Provincial Politics

Here is why politicians are held in low esteem

Submitted by Geoffrey Stevens on Mon, 12/10/2018 - 09:18

“Please don’t tell my mother I’m in politics. She thinks I’m still playing piano in a bordello.” – late Nova Scotia Senator Finlay MacDonald

Politicians, as a whole, do not rank high in the public’s esteem. Most polls bury them toward the bottom, perhaps a rung or two above bill collectors and telemarketers.

The chief rap against politicians is that they say one thing and do another, that they make promises and do not keep them.

Reflecting on good government in the Promised Land

Submitted by Geoffrey Stevens on Mon, 09/17/2018 - 09:07

Hon. Doug Ford,

Premier of Ontario,

Queen’s Park, Toronto

My Dear Premier Ford,

You won’t remember me, but I’m the fellow who wrote to you back in July to congratulate you and your valiant crew of Ford Nationalists on leading Ontario back to the Promised Land of the 1950s.

My admiration has doubled – nay, trebled – in the intervening months. Not only have you overturned everything the radical Liberal, Kathleen Wynne, stood for, you have put that stuffed shirt, John Tory, in his place.

Hop in your Edsel! It’s time to honour Doug Ford!

Submitted by Geoffrey Stevens on Tue, 07/17/2018 - 09:17

My Dear Premier Ford,

Please find enclosed my application for membership in Ford Nation.

It’s my way of demonstrating my enthusiastic support for the work that you and your new Progressive Conservative government are doing.

You are a man of your word. You promised you would get rid of that $6 million man at Hydro One. Boom, he’s gone, and it’s only going to cost $9 million. Good job, Sir!

Momentum lost, Doug Ford is reduced to promising Ontario One-Buck Beer

Submitted by Geoffrey Stevens on Mon, 05/28/2018 - 08:20

If desire for change is the most potent force in politics these days, momentum is the most unpredictable one.

No one can predict when momentum will begin to build, how far it will go, or when it will end.

Heading into Sunday night’s leaders’ debate, it was clear that momentum in the Ontario election had shifted, dramatically, from the Progressive Conservatives to the New Democrats. But no one could predict whether the momentum would be enough to carry Andrea Horwath into office, or whether it would stall or even shift again before June 7.