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ONT NDP Leader Andrea Horwath will become Premier of Ontario
April 28, 2012 - 5:34pm
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She is making all the right moves - what a refreshing change in Ontario, and she can help Mulcair become Canadian prime minister as well.
Horwath calls for electric trains along airport rail link
http://toronto.ctv.ca/servlet/an/local/CTVNews/20120428/Horwath-calls-fo...
I'm not convinced of that yet. There's a long long way to go yet and plenty that could happen, like a new Liberal leader that might make that impossible. She's definitely doing better than any ONDP leader has in twenty years and that's encouraging.
I think she's great. Admittedly, sometimes I feel she sounds a bit less polished than the others, but in a way that's a part of her charm. She's simultaneously effective and down-to-earth at the same time.
(edited)
I had a good sleep and am a bit more optimistic today. I agree Andrea has a chance to be elected, but she really needs to fire away at McQuinty for this budget. I still think she should have demanded much more.
Premier Horwath - has a nice ring to it. Does she really want to inherit Ontario's financial mess? How would she avoid becoming the next Bob Rae?
I think the wieght of scandles is starting to tell on the Liberals. Ornge maybe the latest, and that story isn't done yet. There will be more headlines. And that's hung on the party as much as McGinty. I am not sure a leadership change will make that go away.
In the last election, I think people were looking for an excuse not to vote Liberal. They didn't know Andrea then, and the more they saw of Hudak, the less they were sure there was an alternative.
The possibility of an NDP government in the next go round is not outside the realm of possibility.
The mess Rae inherited from Peterson was unknown until after Rae had won. So, there were many expectations upon Rae that were unmet, whereas Horwath could become premier with more grounded expectations from the public due to knowledge of the current financial situtation.
Is there a campaign speech (print, not youtube) from Horwath still around from the last election that I can download? I'd like to read what she will deliver if elected.
So what we need to more really good MPPs in the house because you need to have a "front bench".
Hey, if Bob Rae could be elected Premier, then any ONDP leader could.
I agree with this. Surely Bisson, Gelinas, Prue, Marchese, DiNivo, Tabuns and Singh would be there. But I haven't been quite impressed with any of the new ones yet. Some have turned me off, (Mantha: nasty comments about fellow MPP Orazietti). Taylor, Vanthof and even Natyshak are quite frankly not front bench material. Armstrong, Forster and Campbell could do well with more experience. But it would be tough to have a really effective front bench with all new MPs.
Best of luck to Horwath and the NDP,sincerely.
Ontario deserves better than McGuinty and Hudak....But I won't hold my breath quite yet.
I don't know a lot about Taylor. Teresa Armstrong sounds quite able, but her main claim to fame seems to be "Politics is not a new venture for Teresa. She has worked alongside and supported her husband Bill Armstrong, City Councillor, Ward 2 for many years." And Sarah Campbell is no slouch herself; despite her young age she was able to ride her job as Howard Hampton's Constituency Assistant (and her election to the Kenora District Services Board) into the MPP's job.
John Vanthof's bio is impressive:
So is Cindy Forster's:
Taras Natyshak has done a fair bit:
I think they will do fine and correct some of the other one's need experience and time to grow into their political roles. It would be great if we were able to elect some NDP MPPs who have other political experience and in lower levels of govt like municipal and school board politics - it helps with the cultural shift to elected office, knowing and understanding goverance, and how it works - really works.
You forgot Jonah Schein
thanks Stock - yeah Jonah is front bench.
There's news of a recent dispute between the NDP and the gov't over what exactly they agreed to regarding the passage of the budget. See article here. Also there's a proposal from the NDP to end the impasse, reported here.
I'm sure crushing the poor even more as agreed is still on..
a plague upon all their houses
On the contrary, the NDP is sticking up for the poor and working class of Ontario and making it far more difficult for the other two parties to stick it to us in Ontario.
Delighted to hear it. What a load off my mind...
A softening of Liberal support will only help Hudak, a collapse would give the PCs a majority.
You're certainly right, TP, saying that the ORNGE story ain't done yet.
To date, France Gelinas et. al. have focused on individuals, which implies that future problems can be addressed by rooting out idle gatekeepers and active ne'er-do-wells who have managed to enter public service.
Surely preventive measures that can be taken to keep avaricious scoundrels out of public service in the first place, for example, by pegging payments to staff in government departments and quasi-government agencies to the salary paid to the Premier. It would be refreshing to hear Andrea & Co. advocating (and effecting) something like that.
I agree that there is a lack of confidence in Hudak (Witmer's departure seems to indicate a lack of enthusiasm for his leadership). I see Alberta's chosen direction as a more attractive alternative for disaffected Liberals (even Danielle Smith realizes which direction the horse is now running). Within that paradigm, Christine Elliott would provide a formidable challenge to McGuinty, as Ontario voters look toward leadership that works with Alberta, in the best interests of Ontario, especially when equalization transfers are renegotiated in 2014. Horwath's dilemma may be that Ontario's interests are now at odds with Mulcair's vision.
Jagmeet Singh's auto insurance bill is a prime example of the kind of safe pocketbook populism Horwath and the party now promotes which is going to alienate the base and probably not work out very well if it were to actually pass. Insurance companies will retaliate by raising rates so everyone ends up with some outrageous rate.
Singh talks about how we have tp put Ontarians first, not the insurance company profits yada, yada. Well let's face it the only way to significantly cut premiums is to have public auto insurance. The insurance companies will just screw around to avoid regulation.
The party which actually managed to win the symbolic (but given the anti-tax discourse in North America, it's significant) concession of raising taxes on this rich has stopped talking about this and has decided to focus on auto insurance instead.
My Guess: Andrea Horwath will not be the Premier of Ontario.
Just heard that Michael Prue shall be reintroducing Bill 114, aka Protecting Employees' Tips Act, soon. The Bill will add the following to the Employment Standards Act:
Information on supporting this can be found here.
Bob Rae got elected Premier because:
1) He was a smart, versatile politician who actually had strong abilities
2) Voters wanted a break from the back and forth PC vs. Liberal routine
And so does Andrea - also Prue is again standing up for the little guy and gal - WTG Michael!
Good news! Seems the government is supportive of this bill. link
the government also include transgender people as part of the Ontario human right code...i cant help but think it has to do with the rising popularity of the Ontario NDP.