The voters of the PC Party of Alberta have just made a terrible mistake in electing Alison Leftie Redford as their new leader. Admittedly this was a tiny subset of the province’s voters using an insane voting system, but still, her presence as the head of a once great political party is nothing short of a bad joke. On the bright side, voters now have a clear distinction between the leftist policies of the PCs and the centre-right policies of the Wildrose Alliance. I have faith that they’ll make the right decision come election time.
A more pressing issue faces the voters of Ontario. Will they give Tim Hudak a chance or stick with Dalton McGuinty? If you are in Ontario, please explain what issues you’ll be thinking about this Thursday.
I’ve been trying for the past few weeks to decide what to do – don’t vote, vote for a fringe party or hold my nose and vote for the Conservative candidate. I might as well pile on about little Timmy Hudak who clearly isn’t ready for prime time. He lost me with his avoidance of the Human Rights Tribunal, the mosqueteria and Caledonia.
BTW Timmy – if you are reading this, your attack ads suck.
I think you’ve missed the point bryanr, the current bunch of misfits running the Ont PC’s are not conservatives. What’s the point in electing them? the Green Energy scam needs to be stopped but I have no faith in the PC’s of doing this. Why didn’t they have a platform? They’ve had 8 years to think of one, idiots! Vote for the Freedom Party, maybe the PC’s will learn something for 2015.
Here’s another thought.
In the last federal election, there was plenty that I wasn’t happy with Harper about, and I wasn’t shy about saying so (though I often got slapped down in the echo chambers of the blogosphere). However, when the election came around it was obvious that he was the only choice, and any outcome other than a PC majority government would have been very bad. So I voted, and donated, etc.
In this election, honestly I don’t see the difference in outcome to Ontario between McLiar and Whodat. So there’s no reason to withhold my frustration with the Ontario PCs. If they don’t get slapped down by both their supporters and their opponents, they can never get the message. They’ve been deaf to the grassroots for a long time, since before Tory. But if it takes 12, or 16, years for these fools to wake up, so be it.
Don’t count Hudak out. The “pollsters” and MSM say he’s in a “dead heat” with the Liberals. We’ve heard that one before. Also, the NDP candidate is quite likeable (even if she is as nutty as any other dipper). If she starts picking up support, then we could see vote splits which give the Tories close victories in ridings their not supposed to win…like what happened federally. I’m not high on Hudak, but I’d vote for a yak before I voted Liberal or NDP. I think we may all be a bit surprised on Thursday night.
Still campaigning for my local Conservative, and already voted for him in the advance poll. We absolutely need to NOT have another four years of McGuilty, so DON’T circle the wagons and start firing inward during the writ. Friday we can start thinking about party internals again, after digesting the results.
Participants in the “PC” leadership race actually had a choice, as far as conservatism, even if the vote was rigged.
In Ontario, electors don’t.
The “smart choice” would be to abstain from voting.
Just because Dalton is bad, his enabler(Hudak) is no beter.
Given that it was Ontario that gave us 3 stagnant federal minorities and are on their way to give one to Dolt-on McGuilty, the question about Ontario being politically stupid enough is some what self answering. As to whether Alberta is starting to get as stupid politically as Ontario, how many new voters has Ontario been sending to AB for the past decade or so?
Cuts will come regardless of who wins the election.
Caledonia is reason enough not to vote for McGuinty, though.
I see a silver lining. A Liberal minority (with or without the NDP) will end up wearing their unsustainable fiscal and social policies. The faster it falls, the easier I hope it is to build something new.
The bureaucracy is so ossified and resistant to change, that includes health care and education, etc, that tinkering around the edges is not going to do it.
Alberta has not voted – only the Alberta Conservatives have. Less than 50% voted for her and she was the second choice of enough to get enough first and second choice votes to win. What a stupid voting scheme!
And you Conservatives in Ontario going to vote for someone else – you forfeit your right to complain about McGinty’s enviro policies, Union pandering, tax increases and American bashing. You also forfeit your right to attempt to influence policy. Is it really a good thing to cut your nose to spite your face?
On the other hand, there is the “my daughter Miller” drinking game that Hudak inspires.
Alberta did not have an election and the Wildrose Party dropped the “Alliance” some time ago.
~Steve at October 3, 2011 2:05 PM
Thought I’d repeat that.
Alberta did not have an election, the PROGRESSIVE “conservative” Party of Alberta had a leadership race to determine who the new Captain of the PCAB Titanic would be right before it strikes the Wild Rose Party iceberg next year.
Former PCAB party members and conservatives such as myself didn’t bother voting.
