ONT NDP Leader Andrea Horwath will become Premier of Ontario

If what you say is true then i guess the next Ontario election shoudl be a great opportiunity for the Communist Party to sweep to victory in ontario..what are you waiting for?

Well no matter what NDPP says, I don't want a summer election and I don't have the beliefs about the NDP MPs which you suggest. I also saw a poll via the Star who suggests the libs would pay at the polls - big time and take the lion's share of the blame.

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Ontario Budget: McGuinty blamed for snap election, but Horwath’s popularity hurt, poll finds

Question: can the Ontario PCs accept donations from the cash-rich federal Conservatives? Or are there laws against this? I'm sure Harper wants Hudak in, and I think Rob Ford does as well. Not to mention virtually every large corporation inside and outside Ontario probably wants Hudak in as well.

Oh it gets better...

Quote:

 

Andrea Horwath puts a pragmatic face on provincial New Democrats

2012/06/17 12:00:00 

By Carol Goar Editorial Board, Toronto Star

 

By the time Derry Millar finished thanking her, New Democratic Party Leader Andrea Horwath seemed at least an inch taller.

It wasn’t quite an endorsement, but it was exactly the message she wanted the business audience to hear from the kind of person whose approval she needed.

Millar, former head of the Law Society of Upper Canada, partner at Weir Foulds specializing in corporate litigation, and member of the Ontario Judicial Council, had stature in the legal and business communities.

But it was his words that counted. Born in Saskatchewan, Millar had grown up under NDP premiers Tommy Douglas and Woodrow Lloyd and watched their successors, Allan Blakeney, Roy Romanow and Lorne Calvert, govern the province. Each was socially progressive but fiscally conservative, he said. And Horwath seemed to be cut from the same cloth.

That reinforced the theme of her breakfast speech to 130 of the city’s top lawyers, corporate executives, bureaucrats and political consultants. She repeatedly aligned herself with Manitoba Premier Gary Selinger and Nova Scotia Premier Darrell Dexter — and distanced herself from her Ontario predecessors, Howard Hampton and Bob Rae.

“My challenge is to turn the page of the NDP in Ontario,” she said. “I’ve tried to move away from a dogmatic clinging to ideology, to show I bring a different approach and set of standards.”

As an example, she cited her party’s budget stance. Rather than defeat Dalton McGuinty’s minority government, which the NDP has power to do, Horwath is committed to supporting it — with conditions. She proposed six amendments to his budget in April:

• A 2-per-cent income surtax on individuals making more than $500,000.

• A 1-per-cent increase in welfare and disability support payment rates.

• $20 million in additional funding for northern and rural hospitals.

• A $418,000 cap on the salaries of public employees.

• A $250-million tax credit for companies that create new jobs, invest in training or replace aging equipment.

• Transitional assistance for the horse-racing industry, which is slated to lose its government support.

Premier Dalton McGuinty grudgingly accepted these demands, allowing the 300-page budget implementation bill to go to an all-party legislative committee for clause-by-clause review. 

During this process, the NDP put forward — and surprisingly the Conservatives supported — proposals to remove five sections of the bill that would have loosened environmental regulations and privatized many government services.

A second round of brinksmanship is now underway. A final vote is scheduled for next Wednesday.

Horwath told the blue-chip audience she is willing to work with the government to reduce Ontario’s $15 billion deficit — but it will require compromise on both sides. “We’re prepared to be a reasonable partner,” she said. “We want to demonstrate we can govern responsibly.”

Her speech drew heavily on the NDP’s 2011 platform, but also reflected the new-found assurance of a leader who has held the balance of power in the legislature for eight months.

It also benefitted from her post-election experience speaking to business groups. Since last fall, Horwath has addressed chambers of commerce and boards of trade across the province. She knows they disagree with some of her policies (the high-income surtax especially) but she believes she can convince them she is a constructive politician.

Judging from the reaction of the 130 guests at the Weir Foulds breakfast, she is making inroads. She handled the questions from the floor knowledgeably and pragmatically. The comments afterward were generally favourable. 

Horwath will have to play her hand shrewdly in the legislature and keep reaching out to skeptical audiences to erase her party’s old image of fiscal profligacy. But she has a good sales pitch and she delivers it well. 

Carol Goar's column appears Monday, Wednesday and Friday.

 

Jesus. Comparing yourself to Darrel Dexter? It manages to get worse every passing day. 

oh, I so have to watch that clip BB - thanks for the heads up - I rarely watch tv - can't figure out how to operate with 3 remotes!

I saw the interview at CBC. Solomon was actually pleasant with her. Andrea stuck to her guns and clearly stated that they previously stated when passing the budget motion that they supported it going to the finance committee for an indepth review and there have been over 200 amendments made, including many done by Liberals.

Also, the truth of what the NDP agreed to was reported in the MSM and can be googled. McGuinty and Duncan are looking like overthetop two-bit politicians and not leaders at all.

