction of Hudak—who, remember, had a double-digit lead over my party for a year—was his campaign manager, tobacco lobbyist Mark Spiro. Spiro, who advertised the fact that he was a member of Harper’s war room, approved the disastrous anti-“foreigner” strategy that has laid waste to PC fortunes in Toronto, Ottawa, London, Windsor, and anywhere else with a significant ethnic demographic. Seeing his party’s fortunes crumble, Spiro has frantically tried to erase the anti-immigrant xenophobia, but—so far—it hasn’t worked. One poll has placed the PCs in third place in Toronto.

There are still two weeks to go in the Ontario race, and we provincial Liberals are running like we are way behind. We will be relentless.

But if we get the honour of a third term, I believe that it is three federal Conservatives—Harper, Reid and Spiro—who will have helped us do it.

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August 2, 2011: Stephen Harper calls for a “hat trick” – for Conservatives to run the country, the GTA and Ontario. Almost every day since: Conservative operatives scramble to suppress any record of Harper’s statement.

Download this video, and share it with others before voting day on October 6!  You can download the file here.

Download also found here.

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Past behaviour is the truest indicator of future behaviour.  Also, this is one of the best Ontario campaign 2011 Internet vids yet, IMHO.

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…and, quite literally, she votes with him.  183 times.

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Which brings me, in typically circuitous and long-winded fashion, to my point: In 2011, with elections aplenty — federally, provincially — sometimes political parties are best judged by who their media “enemies” are, and not their media “friends.”

Um, no.

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SFH! Two other bands and SFH! A deejay and SFH! TIFF people and a bunch of actors and SFH! A film with SFH in it! Exclamation marks and SFH!

L to R: Ritalin Boy, Wink, Rayman. Not shown: sexy beat-keeper Davey Snot.

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He just had a little stunt at Queen’s Park.  Few noticed, no one cared.

What still interests me, however, is how BB can reverse himself on virtually any issue – even the ones he claims are closest to his heart.

During the mayoralty, he claimed to be incensed by the intolerant statements of Rob Ford.  Now, when Tim Hudak is the one doling out the xenophobia, he’s a-okay with that.

To wit, this:

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The story leaves you with a creepy-crawly feeling about Tea Party Tim – particularly the revelation that he and his brain trust (oxymoron alert! – ed.) were on the lookout for some pretext to go anti-immigrant months before the Ontario Liberal platform launch.

But the best part, hands down, is the cover. Ouch.

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Amazing.  When icons like this man turn their back on Andrea Horwath’s disappointing Dippers, it’s time to go back to the drawing board, I think.

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