More on provincial political madness

[sabotabby]

I stopped doing the Rob Ford stupidity countdown because it was too much work to update (it hit the point where he was doing multiple stupid things a day, and I couldn't update quickly enough), but damn, if Hudak gets in, it'll be even worse.

This guy. He's unreal. I mean, much has been said already about how, despite a masters in economics, he fails at basic math, and also he's a puppet of the Tea Party, and oh yes, he is actually made out of some sort of plastic-type material. And his smile. He has the worst smile. You know that. But! Did you also know that he is so right-wing that even the cops don't want anything to do with him? This, after he said he'd slash 100,000 public sector jobs but spare the cops, because it's way more fun to bash teachers and EAs. Do you know how fascist you need to be for the cops to disown you? The cops liked Mussolini.

The good news is I'm less and less certain that he'll win. He creeps out other Tories, for fuck's sake.

Related: I voted in the advance polls. For the NDP, if you're curious, albeit with my nose firmly held. I like my MPP though, and I can't stomach voting Liberal regardless of how much Horwath pisses me off, and there were no actual communists or socialists in my riding to toss a protest vote at. I've haven't felt more anarchist about electoral politics in a decade. Seriously, they are all shit at the provincial level, and it's the one that affects my life the most.

Comments

[smhwpf.livejournal.com]

Scary stuff. So bizarre and depressing that nobody seems to be offering even a mildly progressive alternative.

What will likely happen if, as some of the polls suggest, there's a hung parliament? Will the largest party run a minority government, or might there be a Lib/NDP coalution? (I'm thinking in particular if the Tories are the largest party but without a majority).

[sabotabby]

There may be a Lib/NDP coalition, which is the best possible outcome as it will be largely incapable of making anything worse. The Star is also circulating the idea that there might be a Tory/NDP coalition, which is an absolutely terrible idea and there's probably no truth to it. Probably.

I mean, any minority government won't last another budget, so whoever is in a position to form a coalition will.

[smhwpf.livejournal.com]

The Star is also circulating the idea that there might be a Tory/NDP coalition

I humbly suggest, in the unlikely event that she read this, that Andrea Horwath Google "Nick Clegg" before contemplating such a course.

[sabotabby]

This is Canadian politics in a nutshell, though. Did it fail horribly in another country (preferaby America or the UK)? Cool, let's try it here.

[resonant.livejournal.com]

And WTF? The NDP is trying to take the middle ground between the Liberals and the Tories?!

[sabotabby]

All two degrees of it. A winning strategy to be sure—only eating a million kittens per day as opposed to fifty (Liberal) and ALL THE KITTENS (Tory).

[frandroid.livejournal.com]

Adam Radwanski posted a very cogent interpretation of why Hudak is campaigning so far right.

My take on the NDP is that is should be carried by the left, not carry the left, and there's not enough of a left to carry it. So Horvath is going with whoever will bring her to the dance.

I'll vote NDP too, Rosario is pretty solid. If I had a lesser MPP, I would vote Green, unless someone made a really good case for a fringe candidate.

[sabotabby]

I think Radwanski is correct, though as evil as I tend to think Tories are, I'm still shocked at the number disparity. I guess Red Toryism is long dead, but it's surprising to see a solid third of the population blatantly fascist.

I'm warming up to the Greens, at least provincially. They're the only ones talking about abolishing the Catholic school board.

[frandroid.livejournal.com]

I'm done being surprised by a fat chunk of the populace being fascist (after working at CSI, the oh-so-progressive-but-still-fucking-fascist corner of the NGO sphere), but the starkness of this chart is fascinating. I thought it was a spectrum, it's much more of a chasm. You're either with us, or you're with the .01%.

The Greens would make an excellent, guilt-free protest vote. Doesn't abolishing the Catholic school board require a change to the Canadian constitution, though? It's a historic compromise. I mean I'd love if it happened...

[wlach.livejournal.com]

Heh, I wound up voting Green ("le partie eco-socialiste" a.k.a. "the anglo hipster option") in the last Quebec election, though I considered Marxist-Leninist at the last minute.

Lots of other provinces (Quebec, New Brunswick iirc) have abolished Catholic school boards without major issue. It's a serious anachronism in Ontario.

[frandroid.livejournal.com]

The Catholic school board was at the time an issue of minority protection in Ontario (French Canadians). I mean since it's a change that doesn't affect other provinces, and Québec clearly doesn't give a fuck about French Canadians that don't live in Québec, the other provinces would get on board and there would be unanimity pretty easily, without needing a constitutional convention. That's already happened a couple times in the last decades. But anyway, Ontario Catholic schools exist because of historical Reasons, so it's Not the Same.

[wlach.livejournal.com]

Yes, I should have clarified -- without major CONSTITUTIONAL issue. I really can't speak about how easy the process was politically (in Quebec it was of course part of a broader social movement).

Also, to the extent that Quebec pays attention at all, I imagine they would approve of the dismantling of the Catholic school board in Ontario. Society here is radically secular, one thing I'm probably going to miss a bit moving to Ontario.

[the_axel]

Except that Separate Schools are also enshrined in the Canadian Constitution for Alberta, Saskatchewan, Nunavut, NWT and Yukon so opening up the matter for Ontario would affect them politically.

[symbioid.livejournal.com]

Ah yeah - he's basically like Scott Walker. In Wisconsin when they were slashing and burning the budget and attacking government unions (and exempting the cops and firefighters), the cops and firefighters still stood up against the Teathuglicans in solidarity with the rest of the workers.

It reminds me of when the Indiana governor talked shit about cops, and I keep wondering how they can be so pro-police state on the one hand, but then so "liberty and freedom and dislike cops" on the other. WTF. Corporate benefactors uber alles.

[sabotabby]

He started off by promoting right-to-work and then backtracked.

I find most small government supposed libertarians really like cops, because that is their only defence against the prospect of being a small rich elite with a majority population that is starving to death.

[chickenfeet2003.livejournal.com]

Did you get notice of the advance poll or did you work it out? It's ten days to the vote and I haven't seen any poll information for our riding. It's like they are deliberately trying to keep turn out low.

[sabotabby]

They definitely are. I got a thing in the mail telling me to check Elections Canada for advance poll locations, but it did not tell me where mine were. I had to look it up online, and it is not on the Elections Canada website. You can find advance poll locations and times here.

[the_axel]

That's because Ontario elections are under the mandate of Elections Ontario, not Elections Canada.

And, to be fair, they do have a link to http://wemakevotingeasy.ca/en/home.aspx on their main page.

[90pointmetaphor.livejournal.com]

I'm in the same boat as you, except that I'm lazy and haven't made it to the advance poll yet. (Maybe tomorrow...) Though I don't really think the Liberals have a shot in Parkdale-High Park anyway.

[sabotabby]

Probably not. Which is for the best—I want them to win (well, I want them to lose less than I want the Tories to lose) but not get cocky.