Update

I have been recently approached to write a weekly column for the Prince Arthur Herald.  I look forward to contributing my opinions on various political topics.

Seems we've encountered issues with our Internet service provider so I may not be posting until after October 1st when we've moved to our new place.  May I suggest to NEVER get your phone or internet with Techsavvy, ever.

Lessons Learned from My Premier Daddy Dalton

Since moving here to Ontario in 2006, these are some of the things that Premier Daddy Dalton has taught me:

• Never tell the truth.  Only tell people what they want to hear, things that sound nice and warm and fuzzy.
• Never take responsibility for your actions.  Blame it on someone else.
• Never stand up for what is right. It's far better to be soft and gooey so you can move easily where the political popularity tide takes you.
• Put your fingers in your ears and yell "la la la la, I can't hear you!"  When someone asks you to defend your decisions to others.
• Always be willing to compromise, no matter what.  When someone asks you for something, no matter how expensive, always give it to them without question.  Better to appease than to annoy.
• Always do what is best only for the people that vote for you and dish out money to get you elected.
• Never do what you say and never say what you mean.
• Always so things in a such a way to avoid unnecessary criticism and debate.
• It's perfectly acceptable to insult and degrade others who do not share your point of view or support what you want to do.
• Facts are really just opinions that can be manipulated to work to your advantage.
• The answer to everything is always to spend more money.
• It's your money, not their money.
• Never plan for the future, live in the here and now.  
• Let someone else clean up your mess, why should you have to worry about it?
• There's no such thing as a boondoggle and scandals do not exist, therefore there is no reason to worry.
• It really is possible to get blood from a stone.  The same can be said for taxpayers.
• D-words like deficit and debt are like flies.  All they need is a swat or two in their direction and they go away on on their own.
• Do whatever it takes to stay in power.  Everything you do or say to this effect are therefore perfectly justifiable.

Charles Adler on Dalton McGuinty's anti-Canadian platform

Hudak too soft, fire needs to be lit under his arse

That's the sentiment of Ontario PC supporters calling in to the Lowell Green show today on CFRA news talk radio.

Lisa McLeod has a fire lit under her arse, but Hudak (according to the callers) isn't getting fired up enough, he's playing it safe and not wanting to risk offending anyone.  Lowell states that its pretty darn hard to build up a constituency that way.

The PC party is not getting personal when they should be.  Example, the dietary allowance that Dalton cut from MS sufferers such as Brandon McCarthy who weighs 67 pounds.  Liberal MPP Madeleine Meilleur appeared on CFRA as a result of this funding cut and her response was she doesn't give a damn.  Hudak is letting things like this slide when its issues like these that reach people and get them fired up, according to Lowell.

Should we be worried about the polls?  Older folks are calling in the radio station saying they have no idea who their candidate is... Lisa McLeod is desperately trying to get people out there in the ridings, but unless you have the Internet, you may have a heck of a time knowing where to go and who to help. 

Dalton doesn't seem to care if he offends people, perhaps Hudak should follow suit, at least he will have galvanized his core supporters.

Do you think Hudak is too soft?  Think he needs a fire lit under his arse?  Send him the message via twitter

Did Hudak bring enough change to the Ontario PC Party to win this election?

 Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press Source: The Canadian Press

You might be thinking, what a strange question to ask.  Your next question would most likely be, what does change in the Ontario PC Party have to do with this election?  The answer?  A lot more than you think.

If you haven't visited the Ontario PC Party website, I'll spoil the surprise and tell you that the focus is on change for this election.  The party's platform is called the "Change Book."  In it you will find various promises to bring about the change that Ontario needs to get back on track, starting with a change of government of course.  But what about the Ontario PC Party itself?  Since becoming leader of the party in 2009, have the necessary changes happened within the party that will bring about a win in this election?

PC supporters and McGuinty haters alike have been very vocal lately, complaining that Tim Hudak has not been visible enough before and during this election campaign.  Where's Hudak?  It's like playing the Where's Waldo game, only our search takes place amidst the Ontario political landscape instead of the children's book.

Liberal biased media aside, if he's not being criticized for being invisible, he's being equally criticized for not being aggressive enough in going after McGuinty and his government's scandals, tax grabs and boondoggles.  While Hudak is the face and voice of the Ontario PC Party in this election, he is not the only candidate running in this election or we certainly stand no chance of winning.

To his credit, Hudak has done an excellent job of re-invigorating the Ontario PC Party.  Many party supporters looked the other way and distanced themselves when leader John Tory took the reigns in 2004.  Financial support dwindled to a trickle and along with it the grassroots support it desperately needed to get back on it's feet again.  Party headquarters consisted of 2 people, severe lack of funds meant the party could not even afford to issue out physical membership cards, which in turn, turned off even more supporters. 

In the last provincial election, the financial and personal support by volunteers and staff was about as none-existent as it was pre-election.  The federal Conservative Party of Canada stepped in to help with many staffers working long hours.  The thank you from John Tory after the election to the brave few who helped out? Nothing.  A no-show to personally thank many who didn't have to help but did out of loyalty for the conservative movement and principles in which they believed in.

