Ontario has voted and returned the Liberals led by McGuinty to the Ontario Legislature. John Tory of the Conservatives went down to defeat not only from the position of Premier of the Province but failed to win in his own riding. One of the lowest voter turnout in Ontario’s history voted down the MMP referendum which I’m happy to see go down. I just wish that more Ontarians had felt the need to add their voice to the referendum.
Tory has said he’s going to stay on to serve the people of Ontario. I’m going to be rather surprised if his party will let him stay on. He managed to take an election that by all appearances was his to win and lose it over an issue which wasn’t even on the public radar going into the campaign — faith based school funding. It took some of his own candidates who were facing the barrages at the doors to revolt before he modified his stand to promising to allow a free vote. Read the rest of this entry »
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In roughly 10 days Ontario will vote. We’ll either retain McGuinty for the Liberals as Premier or give someone like Tory for the Progressive Conservatives or Hampton of the NDP a shot at the helm. The polls at this point seem to be unsure if we’re looking at a majority or minority government.
The race for the main spot seems to be between McGuinty and Tory. If the province goes to a minority government, Hampton will have the balance of power, meaning that his support will be required to keep the government alive.
As in most elections, I have to make a choice between basing my voting choice on the local candidates or the leaders of their respective parties. This could change on election day if voters support a proposed electoral reform plan to bring in Mixed Member Proportional. I’ve already come out opposed to this proposal even though it would give me two votes, one for the local candidate of my choice and one for the leader. Read the rest of this entry »
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The Canadian Civil Liberties Association is the latest group to come out against Provincial Conservative John Tory’s pledge to fully fund all religious schools if he is elected Premier on October 10th. The Association calls for an end to the funding of Catholic separate schools. The move, if any politician was brave enough to back it, would be gutsy but likely political suicide.
The United Nations has called the practise of providing funding for Catholic schools but no other religions discriminatory. Tory calls his pledge to fully fund all religious schools ‘fair’. I wonder if Tory has even thought about a definition of what constitutes ‘religion’. That is a term that has to be harder to define than the word ‘terrorist’. For some, the two words mean the same. Read the rest of this entry »
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On October 10th Ontarians will be asked not only to elect their government for the next four years but to vote on whether to change our current first past the post system of elections to one called mixed member proportional. We will have two votes that day, one for each.
I’ve spent some time reading a range of websites on the subject of the referendum. One of the frustrations I’ve had with the first past the post system has been that my one vote determines both local candidate and premier. In many cases the local is preferred but the leader isn’t or vice versa. Election day means determining which is my stronger preference.
In theory, the mixed member proportional (MMP), which Ontario is voting on, would provide me with separate votes for local candidate and the premier. So, why am I going to vote against the referendum?
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