It wasn’t worth the time or emotional investment after Red Ed Stelmach, a distant 3rd place on the first ballot last leadership election, won as most people’s 2nd choice on the 2nd ballot.
Virtually nobody wanted the guy but he still became Premier.
That’s how messed up the PCAB party was/is.
You know my only opinion on this is that albertan’s the average say 40-100k erners want a govornemnt that is less intrucivei n there lives more fiscally responsible and further to the right from all of the people i speak to (some i know so there for are conservative)even the onesi don’t know like the ones at the stamps game (between the scoring) were all for personal property right’s ie. guy breaks into your home you shoot him YOU are still the victim , one gentle men said “i’m no right winger but if a guy breaks into my home and i kill him the police should show up take a statment and remove the body and leave me alone”
I am fully endorsing cain now but rick perry made a very good point his goal was to “make the govornment as inconsiquential in your life as possible”
People don’t vote casue no matter witch way they do it it (being the govornemnt) get’s bigger and bigger and more and more intrucive .
I don’t like it danielle smith and the wild rose party are maybe liberal ultra light they speak out of both sides of there mouths like OBUMMER , one minute to this crowd oh yes we wil up hold section three , next minute to another crowd oh not we will repeal section three .
As a canadian i feel sooo trapped here because the govornemnt will not listen and for all the good that harper is trying to do or is doing he is still not far enough to the right , SHRINK THE GOVORNEMNT .
Lay off the bureacrats and set three year or five year terms . simple.
Why is that so hard why is letting people live and leaving them alone so hard ? well i guess will answer my own question because right now if you get into the govornemnt gravy train it is an easy free ride i don’tthink any politician should make more than 80k/year except priemers and prime ministers. It is a public SERVICE job any time you are serving you are doing it out of your heart ,so the money should not be there rightfully so you don’t or should not get into politics for the money but so many do casue they just greese each others palms by increasing pensions and pay and perks and all the other crap IT HAS GOT TO STOP!!!
iwill vote for the wild rose only because i have no idea who redford is and from what i here she is a liberal with no spine just like red ed .
So now albertas hopes for prosperity to be the only freest province in canada rest’s on the wild rose party ….How confident are you? and back up your reasons
Hudak was handed the pathetic McGuinty on a silver platter the same way Mike Harris was handed Bob Rae.
Mike Harris pounced on a badly wounded Bob Rae and shook the remaining life out of him.
McGuinty was on his last legs a year and a half ago, and Hudak had the chance to pull his plug a hundred times but couldn’t bring himself to do it.
Pretty pathetic.
If only Ontario’s Reform Party didn’t have so many members looking for government largesse….
Personally I’d like to know who’s running Hudak’s Campaign, why because who ever it is should be fired. Talk about running a campaign with absolutely no fire, energy or moxie.
Posted by: Rose at October 3, 2011 4:00 PM
Dear Rose,
Hudak should be running his own campaign.
A REAL leader would listen to his advisors, but make his own decisions.
A REAL leader would know what resonates with the voters.
A REAL leader would have grabbed McGuinty by the throat a year and a half ago and shaken the living excrement out of him.
A REAL leader would be leading.
Sorry, Simmy, but you’re still missing the point. Every vote for the Freedom Party is a vote for McGuinty.
rroe, couldn’t have said it better myself. If some here refuse to vote, or vote for some meaningless fringe party, then they lose any right to complain about the outcome. But then let’s face it, too many who post here are past masters at cutting off their own noses.
Every election this debate comes up, and all the purists flounce out their despair over the lack of “true conservatism” among what’s on offer. They show that conservatives are indeed their own worst enemies, refusing to accept even half a loaf because the whole one isn’t available.
So most of you here are demonstrating all too clearly why progressives have dominated Canadian politics for the last 50 years or so. What a lot of lazy-ass cowards; did any of you actually think of joining a party and volunteering in an election? No, you just want to sneer that nothing is conservative enough and thus all choices are equally bad.
Well Alison a lefty is standing by the Keystone Pipeline XL.
Ralph Klien was a redtory and he did an awesome job on Alberta for Albertans.
Now I wonder if Alison would in her short time in office before the election next year, is she going to stand up to Quebec. If she does that, she might stay on.
Besides, Alberta has David Rutherford talk radio who already has spoken to the new premier and by george he will be paying a lot of attention to her new ideas especially towards the unions. If David doesn’t like what he sees he talks and when he shows discomfort to alison’s coziness towards the unions- look out.
Whereas in Ontario, Dalton only has to do what he feels like and not a reporter takes him on.
