ONT NDP Leader Andrea Horwath will become Premier of Ontario 2

Andrea Horwath will be Steve Paikin's guest on TVO the Agenda tonight

http://theagenda.tvo.org/episode/203381/the-election-agenda-hitting-the-...

to discuss the reasons behind her refusal to support the Liberal government and the campaign trail that has just begun.

Afterwards reps from all four parties will sit down, along with Martin Regg Cohn Queen's Park Columnist for The Toronto Star, to discuss the campaign thus far.

Northern Ontario supports Andrea Horwath’s decision on Liberal budget says NDP

illes Bisson, MPP for Timmins-James Bay, said a new poll shows a clear majority of people across Northern Ontario agree with the NDP Leader’s decision to pull support from the Liberals.

“People in Northern Ontario have lost confidence in the Liberals and their false promises,” Bisson said. “Kathleen Wynne with Dalton McGuinty failed to stop scandal and waste and broke her promises to fix the challenges facing northern families.”

“The Liberal budget is a mad dash to escape scandal by promising the anything and everything,” Bisson said. “Just last week, the Liberals were promising the moon and the stars with a $1 billion commitment to the Ring of Fire, but it turns out that Northern Ontario will have to wait because the Liberal government would rather have a fight with Ottawa than get this project under way.”

http://www.manitoulin.ca/northern-ontario-supports-andrea-horwaths-decis...

NorthReport wrote:

Anyway enough about BC.

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So the Liberals are planning to privatize the TTC.

Horwath says Liberals intend to 'privatize' TTC

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/ontario-votes-2014/horwath-says-li...

In point of fact, already underway.

Watch the Liberals and the PCs run for the hills on this one.

Cowards usually run away from discussing issues, courageous people stay and debate.

Lets see the cowards run behind the "TV networks are in charge" nonsense.

Horwath calls for 5 debates as Ontario election campaign gets rolling

 NDP Leader Andrea Horwath is challenging her opponents to five debates in this provincial election campaign.

“I am calling on you to join me for leaders' debates on real issues facing families,” Horwath said in an open letter Monday to PC Leader Tim Hudak and Liberal Leader Kathleen Wynne. “I’m proposing a total of five debates with at least one focused exclusively on jobs and the economy.”

http://www.torontosun.com/2014/05/05/horwath-calls-for-5-debates-as-onta...

That was my impression as well - Wynne is firing blanks!

Liberals cannon aimed in wrong direction

http://www.wellandtribune.ca/2014/05/05/liberals-cannon-aimed-in-wrong-d...

Liberals are a more polished at this kind of deceit.

When photo ops backfire: Hudak poster child a ‘corporate welfare’ beneficiary

http://globalnews.ca/news/1311645/when-photo-ops-backfire-hudak-poster-c...

Ontario Liberals represent 11 years of reliable, experienced mismanagement

I’m a bit concerned about the size of the debt, since the one short period in which Ontario balanced its budget came after decades of similar deficit finance finally produced a crisis, causing a long, painful recession with  a horrific loss in jobs. It could easily happen again, especially given the Liberals’ whistle-in-the-dark attitude, but I’m from the baby boom generation that has been kicking the debt can down the road for 40 years, figuring our kids can pay the bills. Why change now?

I should be more like the Toronto Star, which could hardly wait for the budget to be printed before urging the NDP to support it, arguing: “Unless Horwath wants to play a high-risk game at the polls, this budget provides her with good reason to support Wynne’s progressive plan.” I can’t help wondering if they wrote that line themselves or bought it from a 20-year-old drug dealer. If the Star was carrying a similar debt to the province, it would be out of business; if it went to a bank to borrow more while admitting it can’t get by on an $11 billion overdraft, it would laughed off Bay Street. But the Star‘s been saying the same stuff as long as I can remember and is immune to logic.  The people who run it are part of the 1%, and it’s in their business plan.

So, as I said, I shouldn’t care who wins. But I can’t help it. I don’t like the idea that Kathleen Wynne and crew think Ontarians are so thick-skulled they’ll vote for the same people who caused all these problems, in the expectation they’re the ones to fix it. It bothers me that Wynne can’t bring herself to speak the name of Dalton McGuinty, while arguing that his Liberals – they’re all the same McGuinty people — represent the voice of experience against the dangers of  “untried” ideas. Better to stick with ideas that have failed rather than try something different, right?

It just seems dumb, when you’ve been cheated and lied to and misled and mismanaged for 11 years, to offer a vote of confidence to the cheaters. But this is Ontario. A lot of people read The Star.

http://fullcomment.nationalpost.com/2014/05/05/kelly-mcparland-ontario-l...

