Ontario: yours to discover

Hey, all of a sudden it's the Ontario election. And here I am in Nunavut, where it is emphatically NOT 30 degrees. But I have been paying some attention.

Thankfully, John Tory has managed to do for the Tories through his misstep on funding for religious schools, what Mike Harris and his years of financial mismanagement, corruption, and hatred of all things good and decent couldn't quite completely do (which is why Tory tried to position himself as the 'anti-Mike Harris'), and eliminate the party from contention.

This is probably going to lead to a majority for Dalton McGuinty's Liberals that they don't really deserve. I don't really dislike McGuinty that much - like most people, his total lack of charisma and android-like demeanor make me feel very little about him. Which I think may be the new key to success in politics - the politician as Nowhere Man. But, dude, that health premium sucks. Not to mention the promises to close the coal fired generating plants in, uh 2007, um, 2014, er, eventually.

Earlier in the campaign, there was the possiblity of a minority government - that's definitely what the NDP were counting on with their 6 priorities, that seem to be written as a list of demands in a minority situation. The Ontario Green platform is actually worth a look - it actually has some decent details - I particularly like their transportation plan, for instance. But, since the NDP is running on a green platform to use renewable power instead of nuclear and coal, invest in transit, etc, I'm not to sure the Green Party has much more to offer environmentally, or otherwise, especially when their leader describes himself as "fiscally conservative". Fiscal conservatism, as mentioned above, brought a $6 million deficit to a province during a booming economy.

But none of my opinions matter much, since the Liberals will get to do whatever they want for the next 4 years. With 40% of the vote. Which is why the only vote that really counts on election day is for Mixed Member Proportional (MMP). Go to Vote for MMP for more info. (You could also go to the sad excuse for an opposing MMP website.) There's also this blog that is largely devoted to the subject, and is worth a read. Sadly, like most of the parties I vote for, MMP likely won't win either, because it's gotten no publicity, so people don't understand what it is, and McGuinty has set it up to fail with a 60% threshold for it to win. Sigh.