Toaster nobody in my neighbourhood is talking "election" - odd isn't that Joe and Jane public are probably totally unaware of all this. I wonder because of total lack of interest that perhaps they may not be happy with an election in the summer.

Given their current third party status, the NDP are definitely punching above their weight and landing some good hits.  Not only did they get some concessions from the government on fair taxation and social assistance, they stick-handled the Conservatives in committee to tone down some aspects of the bill.  Great stuff.  Kudos to Andrea, our next premier.

Her most notable characteristics are that she's perfectly capable of throwing the poor under the bus of a brutal austerity budget and she's afraid to go to the people - presumably for fear of losing. NDP = no difference party.

Abstaining is an excellent way to show leadership.

NDPP wrote:

Her most notable characteristics are that she's perfectly capable of throwing the poor under the bus of a brutal austerity budget and she's afraid to go to the people - presumably for fear of losing. NDP = no difference party.

Hard not to agree, seeing as how Andrea abstained on this critically important vote.

They could have voted AGAINST the budget, Stock. Horwath looks like she's saying she doesn't want to be premier.

She just stabbed Mulcair in the back! Losers. I hate these Provincial Premiers. They all act like Liberals. Better be carefull or we get the same thing again. I am fed up. They can all go to hell!

Okay, I'm not up to speed on this. How did Horwath stab Mulcair in the back? By making the NDP irrelevant in Ontario? (that's the only guess I have for now).

Arthur Cramer wrote:

She just stabbed Mulcair in the back! Losers. I hate these Provincial Premiers. They all act like Liberals. Better be carefull or we get the same thing again. I am fed up. They can all go to hell!

How so? Probably the best thing for the federal NDP in Ontario is for the provincial party not to be in government and dealing with the pile of crap that is Ontario's financial situation (also the historical reality that Ontario tends to support different parties at each level) or for the provincial party to be blamed for putting Tim Hudak in power.

Those schisms don't exist already? Jesus, how long has McQuinty been Premier???   

I respectfully disagree with autoworker re "neutered" - considering everything it is the Libs who took the lion's share of their faux - call a election if I don't get my way. And your reference to weak leader, as "another" you must mean McGuinty because his numbers are in the dumpster with Hudak and only Andrea is super high ratings.

I don't think BB it was "because she was afraid of an election" and I think that is the wrong question. How about that Ontarians were not eager for an election in anyway. I think that if one triggers an election one needs to do so having some idea of the outcome and if it will be more positive. Personally I don't think it would have been.

After doing a Caspar Milquetoast by abstaining on something so crucial as a budget vote, I can't imagine the electorate ever trusting her with the reins of power. A black eye for the ONDP in my opinion.

I haven't seen any drop in the polls by the NDP. They have been at 30% in every poll for the past three months and nothing has changed and that is way above what they got in the election./

Boom Boom wrote:

That being the case, why is she afraid of an election?

Paying for a campaign would be more than a little difficult just now. It would be dumb to cause an election and then not be able to run much of a campaign.

No doubt there'll be plenty to gnaw on this BBQ season.

I don't know what makes anyone think the Liberals can win the KW by election. Governments traditionally LOSE gound in by elections even when they are riding high across the province and right now Liberal support is at 26% across Ontario - that is down a ful TWELVE points from what they got in the last election. On top of that McGuinty is personally very unpopular. Both the PCs and the NDP will have a powerful argument to make that people should not give McGuinty a blank cheque by giving a majority by the back door. 

Wow, tough crowd here.  My perspective is that she achieved some pretty significant things.  She got an agreement for fairer taxation -- specifically, a new surtax on the very wealthy (over $500,000).  Bear in mind that even the membership of the federal NDP chose a leader (Mulcair) who felt this was too risky a proposition to discuss now, rather than either Topp or Cullen who did promote this.  So it's a very significant thing, and she proved this can be a feasible and even popular move.  Further, she altered the stance of the government on freezing social assistance, gaining an increase in rates (and even a small increase in anything, particularly for the poor, from an austerity minded gov't like the Libs is significant).  Also some stuff was achieved in committee, as reported by Now Magazine.  Now Magazine is often critical of the NDP, so the fact that they aren't in this case is telling.

Doug wrote:

Boom Boom wrote:

That being the case, why is she afraid of an election?

Paying for a campaign would be more than a little difficult just now. It would be dumb to cause an election and then not be able to run much of a campaign.

Like Ignatieff did.  Instead, like Layton, she negotiated some significant concessions from the government.  She certainly did not merely sit on her hands, as some here have been portraying her as doing. 

The idea of causing an unpopular election just nine-months after you've had one (where you made significant gains from the previous session) would be an incredibly stupid gamble, especially when you've successfully been able to influence policy, and especially when you're working on rebuilding your finances and building a bigger funding base.  The Libs made 4X as much as the NDP, and the PCs made 5X as much as the NDP, during the period from Sept 7, 2011 TO Jan 06, 2012.  Specifically, the NDP made 955,342.51, the Libs 3,983,414.00, and the Cons 5,007,110.66. link 1