Ontario Election 2022
June 03, 2022
Ontario Election 2022 - not a surprise?
Apparently that's what we wanted, no surprises, stay the course, better the devil you know, ya-da ya-da.
Ford peddled a Goldilocks pablum, not too far left, not too far right, just comfortably in the middle. Whether that's what we actually get will be another story. Somehow this defender of corporations is now also a blue-collar conservative party, that will magically cut taxes while increasing services, that will promote climate change and mass transit while building huge highways, that will care about our health while privatizing services and piling on user fees.
But with a boring middle of the road laid-back campaign, where the leader stayed hidden and his candidates were advised to do the same, Ford convinced enough voters that there were no real issues to worry their little heads about, in spite of his pandemic fumblings and soaring inflation. He left the Liberal and NDP leaders sniping at each other, as they split the opposition vote at 24% each, with both of them resigning last night.
Apparently, his choice was what a majority of us wanted, or at least 40% of those that turned out. Which was 43% of all eligible voters, our lowest turnout ever. Yes, 40% of 43% is not a lot of supporters, 17% in fact, but that's how the system works.
I can see the potential for a large number of unhappy voters over the next few years. But will they be unhappy enough? Will they have become critically engaged in the real issues and concrete solutions? Will there be a viable alternative for the majority of them?
Don Martin of CTV news had a good article on this - "A Basic Doug Ford Takes a Middle-of-the-road Victory Lap in Ontario Election".
Good insight, Mike.
Posted by: Scott Parsons | June 04, 2022 at 12:39 PM
The truth is that Doug Ford is not a conservative. He is much, much closer to historic Liberal premiers like McGuinty and Peterson than the current Liberal or NDP leaders are. Those other parties have moved so far to the left that an unprincipled trend-follower like Ford appears the safest middle-of-the-road choice.
Compare Justin Trudeau and his Liberals with his own father and his Liberals. Uneducated vs. educated. Unprincipled vs. principled. No plans or goals vs. huge plans and goals. No successes (except marijuana) vs. multiple major successes. As a party, the current federal Liberals are so far to the left of Pierre Trudeau (or David Lewis or Ed Broadbent or Jack Layton)) that they leave a huge middle ground for however leads the Conservatives.
So my point is, Ford's election is the direct result of the movement of the Liberal and NDP parties far away from the mainstream. The "solution" is up to those parties regaining their senses, not to the voters losing theirs.
Posted by: Joe Clark | June 26, 2022 at 10:26 AM