The False Ducks Blahg

     A big warning up front:  this is going to be political and it’s going to be about Canadian politics so if that turns you off…turn the page.  To my readers who live in other parts of the world or other parts of Canada, other than Ontario, I apologize.  I try not to be a political person in these blahgs but sometimes you have to speak up.  To quote Popeye “That’s all I can stands, I can’t stands no more.”  If you don’t believe me, check out this quick clip of Popeye saying exactly that. 

     The title of this blahg is also a tribute to Popeye-speak because he twists words to his own way of talking and I think he’d say Pollytics but I’ve changed it slightly to meet my own meaning.  Politicians can be so repetitive with their dribble and you get tired of hearing the same old promises over and over again.  It’s like listening to a parrot with a tic.  Now, I bet you get that Polly Tics reference.  At least, I hope you do.  I try to be funny sometimes but I’m not sure everyone gets my sense of humor. 

     Last week, the Premier of Ontario announced an election that will be next month.  The unfortunate thing about it is that it really isn’t necessary.  Premier Kathleen Wynne was forced into calling the election because she couldn’t get either the NDP or Conservatives to back her recent budget and when you have a minority government, like we have in Ontario, without the vote backing from one of the other parties, that’s the ballgame.  Her term should have lasted at least another year and we wouldn’t have to go to the polls until then if there had been some cross party cooperation.  Unfortunately, the leaders of the other parties also want to be Premier and think nothing of wasting our tax dollars on a premature election.  Who’s been voting for these people? 

     In the last Federal election in Canada, in 2011, I had a sign on my front lawn.  I know that other people had signs on their lawns endorsing certain parties but my sign denounced a political party.  My sign simply said “WE WILL NOT BE VOTING CONSERVATIVE!”  It was a clear message that I believed, and still do believe, that the ruling Conservative party has done nothing for this country and has been rife with scandal.  Of course, to be fair, there has been a good share of scandal linked to the leading Liberal party ruling the province of Ontario.  My point being, however, that I think it’s time for me to pull out my sign again and let everyone know which party I will not be supporting in the current provincial election.

     Far be it for me to tell anyone who they should vote for.  Instead, I’m going to tell my friends and neighbours for whom they should not cast their vote.  Prior to the current governing Liberals in Ontario, the Conservative party, under Mike Harris ruled from 1995 to 2003.  It was a dismal time and Mike Harris jumped ship in 2002 and left his finance minister Ernie Eves to rule as Premier for the final year.  The Conservatives ran on a ‘Common Sense Revolution’ platform and it was anything but common sense.  They slashed and burned many programs and robbed from the poor to give to the rich.  They slashed social assistance rates but 21.8% figuring that the poor were basically lazy leeches who didn’t want to work.  They even came up with some crazy food menu that they thought the poor could live on.  This crazy menu centered around discounted cans of tuna.  Meanwhile, the Premier and his party ate considerably well on the public dime. 

     The Conservative party also labelled most unions and concerned individuals as special interest groups and began to attack them.  Teachers and nurses stood up for what was right and the Conservatives soon found themselves losers in the 2003 provincial election.  Never again, the bulk of the province said.  We didn’t want these people breaking up our province and attacking the poorest of our citizens.  That’s when the Liberals under Premier Dalton McGuinty took over.  It looked like things would change for the better.  They did for a while. 

     I am not going to talk about what went wrong with McGuinty’s leadership.  He made some good decisions and he made some poor decisions.  Finally, he too, like Mike Harris, stepped down as Premier, and the Liberal party chose Kathleen Wynne to continue on as Premier.  Kathleen Wynne is not only the first female Premier of Ontario, she is the first openly gay Premier.  I think, on both accounts, it was about time. 

     Premier Wynne inherited a bit of a mess from McGuinty but I think she’s done a great job trying to fix everything.  I think she’s getting this province back on track and it’s time the other parties start to back her up.  In a minority government you have to have the support of the other parties to get anything passed or even to get anything done.  Unfortunately, Tim Hudak, the leader of the Ontario Conservatives, has gone out of his way to block everything Wynne has tried to accomplish.  He even comes out to say he will not support any budget she brings forward…even before the budget is brought forward.  His party is actually called the Progressive Conservative Party.  Non co-operation and taking a negative stance before things are announced is considered Progressive?  Maybe now you will understand the purpose of pulling out my old yellow sign. 

     Let me be clear that Tim Hudak looks like a weasel and talks like a weasel.  What’s the analogy here, “IF IT LOOKS LIKE A WEASEL AND IT TALKS LIKE A WEASEL, IT MUST BE A WEASEL.”  That’s not an insult, that’s a fact.  This man wants so badly to be Premier and he has even trucked out some of that old Common Sense Revolution clap trap.  It’s Polly with a tic all over again.  The last time he ran, he wouldn’t promise not to take a possible cut in social assistance payments off the table.  His new platform even talks about slashing government programs and trimming government ministries.  This is the same thing that Mike Harris did when he was Premier.  Let’s not go down that road again.  Just say no to the Conservatives! 

     As I’ve said, far be for me to tell anyone who to vote for.  If you eliminate the Conservatives as an option that leaves the Liberals and the New Democratic Party (NDP).  I’ve already said what I will say about the Liberals but I should say something about the NDP.  The NDP in Ontario is lead by Andrea Horwath and I think she’s got some great ideas and I have had great respect for her in the past.  I think I even voted for her in the last provincial election.  However, she was the one that really triggered the current election.  She has supported the Liberal budgets in the past by asking for concessions in budgets in order to keep things going.  This time, she said her party would not support a budget that many thought was a good budget.  Many of her supporters have even come out and said they don’t understand the stance she took this time around.  Maybe she wants to be Premier too and thinks she can fare better in the next election.  Good luck to her.  That wasn’t mean to be sarcastic but take it any way you want. 

     So I’ve been clear, I won’t be voting Conservative.  I’m not sure if my vote will be going to the Liberals or the NDP but at least I will cast a vote.  That’s another major problem we have.  Voter apathy is bad in this country.  So many complain and think that nothing will ever change so they don’t vote.  Shame on them.  If you don’t vote then you don’t deserve that privilege nor do you deserve the right to complain.  If you’re not part of the solution, you’re part of the problem.  Get out and vote…just don’t vote Conservative.