It's been 4 years since the last provincial election and the Ontario PC Party has been much more diligent about keeping on top of its supporters, keeping them in the loop via email and constantly pushing for much needed financial support.  The website is much improved and the party has worked hard on developing Tim Hudak's leadership presence here in Ontario.  There have been good people (some of whom I know) that have worked long and hard to have the residents of Ontario better acquainted with the new leader so people would stop asking, who-dat Hudak?

Despite all the positive changes that have taken place within the Ontario PC Party, one very important one has not taken place.  The local riding associations for one reason or another are virtually non-existent, at least in many ridings, not all.  Prior to this election, finding any information on a riding association was like looking for a needle in a haystack.  Countless emails were sent requesting such info but I never got a response from head office.  This makes it very difficult to recruit volunteers, solicit and collect donations.

The media may hype all they want to about what leader said what, and what they are wearing and where they are but politics is local.  This is true for any election, provincial or federal.  If you don't have a good team behind you reaching out in your riding/community, you're not going to do very well.  Who's going to donate to their riding association if they don't even know who's running?  Yes, the website does have the pictures and information on all the candidates in this election, but is that sufficient?  The more feet on the ground, the better the chances of success.  It may appear in the media that it's all up to the leaders of the parties to win elections, but it's not.  Leaders without a firm foundation of supporters, volunteers and donations behind them and each of their candidates have a tough time winning any election.  Don't believe me?  Read the book Politics is Local by R. Kenneth Carty and Munroe Eagles or do some research and you will see that I'm right.

To be fair, it's not Hudak's fault and I'm not sure that he had enough time or manpower to fully turn things around, with regard to the riding associations.

If Hudak and the Ontario PC Party manage to win this election, even with a minority, it will be a huge success, and one that can dramatically help the party continue to build support, funds and lists upon lists of volunteers.  While having a strong, visible leader is essential for any political party, having robust riding associations is equally as important.  I'm just not sure that Hudak has made enough changes to the Ontario PC Party to ensure a victory this election.

My Memory of 9/11

I remember that day vividly.  I was at home with my daughter when I got a call from my mom telling me to turn on the television and watch the news.  She said that a small plane of some sort has hit one of the world trade center towers.

I thought it strange, a plane hitting a building?  My first thoughts were pilot error, and I had no idea that it was a 747 until later into the news broadcast.  I think I kept flipping back and forth from CBC to CTV hoping that one of them would have video coverage of that plane hitting the first tower.  It wasn't long after I tuned in that reports of a second plane coming towards the towers was announced.  Minutes later I watched on live TV as that second plane came closer and closer and then flew right into the second tower.  I was dumb founded.  At that moment it became so clear that the first plane was no random accident or pilot error, it was deliberate.

Shortly after the coverage switched to the pentagon where another plane had hit.  Its foggy to me, the exact timeline in my memory, but I knew that whatever was happening was big.  But when I watched as that first tower disappeared in a huge grey cloud and no longer existed all I could feel was disbelief.  It didn't seem real.  It was as if I was watching a scene from a movie, but I had to keep telling myself that this was real, not a movie.  When the second tower fell, all I could think about were those poor people who were trapped in those buildings and never had the chance to get out.

I remember feeling anxious, what was the situation here in Canada?  Were we going to be attacked as well?  It was the most unsettling feeling I have ever experienced.  I no longer felt safe.

In some ways it reminded me of when I turned on the news and watched live as they reported Princess Diana being in a horrific car accident.  It just didn't seem real.  The Princess in a car accident, impossible!  Later when the news came that she had passed away I was utterly shocked.  It didn't seem real.  No more Diana?  My brain could not get around that thought.  My mind had as much, if not more difficulty fully understanding what was truly happening on 9/11.

9/11 was the day I finally came to realize that we in the western world were not immune from the realities that rest of the world experiences.  We are so fortunate, but we are not invincible.

5 Reasons Dalton McGuinty May Not Be Human

5 Reasons Dalton McGuinty May Not Be Human

1) He appears to lack the capacity to have any kind of debate on many of his government's legislation.  Debate?  Error!  Error!

The list includes but is not limited to:

• G20 Law
• Eco Tax
• HST
• Bill 85
• Bill 151
• Bill 107

2)  He spews out money like an ATM machine.  Just don't ask where you insert your card.

• Increased government spending by 70% since coming into office in 2003
• Every HOUR the McGuinty government spends $2.2 million more than it collects in revenue
• Ontario's deficit is greater than every other province & territory combined

That's just the tip of the iceberg... for more insane spending check out wastewatchers.ca

3) He never questions unions, he just gives them what they want.  Its possible he is an android created by the unions for the unions.

"Mr. McGuinty abhors confrontation, and would always rather give in — at the expense of the public purse — than face a dispute. Knowing this, he has been held up by one union after another, in the certainty he will eventually cave. No wonder union leaders are among his biggest supporters.
Even while requesting a freeze in public service wages, Mr. McGuinty’s government quietly approved deals raising pay while using accounting tricks and secret side-agreements to disguise his work."- Kelly McParland, National Post

Union Woes 

4) If I only had a heart...

 Special Diet Allowance cut for Muscular Dystrophy suffers and many others who barely get by. 

High school students kicked out of rally at local high school, called tea-party anarchists


5) He lacks a moral compass.  "Lies? What are lies?"

HST
Won't raise taxes
16,000 Green Energy Jobs created
44 promises broken as of 2003
Broken promises since 2007