By Gerry Barker
June 4, 2018
Last week I learned details of the NDP plan to capture the Ontario Legislature and form the government.
This week, get ready for the NDP union-organized blitzkrieg in Guelph, supported by the big unions and their surrogates such as Leadnow.
In the past 15 years, successive Liberal governments in Ontario have pandered to the Labour movement. Organized Labour has achieved growing political power through changes in legislation governing collective bargain rules and regulations including donating millions to the Liberals.
Now Liberal leader Kathleen Wynne has announced she will not be Premier after June 7. She urges voters to support her candidates and send enough winners back to the Legislature to be recognized as an official party in opposition. Recent polls suggest that the Ontario Liberal party may be unable to survive as a force in the Legislature.
With the recent surge in the popularity of the NDP there are several elements that are driving this momentum.
The Liberal government passed several changes to the Ontario Election Act including banning non-profit incorporated citizen’s activist organizations from donating to specific candidates. Caught in that change were Ontario’s unions that, in the case of Guelph in previous years, have given substantial financial support to favoured candidates municipally, federally and provincially.
No can do any more.
The new rules increased personal donations from individuals of up to $1,200 with a portion allowed as an income tax deduction.
But what about donations from foreign-based corporations to the unions such as IFOR, one of Canada’s largest unions that includes the IFOR Media 87 group representing many members of the Ontario media.
Personal disclaimer
Now I’m not suggesting that the IFOR media union membership is biased toward the NDP or any other party. I believe the members are professionals and check their personal preferences at the door when they report for work.
The provincial media, particularly in Toronto, has reported slanted news that this observer would suggest was biased favouring the progressives and denigrate the leader of the PC’s, Doug Ford. I guess the business hasn’t changed that much since I worked in it.
The social media’s flood of opinion and commentary disguised as legitimate news presents new challenges for reporters and editors to separate the wheat from the chaff.
Let’s talk about the contest in Guelph where four candidates are working to be elected to the Ontario Legislature. As of June 2, voting for the NDP polling shows the candidate, Agnieszka Mlynarz, just a percentage point behind the PC candidate Ray Ferraro.
In any race that’s too close to call. Despite a poll that shows Green Party candidate Mike Schreiner leading the pack by 3 per cent as published in the local weekly, other polls think otherwise. The polling puts him in third with the Liberal Sly Castaldi, running last.
In my opinion, the union-supported campaign has strengthened the NDP candidate’s position in Guelph. This is because the labour movement in Ontario has mobilized manpower; electronic communications devices and even phone banks in those ridings that it believes can be taken.
The Labour teams have targeted 24 ridings they believe can be flipped to support the Andrea Horwath led NDP. If this occurs, Ms. Horwath will be Ontario’s next premier.
Again that’s like trading in your Chevy Silverado pick-up for a Ford F150 pick-up.
Supporting either the Liberals or the NDP will result in no change that the voters want in governing their province. The Liberals are toast and the NDP are no different describing themselves as global progressives. It’s is not what most voters want.
They want a change in government. Voting for a new direction that serves the needs of all Ontarians not just the progressives that have been running the province for the past 15 years.
The reasons are obvious. Ontario has lost thousands of manufacturing jobs that will never come back due to innovative engineering that eliminates jobs in all parts of the developed world. Also, the economy is directly affected due to the highest cost of electricity of most jurisdictions in North America.
An example of these devastating economic events is the development of much of southwestern Ontario as Canada’s new Rust Belt as spelled out in a recent article in the Globe and Mail.
The Liberal’s energy file is a disaster
The mistakes made in the Liberal energy file by signing lucrative wind and solar 20-year contracts with companies in which the government guaranteed a rate of 20 cents per kilowatt hour, more than three times the cost of nuclear and water power generators.
Add in the privatization of Hydro One, operating the entire power grid in Ontario has been a disaster with little recourse by the province’s minority share.
Nuclear power plants generate sixty per cent of all electricity needed in the province.
Voting for the NDP is like changing the deck chairs on the Titanic and expecting a better result.
Global news states: “Our model at this point has Doug Ford’s Progressive Conservatives ahead in 70 ridings, Horvath’s NDP ahead in 49 races, Kathleen Wynne’s Liberals ahead in four districts and Mike Schreiner’s Green Party ahead in one riding, Guelph.”
To secure a majority government, a party has to win 63 seats in the Legislature.
This would indicate that three of the four major candidates would be in no position to be part of a majority government. Voting for the NDP, Liberals or the Green Party’s Mike Schreiner’s party of possibly one is like throwing your vote away.