Sorry Robert, I got onto an anti-McGuinty, quasi-anti-Hudak rant instead of answering your question:
“Ontario voters – please explain what issues you’ll be thinking about this Thursday.”
Well, I’m afraid most farmers will be thinking, hoping and praying that McGuinty’s promised “Risk Management Plan” for croppers will come to pass…even though there’s a better chance of me becoming the Pope.
And there are many of us – the ones who know what really matters – who will be thinking about the many opportunities Whodat had to stand up and tell Ontario’s rural folks that, if elected, he would give them the property rights legislation they so desparately need and deserve.
And we’ll think about the splendid opportunities Whodat had to bring up the massive debt McGuinty has saddled every public sector worker with…
And we’ll think about… f#$@ it! May as well go have a beer.
Every election this debate comes up, and all the purists flounce out their despair over the lack of “true conservatism” among what’s on offer. They show that conservatives are indeed their own worst enemies, refusing to accept even half a loaf because the whole one isn’t available.
So most of you here are demonstrating all too clearly why progressives have dominated Canadian politics for the last 50 years or so. What a lot of lazy-ass cowards; did any of you actually think of joining a party and volunteering in an election? No, you just want to sneer that nothing is conservative enough and thus all choices are equally bad.
Posted by: cgh at October 3, 2011 6:36 PM
Half a loaf? That’s not a loaf – that’s a Suzuki communion wafer.
Joining a party and volunteering? Any preferences? After all, 16 hours of volunteering for pink tories should be about the same as 2 days for the NDP.
Many of us did the ‘join-the-Conservative party’ thing in the past. Put up signs, went to meetings, stuffed mailboxes. It will never happen again.
The next time I join any so-called ‘conservative’ party, it will have the guts to make property rights an issue.
You go ahead and vote pink. I’ll stay home.
It would be better for everyone if this Country was brought to its knees quickly by the socialists than slowly and incrementally by pretend Conservatives.
Ontario faces economic disaster if the Liberals’ green energy program to date doesn’t get cancelled — a policy plank of Hudak’s campaign. Like California, Spain, et.al. it must be cancelled and reverse course adopted now is up to fifty percent of Ontario’s “economic recovery.”
The other “green energy issue” of course, is age inappropriate sex education introduced by the Liberals, regardless of parents’ consent and approval.
What’s the bet that interested parents will come out in droves, along with seniors, to keep kindergarteners and grade ones up to grade six or seven free from all sex ed discussions.
Hudak was right today in Windsor. Children need to focus on their ABCs, math skills and tying their shoes. The man’s right and needs support on both ‘green’ initiatives.
The kids stay ‘green’ while learning the fundamentals til onset of puberty.
The ‘homophobic’ charge is ludicrous — the Liberals’ last ditch attempt at getting voters to once again believe EKOS and Frank Graves.
VOTE HUDAK and Ontario’s more than halfway back already.
CdnBacon: “The people of Ontario are stupid, illinformed buttholes. …And all because they are so stupid they keep reelecting Canada’s worst politician ever – Dalton Scumbag McGuinty. I loathe the people of Ontario. I wish I didn’t live here.”
===
I’m with you man. Can you believe that most in Ontario believe John Tory is a conservative? Laughable. At least with a minority government the result is correct for the situation – NO WINNER.
In reply to Posted by: cgh at October 3, 2011 6:36 PM
>did any of you actually think of joining a party
YES. I am a member of the CPC and PC Ontario. I may have been one of the first 100 members of the Reform party in Ontario.
>and volunteering in an election?
YES. Every election. And in the last Federal election I donated 100$ to 5 ridings, and 391$ to the Ajax Pickering riding where we got rid of the scum Mark Holland.
>No, you just want to sneer that nothing is conservative enough and thus all choices are equally bad
Posted by: cgh at October 3, 2011 6:36 PM
WRONG.
Harper was not conservative enough, and I voted for him.
Tory was not conservative enough, and I voted for him.
Rob Ford was/is a bag of hot air, and I voted for him.
And I would vote for every one again. In a heartbeat.
But my seeing of this situation is that Hudak really is not in a league with those guys. He stands for nothing. He can’t express himself. He can’t enunciate a single conservative principle. If he gets elected he will first of all do nothing useful since it’s obvious he has no political courage or judgement, and more importantly, he will damage Conservatism in Ontario for a decade.
And… by the way… he is the guy who gave us religious schools as Tory’s policy plank, and who thinks that the Mosqueteria is just dandy.