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http://www.torontosun.com/2014/05/04/leaders-hit-ground-running

mersh wrote:

Ok, so the ONDP have a bus. How about a platform? (And yes, this is from an NDP voter)

Have the other parties released their platforms yet?  If so, feel free to provide links.

mark_alfred wrote:

mersh wrote:

Ok, so the ONDP have a bus. How about a platform? (And yes, this is from an NDP voter)

Have the other parties released their platforms yet?  If so, feel free to provide links.

Well, the Libs have their last-ditch effort of a budget which, arguably, can translate pretty well into a platform. I was just hoping for something more than "irresponsible" from the ONDP -- ok, not entirely fair, as I did read through the April 23 or 24 statement on transportation which predates the election call. It's a start, but only just.

My concern has mostly to do with not having consistent messaging, let alone details, following a very clear action. I sense this from the various labour positions as well, as I certainly wouldn't consider CUPE Ontario anywhere near as accommodationist as Unifor, for instance, yet both endorsed the budget.

What I have sensed is a certain amount of confusion about what the ONDP is fighting for through this action. One colleague, for instance, is concerned that by accusing the Liberals of being irresponsible, the party seems to be taking a more conservative stance, while another colleague has received party tweets or messages that are far more critical of privatization of hydro, etc. I know there's more than just $100 hydro cheques out there, but I would really appreciate a clearer, firmer position that is readily available from the Web site -- not just the 2011 Plan for Affordable Change pdf.

I certainly never expected Wynne & Co. to deliver on the everyone-gets-a-pony (but not really) strategy. But having pulled the plug, I would hope that the ONDP have a set of clear, progressive positions ready to go. This is concerned criticism, not rejection, just in case I had to make that clear.

I don't consider the budget to be the Liberal Platform for the next four years.  The Conservatives have a series of "white papers", which may be the closest thing to a platform from any of the three parties yet.  Anyway, I'm sure platforms will come from all the parties eventually.

There was some discussion on The Agenda a few nights ago that may help clarify for you why the election is happening now.  link.  The two panelists there, one from CUPE and one from the National Post, seemed to feel that parliament was becoming dysfunctional.  Lots of squabbling, and so the parties simply wanted to go to the polls.  They talk about other stuff too.  Interesting.

Andrea will be on The Agenda tonight at 8 PM (5 minutes from now.)

Naive, moi? I see lots of good, leftish interpretation in this very discussion thread. I just with I could parse it out more clearly from the party itself. And yes, I do plan on attending Jonah Schein's bbq this Saturday, but be forewarned, anyone messing with me is going to have to get through a hungry eighty-pound eight year old first! (And thanks, Mark Alfred, I will try to follow up on your suggestions).

Maybe Quebecers felt they did not have a left-of-centre party thery could vote for.

Ontario, Quebec elections a study in contrasts: Hébert

When it comes to provincial elections, Ontario and Quebec might as well be different political planets.

http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2014/05/05/ontario_quebec_elections_a...

Anyone can take shots with the leader's approach?

What is your strategy?

That's great.

Does the Ontario NDP not have a website that can provde information on what the party represents?

And if you are unaware of the issues are, trying asking ask the people who asked you to help what the issues are.

They probably even have some literature available.

Andrea Horwath's Election Call:

                                Between A Rock And A Hard Place

http://ontarionewswatch.com/onw-news.html?id=745

While both Tom Mulcair and Andrea Horwath may be moving the federal and Ontario NDP in a rightward direction, the difference I notice is that Tom Mulcair is able to talk about social democratic values while Andrea Horwath does not.  I do get the feeling that Mr. Mulcair wants to maintain the base of the federal party while Ms. Horwath doesn't seem to care about the progressive base.  I get the feeling that her party is now the New Generic Party.  It's hard to distinguish her party from the others.

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NorthReport wrote:

Does the Ontario NDP not have a website that can provde information on what the party represents?

It [url=http://ontariondp.com/en/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/Plan-for-affordable-... certainly does[/url]:

Plan For Affordable Change wrote:

For the two out of three Ontarians who do not have a workplace pension, we will develop an Ontario Retirement Plan to provide a defined benefit pension to people who want one.

We will also work with Jack Layton and the federal New Democrat team to push for the expansion of Canada Pension Plan benefits.

Excellent analysis and commentary!