That majority number of winning 63 seats is impossible for the Liberals or the Green Party.
This boils down to the single most important decision for voters who want a change of direction in Ontario. Voting for the New Democrats extends more of the same social engineering programs that have led to the rejection of the Liberal government.
Add in the Liberal leader’s admission that her party will lose and in four days she will no longer be Premier only supports the theory that this is now a two party race.
This week, in selected ridings across the province, there will be an intensive campaign by union volunteers. The NDP campaign blitzkrieg in Guelph will work to elect their candidate, Agnieszka Mlynarz.
She is an earnest young woman who wants to play in the NHL before learning the game in the minors.
With all the sturm and drang of a hard fought campaign, there is only one candidate positioned to be part of the PC team to win a majority and bring change. The PC government will audit the books, reduce spending and grow the economy to serve all the people. It won’t just be the party of Doug Ford but the party of the people.
For these reasons on June 7, I am supporting the PC candidate Ray Ferarro, to represent Guelph in the Ontario Legislature.
Guelph Speaks 
Wasn’t it just a couple of months ago that the Liberal provincial finance minister supposedly had a balanced budget then with all the election promises made it became a $12 Billion deficit? Little wonder the Liberals increased the Ontario deficit from $100 Billion to $300 Billion in 14 years. The NDP are promising even more social engineering spending that will drive the province deeper in debt.The Green dude who, after he crossed the US border, managed to NOT get elected in 2 or 3 previous tries plops down in Guelph seems to match the definition of a carpetbagger. Just the type of MPP y’all need, Eh! Wowsers! Let’s support the PC candidate!
Now that Wynne has destroyed the Liberal party she’s asking voters to save it for her. We are lucky that she quit now rather than a year ago because her replacement would have had enough time to tell enough lies to save the party.
Does not any body remember Bob Rae days? How short IS our memory? Even many within the teacher’s union that voted him later lamented with regret. I know several teachers that openly admitted their regret of making the wrong choice. People tend to believe government provides. It does not! It only returns a portion of what they steal and squander the rest. Just ask Dalton McGuilty and the Liberal squander of Hydro money on a plant that was not built. The Liberals should, and I believe will pay dearly for that squander. Voters woke up when the bills started coming in.
Perhaps those who think the PC’s will fix the province should think back to the days of the Mike Harris PC majority government when the cuts and privatization led to the polluted water crisis in Walkerton, the gutting of the Ministry of the Environment and also the Ministry of Natural Resources. And in the words of respected MOE employee protection of the environment was set back by 50 years by the PC government. Mr. Ford’s and the PC agenda if they win a majority is lacking in many details,the rich will profit the most from his tax cuts, the working poor will benefit the least. Do we really need a trump clone as the premier if Ontario? As for the NDP it is difficult to forget their past mistakes in forcing employees of essential services such as nurses, police etc. To take unpaid Rae days. In the hospitals this resulted in the closure of hospital beds surgeries and longer waits in the emergency department. Are they trustworthy now or not? Who knows ? politicians will promise anything during the campaign to get elected.
All I know is that Mike Schreiner is ethical, honest and really cares about Guelph it’s people and the environment and unlike the other candidates he actually has attended many events in the city, delegated at Guelph City Council and walks his talk.
Laura: The myth of Mike Schreiner is his label as leader of the Green Party. It is a party that has never elected a member to the Ontario legislature. If Mike is elected he will be the leader of a party of one. He will be in no position to govern as his party will not have official status in the Legislature. He has run a good campaign and we can only describe him as the Maytag repairman of provincial politics.
I never mentioned that I admire and respect Sly for her years of service to the community and the Women in Crisis Howver it is unfortunate that she is representing the liberals in this election
At least with a Mike Shreiner elected there will be party of one in parliament who can speak up with the voice of reason during parliamentary question and answer period in contrast to the The PC’s who got elected and who, I suspect will be required to vote the party line no matter what their personal convictions are about the changes Ford wants to make. The news stories are talking about the populous vote winning the election for Ford. There are many elected past and present populous leaders who used their positions to push thru agendas without regard to the impact on all citizens not just the ones who voted for them. It will be interesting to see how he runs his party and our province. Slogans and promises of tax cuts etc. Are meaningless without some accounting for how Ford plans implement his agenda. Afterall Gerry you have written many times on this blog about accountability and public money, how it is used etc. By our municipal for example. So I hope that you will continue follow the money, to critique and comment on what is happening at the provincial level.