I would have voted for the conservatives if I thought they needed my support to win in this riding. The local MP Jerry Ouelette will win whether I vote for hin or not. I don’t like the cons but they are better than the libs. I was going to vote for the freedom party, but I googled the local candidate and he is some 25 year old pot head cannabis advocate, so I voted for the Libertarian Party in an advanced poll. I will be travelling to the fall moose hunt on election day.
The Alberta PC Party decision may have great benefits. It has clearly parted the waters in demonstrating that the Conservative government has been taken over by progressives. At the next election Albertans will have a very clear choice as to what direction they want their province to go.
“If you are in Ontario…you’ll be thinking …” that assumes a lot from those folks. I personally think Ontaririo is pooched.
Good leaders don’t want to work in the public sector; they want to EARN a living.
There’s a dearth in political leadership everywhere.
old lori and like minded – your pretense at undiluted conservative idealism is very, very stupid and the very reason the libranos have a steel handled grip on Ontario. Well, among the reasons Ontarions are that ‘uptight’ and looking down the bankruptcy tube without any light at the end of the tunnel.
Hudak spoke to the green energy issue in the debate and McGuinty outright said he (Hudak) would cancel it. By that statement, it’s still pullable. Hudak stated their negligible production (a quarter of one percent).
There’s no way Ontarions are doing the John Tory redux. They can’t possibly be that stupid. It’s a few days off now and the turnaround can happen, BEFORE it’s too late…
To be honest I never even heard of this Women before she showed up. Just like the peanut farmer & the Community organizer. We all know the end of these tales.
Nope.
Jamie MacMaster at 7:39pm:
“It would be better for everyone if this Country was brought to its knees quickly by the socialists than slowly and incrementally by pretend Conservatives.”
Yup. It’s gonna get worse before it can get better.
As far as I can tell, Timmy is timidly suggesting that he’ll cut taxes and spend more. Judging by his performance during the campaign, he’ll fastidiously not do anything that might upset the the unions and the press. (Not that they’ll reciprocate – they’ll still describe him as a mean, tea-bagging radical.) The most likely outcome of a Hudak government would be a province deeper in debt, with the PC party having torpedoed any fiscal credibility it might have had. (See Republican party, circa 2008)
In my riding they’re running a candidate described by the Citizen as “one of the reddest Tories you’re likely to find.” The Libertarian candidate hasn’t got a chance, but I’ll enjoy voting for him.
So sad not to have a clear choice and to have to hold your nose to vote.
Let’s see my options:
Hey, who are these Freedom Party guys?
Every vote for the Freedom Party is a vote for McGuinty.
cgh at October 3, 2011 6:36 PM
Every vote for Hudak is a vote for progressives.
I like Paul McKeever. He has my vote, and let Ontario get exactly what it deserves.
And when the ship starts to sink, better Dalton at the wheel than some guy wearing a blue flag.
Thanks to Vίtruvius’s election predictor Ve = (C-L)x(C+L)/100, using recent polls I get a Ve of 0.8, which in Ontario elections matches a seat result of -14 for the Conservatives vs. all others (i.e. Libranos plus Dippers will have 14 seats more than the PCs). Result: Librano minority propped up by the Dippers.
I reserve the right to modify this if the polls change.
I’m not taking the Freedom Party seriously. Their leader, Paul McKeever talks pretty good, with some fiscal conservatism and societal libertarianism, whch is appealling, but the party itself is a bit of a joke.
That’s not the point. I want the PC Party of Ontario to wake up Friday morning and see thousands of votes given to the Freedom Party that should have legitimately been Conservative votes. And at some point maybe this will be one more thing that will cause the PC Ontario
“brain trust” to get their head out of their a$$ses, and stop and think about what kind of platform they want to run on next time.
Do I think that this type of protest vote will make a big difference? No, but a single vote never does. So if I worried about the impact of my one lonely vote I’d probably never vote anyway.
The “conservatives” of Canadian politics can only take me for granted to a certain point, but an epic failure of a campaign and of a leader like Hudak needs to be punished.
And if that sounds petty or foolish to someone, I would retort that had I thought that Hudak being elected would actually make a difference in Ontario, I’d probably still hold my nose and vote for him. But I can’t see what kind of a difference he would make except to make things worse for Conservatives in the future.
Lori, a FP vote is a vote for McGuinty. A Star article cited fifty seven percent of Ontarions (57 percent) have indicated a change in government is needed.
That’s a voter intention stat and your ‘protest vote’ is stupid beyond the definition of stupid.
Graves is more than likely to look like the same idiot he proved himself after the federal election.
These ‘hatchet jobbers’ along with the Liberal record has to be taken down.
Hudak has spoken to the issues. You weren’t listening.
