Very scary article today about Hudak.
Tim Hudak's website says this about himself:
http://timhudakmpp.com/about-tim/
Tim's own life story and career path are a testament to the opportunities that come from being part of Ontario's middle class. Tim and his sister grew up in a middle class household in Fort Erie. His dad was a high school principal and his mom was a teacher. Tim learned the importance of self-reliance and community involvement from his parents and grandparents who originally came to Canada from Eastern Europe in advance of World War Two.
The website does not say that his mother was a town coucillor for Fort Erie as well as a teacher.
Today he called his upbringing "Normal."
"I was a normal kid, I had a normal upbringing, a normal life in university so I experimented from time to time with marijuana," Hudak told reporters. When asked when he last smoked, Hudak replied: "Quite some time ago."
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/story/2011/08/18/ontario-hudak-pot...
I could not care less that he smoked pot. What is disturbing is his concept of "normal" and "middle class." And, when looking at his website, his concept of self-reliance.
It is informative when a politician refers to normal-- an indication of the limits of their perspective. Hudak comes from a family where both parents worked: one as a principal the other a teacher and part-time town Councillor.
Principals make $90- $120k/year Teachers make between $50k and $70k/year. Fort Erie town Councillors make about $12 for the very part-time position.
That meant Little Hudak had a family income in today's dollars of something between $150k and $200k.
Terrifying if he thinks this is "normal." Worse if this informs his policies. People who make less than this should watch out for a man who does not understand you or think you are normal.
FWIW the median income in Ontario is substantially less than half of what a family with a teacher and principal would make yet Hudak's website claims he grew up in a "middle class' household where he learned "self reliance." Now that is the truly terrifying part.
How much do well-off kids in two-parent upper-income households truly learn about the concept of self-reliance? But Hudak says that is where he learned his concept of self-reliance.
No doubt that is an assertion that would give his immigrant grandparents (on his father's side) pause.
Voters who are less fortunate might want to consider what his concept of self-reliance could be learned in such a fortune-blessed home -- perhaps something like: "I'm ok, screw you Jack..."