On The Ledge A pox on all their houses. All three provincial parties are reeling from self-inflicted wounds
Nov 10, 2023
30:08
In this edition of On the Ledge - your Ontario Politics Podcast:
Dave Trafford, John Wright and Keith Leslie read the entrails following a week where the three main parties at Queen's Park were hobbled by sel-inflicted wounds.
The Ford government is already stuck in the Greenbelt quagmire. In the past week, the interim Auditor General has opened inquiries into the Therme land deal at Ontario Place and the plans to move the Science Centre from beauitful downtown Don Mills to be an added lakeshore attraction at Ontario Place. That announcement came a week ago as MPPs headed home for a week in their ridings.
Meanwhile, it's since been discovered that pharmacies across the province are bailing out of the Fall COVID vaccine plan because team Ford has given Shoppers Drug Mart exclusive access to the vaccine supply. That means other pharmacies are having to rely on the kindness of Shoppers to get doses. Word is, they're not so they're sunsetting the offering.
AND ANOTHER THING...
A handful of Ontario mayors say "we don't need your stinking Strong Mayor Powers!" They've outright refused to nibble on the poltical treat dangled by Team Ford,. knowing full well they won't get any of the provincial cash set aside for municipalities to meet their housing targets.
That might have something to do with the whinging we heard from Doug Ford and all the other first ministers this week over the federal government's abilitiy and willingness to get cash out the door and shovels in the ground to build new homes in towns and cities across Canada. They had the nerve to complain that Ottawa was going around them to deliver housing - while they've done next to nothing to move that needle.
Now, it's not just all about the Tories. This should all be great fodder for the Official Opposition but the NDP is proving to be politically immature. Sabrina Nanji at the Queen's Park Observer reports the NDP Kitchener Centre riding association fired off a missive demanding the resignation of Leader Marit Stiles BUT didn't bother looping in Debbie Chapman. She just happens to be the NDP candidate they're supposedly supporting in the byelection campaign THAT'S IN FULL SWING!
And to round things out, the Ontario Liberals are getting closer to choosing their next leader. Voting days are November 25 and 26 with the winner of the ranked ballot contest being announced December 2nd.
And two weeks ahead of voting day, candidates Yasir Naqvi and Nate Eskine-Smith are asking their supporters to rank the other guy as their second choice on the ballott. The twisted logic is that, by doing so, they'll stunt the presumptive front-runner, Bonnie Crombie's ability to win it on the second ballot.
Beyond the fact this move is an explicit admission by both that one of them will have to finish LAST on the first ballot for it to make any difference, it's also opened internecine battle of party insiders.
In the November 10 edition of the Queen's Park Observer, Sabrina Nanji quotes fromer Kathleen Wynne staffer, Noah Zatzman as saying, "Someone explain to me why Yasir and Nate are tougher on Bonnie than Hamas."
Enjoy the show!
Dave Trafford, John Wright and Keith Leslie read the entrails following a week where the three main parties at Queen's Park were hobbled by sel-inflicted wounds.
The Ford government is already stuck in the Greenbelt quagmire. In the past week, the interim Auditor General has opened inquiries into the Therme land deal at Ontario Place and the plans to move the Science Centre from beauitful downtown Don Mills to be an added lakeshore attraction at Ontario Place. That announcement came a week ago as MPPs headed home for a week in their ridings.
Meanwhile, it's since been discovered that pharmacies across the province are bailing out of the Fall COVID vaccine plan because team Ford has given Shoppers Drug Mart exclusive access to the vaccine supply. That means other pharmacies are having to rely on the kindness of Shoppers to get doses. Word is, they're not so they're sunsetting the offering.
AND ANOTHER THING...
A handful of Ontario mayors say "we don't need your stinking Strong Mayor Powers!" They've outright refused to nibble on the poltical treat dangled by Team Ford,. knowing full well they won't get any of the provincial cash set aside for municipalities to meet their housing targets.
That might have something to do with the whinging we heard from Doug Ford and all the other first ministers this week over the federal government's abilitiy and willingness to get cash out the door and shovels in the ground to build new homes in towns and cities across Canada. They had the nerve to complain that Ottawa was going around them to deliver housing - while they've done next to nothing to move that needle.
Now, it's not just all about the Tories. This should all be great fodder for the Official Opposition but the NDP is proving to be politically immature. Sabrina Nanji at the Queen's Park Observer reports the NDP Kitchener Centre riding association fired off a missive demanding the resignation of Leader Marit Stiles BUT didn't bother looping in Debbie Chapman. She just happens to be the NDP candidate they're supposedly supporting in the byelection campaign THAT'S IN FULL SWING!
And to round things out, the Ontario Liberals are getting closer to choosing their next leader. Voting days are November 25 and 26 with the winner of the ranked ballot contest being announced December 2nd.
And two weeks ahead of voting day, candidates Yasir Naqvi and Nate Eskine-Smith are asking their supporters to rank the other guy as their second choice on the ballott. The twisted logic is that, by doing so, they'll stunt the presumptive front-runner, Bonnie Crombie's ability to win it on the second ballot.
Beyond the fact this move is an explicit admission by both that one of them will have to finish LAST on the first ballot for it to make any difference, it's also opened internecine battle of party insiders.
In the November 10 edition of the Queen's Park Observer, Sabrina Nanji quotes fromer Kathleen Wynne staffer, Noah Zatzman as saying, "Someone explain to me why Yasir and Nate are tougher on Bonnie than Hamas."
Enjoy the show!