Today, Globe and Mail Queen’s Park columnist Murray Campbell discusses the McGuinty campaign’s blasé attitude in the face of stagnant polls:
Dalton McGuinty’s suggestion yesterday that he’s comfortable with voters handing him a minority government is interesting enough. But the Liberal Leader’s admission that he has no intention of changing his campaign style in the face of such a verdict is astonishing.
It’s another indication that the Liberals are, in effect, navigating without instruments in the Ontario election campaign by ignoring the unpopularity of their leader.
This is an uncomfortable truth for the Liberal Leader’s loyal coterie, but the fact is that he is disliked by lots of people who voted for him last time. Perhaps it’s his health tax, perhaps it’s the way he comes across on television, but it’s undeniable.
Mike Harris was widely disliked, too, but he had a reputation for doing what he said he would do and he won a second mandate. Mr. McGuinty’s record means that many voters simply don’t believe him when he makes pledges for the next four years. And yet the Liberals have put him front and centre in this campaign. He alone is featured in party ads and his cabinet team, which is as strong as they come, is rarely called upon for support.
Campbell finishes off by saying, “Unless he finds a second gear for his campaign, Mr. McGuinty could be encountering that iceberg on his own.”
That iceberg may have come in the guise of long-time Toronto Liberal MPP and community safety minister Monte Kwinter, who has reiterated his support for funding faith-based schools. Kwinter was quoted yesterday in the North York Mirror:
…Kwinter was the only member of the Liberal caucus to vote with the last conservative government for a tax credit for faith-based schools. “Constituents in my riding supported it, and I’m their representative so I supported it,” he said. “Certainly I would be a hypocrite to say that suddenly I don’t think that it’s something that should be done.” Kwinter noted he has six grandchildren in faith-based schools.
Kwinter’s words are exceedingly careful, but they are analogous to PC MPP Bill Murdoch’s statement earlier this week that, based on his constituents views, he could not vote for faith funding at this time. Over to you, Premier Pinocchio.
5 comments:
If you check the records, Michael Bryant and Kathleen Wynne also supported funding for faith-based schools.
As early as this past April MPP Peter Fonseca made a motion in the house opposing using public money for private schools. Only 6 Liberal MPPs bothered to show up to support the motion. Who were they? Who went missing? Most importantly WHY did they not support Fonseca? It's because they didn't want to offend the private school supporters and religious schools existing in their ridings.
McGuinty's converted stance against funding for religious schools is expedient for the moment because he's mindful of union ire.
Tango Juliette sez:
Good shots here JT:
Get a grip folks! Puh-LEEZE!!
Religion? Superstition?
Who cares what YOU think it is? Who cares what I think it is?
The ONE thing that this Preem McGuinty DOES have, according to the UN, is one hell of an inequitable and unjust system of educational funding, as well as extremely unfair employment situations for non-catholic teachers, in Ontario.
Let’s not forget: this politician, Dalton, attended the Separate School System, his kids go to it, his wife teaches in it, and I think that the Ont Lib Party Whip is a former Principal within the Catholic system. Only Catholic educators have the distinction of being able to teach in EITHER school system. The same rarely applies to non-Catholic teachers.
But we’re all buying into the McGuinty spin and we’re all starting to sound like we’ve been drinking their Kool-Aid, ‘cause we’re starting to spout a lot of their garbage. And this Pinnochio premier is the very same one on record as having been in favour of this sort of a move some few years back.
Yes -- lest our memories are as short as our loyalties, Dalton is the politician who was for this move before he was against this move. And Dalton was the politician who tried moving heaven and earth, and attempted to move the mountain to Mohammed, when he almost succeeded in bringing Sharia Law to Ontario.
And now we’ve got Ontario Conservatives declaring their willingness to start abandoning ship because of this weasel-ish Liberal yahoo?
Puh-LEEZE!!
Scrappy John Tory is running in a riding currently held by this Lib government’s biased Minister of Education. He obviously feels strongly about this issue. We should all be supporting him, and we should all be doing our damndest to overthrow the arrogant “segregationist”, Dalton.
Joan, more and more I think that there should be a free vote on this. Kwinter sure is good news for the Tories though. Very good news indeed.
Scrap that Joanne - Kwinter was just on Global and he TOO has changed his mind and is now AGAINST funding for faith based schools.
What the heck do these Liberals stand for? They change their minds as often as I change my underwear.
That is disgusting!
Does anyone have a link to the Flip-flopper?
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