Hudak will do more than a decent job. In fact, beyond expectations. Breaks happen unexpectedly…
One doesn’t have to hold one’s nose. That’s far from the case.
If the polls are to be believed, and I’m not sure they should be. Ont. may be sleepwalking to a disaster, a Lib-NDP arrangement.
It is insanity to subsidize wind power at 4 times the cost of other sources, guarantee to purchase all that is generated, then dump it in the US for a loss. There is no shortage of power currently, no requirement for useless wind turbines.
Wind power can never “replace” any fossil source, it is too erratic and unreliable. It cannot even lessen Co2 emissions when all backup generation is accounted for.
Paving all agricultural land in SW Ont. over to Turbine power plants still could not hasten the closing of Nanticoke coal plant. McGuinty has been promising that for 3 elections. All that could replace are is gas fired plants, and he refuses to build them, at least in urban Ont.
This is not energy policy but simplistic wishful thinking.
The AB PC leadership election is a strange process. You can buy a membership at the poll and vote right away. All you have to do is show proof you live in the constituency. I worked one of the polls and we had lots of people who brought friends back and got them to buy memeberships and vote. In the morning almost everyone who voted bought a membership before voting. They were all new members. Between the first and second ballot the word went out to the unions to vote for Allison and they came out in droves.
All of the candidates were left leaning, even Ted Morton. He had campaigned the first time as a right winger but over the course of the Stelmach years he showed his true pink colours. His supporters left long ago for the Wildrose. I voted for Allsion because she is the furthest left of all the lefties and we now have a clear distinction between the Red Tories and the small c Wildrose and while I am still a PC member come next election I will be working for the Wildrose.
“It is insanity to subsidize wind power at 4 times the cost of other sources, guarantee to purchase all that is generated, then dump it in the US for a loss.”
No its not. Its a kickback scheme. Perfectly logical, once you realize they are STEALING THE MONEY.
I just got off the phone after wishing my brother in Airdrie a happy birthday and he and his wife voted in the PC leadership campaigns.
They were PC supporters at one time, but are now Wildrose supporters. They purchased PC memberships to vote for Morton even though they knew he has gone to the “dark side” as my brother put it. In fact, they and their three married children all support Wildrose.
The AB PC leadership election is a strange process. You can buy a membership at the poll and vote right away.
[…]
I voted for Allsion because she is the furthest left of all the lefties and we now have a clear distinction between the Red Tories and the small c Wildrose and while I am still a PC member come next election I will be working for the Wildrose.
~Steve_Calgary at October 3, 2011 10:57 PM
The PCAB memberships my wife and I had haven’t been renewed since the last leadership race.
All the money from those new membership dues are going into the PCAB warchest to help them in their election next year.
Joh g I disagree with you about Hudak. He is not a media star, but I think he is a solid politician. The campaign has been dismal — on all sides. There has been little focus on important issues. I do not blame Hudak for this — more media going after typical gotcha stories. Anyway, true, Hudak could have performed better in the campaign, but I am not so sure as you that he has lost the election.
I hope that Preston Manning is right in his prediction regarding the CINO party in Alberta and it will be a WR sweep in the next provincial election. Alberta is curious in that elections seem to be an all or nothing event; the SC party was wiped out completely when the Conservatives came to power in the early 1970’s and I expect the CINO’s that they’ve become will suffer the same fate.
Now if the WR party is thinking of expanding to BC, I’d be happy to buy a membership.
Although I’m not that impressed with Hudak and cabinet minister, Michael Gravelle, has been a hard working MPP, I’ll hold my nose and vote for the PCs. Bring back Mike Harris!
i’ve worked on local campaigns for conservatives in every riding i’ve lived in for 30 years.
always voted PC, Yukon Party, Reform, CA, CPC, and PC again.
my heart and soul wants to vote Freedom Party. but my pocket book can’t afford to risk allowing the liberal in my riding to pick up a seat.
after the dust settles next week, i’ll likely start working for my local FP riding association.
Good luck Alberta Rose…
as for Tim Hudack, he was so desperate to NOT be labeled Mike Harris Lite [I wish!], that he sold himself as Dolton McGoofy Lite.
Sad, sad, sad…
Maybe Robbie Ford can step up once he whips Toronto into shape.
i’d love to see the exploding heads at One Yonge Street as Robbie scoffs down ribs at the Premier’s BBQ…
interesting analysis of why the race is close:
http://canadiancincinnatus.typepad.com/my_weblog/2011/10/the-ontario-election-the-contest-that-shouldnt-be-close.html
No
Glenn says “Premier Rob Ford”
Hmmmm….yeah, sure, why not?!
I could go for that one.