In Tuesday’s Sun: elections are good, not bad

http://warrenkinsella.com/2014/05/in-tuesdays-sun-elections-are-good-not...

NorthReport wrote:

Excellent analysis and commentary!

In Tuesday’s Sun: elections are good, not bad

http://warrenkinsella.com/2014/05/in-tuesdays-sun-elections-are-good-not...

Gee, the clock is stopped on the current time....

Is Forum gaming the polls in favour of the Liberals?

PCs gain as campaign begins

But their provincial projections for Ontario have never made much sense to me, as they have always under-scored the New Democrats to a significant degree.

When I plug Forum's regional numbers into my model (which means I am using the exact same data that Forum is using, with the same regional distribution), I get 45 seats for the PCs, 41 for the Liberals, and 21 for the New Democrats. It is very difficult to fathom how Forum can get the NDP at just 13 seats with 22% support - exactly where they were in 2011 - with the PCs up just two points over that election and the Liberals down almost five. In fact, I'd have to have the NDP at around 18% support before I'd project them to have 13 seats.

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Certainly, part of this is a product of our electoral system. My current projection gives the PCs a three-point lead but puts them in a tie for seats. We have seen real-world examples of this in Manitoba and Quebec. But the electoral geography is not so greatly stacked against the PCs that they can't win a plurality of seats without a much larger lead in the vote share. As a rule of thumb going forward, I'd suggest increasing the NDP's seat share that is estimated by Forum by 50%, all at the expense of the Liberals. Or just focus on the vote intention numbers. Those of us who don't work for the Star don't quite know how Forum comes to them, but their 'secret sauce' was the most successful in the 2014 Quebec election, as well as the last election in Ontario. I leave it to you to decide how much this blurs the line between polling and modelling

http://www.threehundredeight.com/2014/05/pcs-gain-as-campaign-begins.html

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19,550

oldv

The people who are so interested in knowing what the NDP represents, must be jumping for joy to hear of Andrea's suggestion for 5 debates, but mum's the word.

Funny dat!  

scott16 wrote:

as an ontario resident on ODSP, I know that the NDP supports an increase in funding but what is Wynne's opinion on ODSP?

I remember after the last election Mcguinty wanted austerity but to get NDP support he couldn't cut ODSP.

What is Hudak's opinion? I assume he wants it gone. Does anyone have any info on his plans for the ODSP?

All three parties have praised Frances Lankin and Munir Sheikh's report on social assistance reform in Ontario, however it's unclear to what extent each party supports their recommendations as a whole.

That report recommended a merger of ODSP and OW. Anti-poverty activists had [url=http://rabble.ca/babble/ontario/victory-anti-poverty-activists]just succeeded in getting that proposal taken off the table[/url]. The election now puts that victory back into limbo.

The report also recommended a move toward mandatory workfare for disabled people on ODSP. It seems pretty clear that Hudak is in favour of such a move. What's less clear is to what extent the Liberals and NDP agree with him. When the report came out, I recall there were many self-identified progressives who misguidedly saw this recommendation as somehow being a step toward equality for people with disabilities.

If you want to get a better sense of where ODSP is headed, I highly recommend that you check out the Disabled People Against the Cuts (DPAC) UK [url=http://ocap.ca/node/1148]speaking tour[/url]. It starts today, with stops in Sudbury, Ottawa, Montreal, Kingston, Kitchener-Waterloo, and Toronto.

Who is DPAC: The Cameron Government in the UK has implemented brutal cuts to programs for unemployed and disabled people. This includes a system called the Work Capability Assessment that has been used to deny benefits to thousands of people. Disabled People Against Cuts (DPAC) is an organization in the UK that has been at the forefront of challenging this situation. It has mobilized disabled people to fight back and formed alliances with community organizations and unions in resisting the austerity measures of the Cameron Government. The hated private company, Atos, that was carrying out the assessments of sick and disabled people has been forced to quit as a result of the powerful resistance DPAC and others have taken up.

Here in Ontario, we also face major attacks. Ontario Works (Welfare) and ODSP (Disability) rates are too low to enable people to pay their rent and eat properly. The Special Diet and Community Start Up have been slashed by the Ontario Liberal government. Under huge pressure from ongoing community action, the Liberals have promised not to merge OW and ODSP but the danger remains that they will bring in a UK style assessment system that would pose a huge threat to disabled people on ODSP. We need to understand what is happening elsewhere and how people are fighting back and winning against the attacks. Austerity is global – but so is our resistance.

Equality and equity being two different things.

WTF are you talking about?  It would be nice if you included the post.