If you look hard, or just take a little time, you can always find something to vote for, if not someone
Commentary by Norah Fountain. Featured photo: All Candidates in Huntsville.
Published June 11, 11:59am: No matter what you think of this Ontario election campaign, all candidates and volunteers and voters deserve credit. For people who are undecided and think they might pass on going to the polls, consider all the people – many of whom are your neighbours who have worked so hard for democracy these past weeks. Voter fatigue is a reality, but surely you can find a nugget of something in someone’s platform that you can agree with so you can cast a vote. Which brings me to this eleventh hour commentary.
I’ve followed this election closely, I’ve heard all the candidates, and what follows is my analysis of the good, the bad, and in one case, the ugly, that I saw or heard since the election was called. The only party and candidate I will not comment on is Green Party of Ontario candidate Matt Richter* because of my personal bias in favour of him. See full disclosure at end of article.
The Good, The Bad and The Ugly of Ontario Votes – Parry Sound-Muskoka
The Bad. The Blame Game. Let’s take the gas plant scandal. After all, those who live in glass houses…One of the best quotes, hands down, at the Huntsville all candidates meeting came from Liberal Dan Waters: “A pox on all of their houses: McGuinty, Horwath and Hudak.” He’s absolutely right. NDP leader Andrea Horwath and PC leader Tim Hudak themselves stood in Oakville and said they would cancel that plant while campaigning in 2011. Blame makes for easy sound bites but I think voters are sick of hearing about past blunders while not hearing solid policy for a better future. That leads to apathy and that’s next.
The Bad. Apathy. And/or Need for Better Communication with Voters? I counted only 89 people at the Huntsville All Candidates meeting, the only such meeting held in Parry Sound-Muskoka. Many people asked me afterward, when’s the next meeting? I think all local media (including MNW) promoted the meeting, but that wasn’t enough. Maybe no amount of communication would have made it better as one wise pundit I know believes such meetings are only worthwhile for the press they might generate.
The Good. Huntsville Lakes of Bays Chamber of Commerce for producing that all candidates meeting. Well done.
The Good. Hunter’s Bay Radio for holding the best debate production I’ve heard in a long time. Hopefully, they can do the same during the municipal election. Many voters also told me they watched the Cogeco All Candidates debate and said it, too, was well produced.
The Bad. Refusing to vote because ‘the parties are all the same’. Surely there is something in someone’s platform that you can like even if you don’t agree with it all?
The bad. Healthcare? Education? Anyone? I found there was little discussion on education and on healthcare other than about cancelling the LHINs (Local Health Integration Networks) and concern for our local hospitals. I can’t recall any policy statements covered well, at least not locally. (The Toronto Star also has a good article, Healthcare, the forgotten issue, suggesting healthcare was not on the radar much across the province either). TVO’s The Agenda did have a roundtable on education Tuesday night.
The Bad. Job creation that starts with cuts. Tim Hudak and the Ontario PC party created turmoil and confusion right at the start with Hudak’s announcement that his party will cut 100,000 jobs (and he also gets bad marks for what appears to be shoddy math skills, particularly for an economist).
Local PC candidate Norm Miller claims that any suggestion that the 100,000 job cuts would include municipal job cuts was ‘fear mongering’ by the other parties. Time will tell if that is true. “Municipalities are not specifically targeted. It’s across the greater civil service and our plan is over four years, mainly through attrition, to reduce the civil service by 100,000,” says Miller.
Note: I could not find one direct quote from Hudak saying jobs at a municipal level would be cut even though a Hudak staffer had said they would in a CBC report.
Quoting that report: “In response to a question from CBC News, a senior Hudak campaign member confirmed Hudak’s plan would include cutting funding to municipalities.”
But the report does not quote Hudak as saying that. So Miller gets a nod from me for supporting and explaining the PC job cut plan with grace under pressure, and for clarifying that “no transfer cuts are planned to the municipalities.” But the job cut plan? Still bad, in my opinion.
The Good. What the Liberals rightfully boasted about, such as no more coal burning and for having the guts to make the Green Energy Act (GEA) reality. No matter how badly it may have been implemented, Ontario has been touted across North America as the leader in renewable energy policy. A former Chair of the Toronto Board of Trade noted, “with the introduction of the Green Energy Act, Ontario will be at the forefront of progress, a dynamic force for change.” No, the Liberals didn’t ‘get it right the first time’. Neither did Obama when introducing the Patient Protection and Affordable Care act in the U.S. But there is no doubt that the GEA is the needed step in the right direction. Nobody’s talking climate change much in this election, but the people of Parry Sound-Muskoka care about the environment and our economy depends on its health. Laurels for the Act and darts to the poor implementation, but please, let’s not execute this green Liberal baby and green job creator.
The Liberal Bad. They deserved the knocks they get for poor implementation, communication, and support of programs that start as good ideas. I didn’t hear any Liberals admitting they could have done better during this campaign. They also seemed to fudge on education: there’s still no indication of any overhaul of the way education is funded in the province despite the need to do so and I am leery of promises that they will finally do more for special education – or ensure more funding actually is used for that purpose.
Dan Waters
The Good. Dan Waters for hanging in there, broken ankle and all. And for always speaking his mind. When an NDP MPP, he spoke for Parry Sound-Muskoka even when it didn’t jive with his party’s direction. As Liberals, he and his wife, Cindy, have worked hard to keep the provincial riding association and conversation about issues going. They really believe in Kathleen Wynne. You may not like their politics or party, but you’ve got to applaud their passion. Oh, and a good for Wynne for promising to move to allow election ballots to be ranked (if she’s elected, of course).
The Bad. The NDP for making this election happen, now. We didn’t need it now, in my opinion, and you’d think whoever runs things for the NDP could have given local ridings more of a ‘be prepared’ pep talk. Yet I think this election is now a critical one. Please, everyone vote. If voter anger combined with apathy causes a huge swing (which has happened before in Ontario), the PCs could have big smiles on their faces late tomorrow night.
The Bad. The NDP offer of an estimated $200 off our hydro bills. Sure, go ahead, consume – we’ll give you money back! I can’t begin to properly dissect the shortsightedness of this offer – and this coming from a person who has a huge hydro bill to deal with this month.
The Good. NDP promise of interest free student loans and the senior caregiver idea gets half a nod. Good idea but I think it should go further. The slightly bad of both of these ideas is I didn’t hear these platform points made at the all candidates meeting or elsewhere, locally.
Clyde Mobbley
The Good. NDP candidate Clyde Mobbley for writing letters between elections, even though some have criticized him for giving a certain federal MPP too much ‘ink’. While he doesn’t comment much on provincial issues, he stays engaged and deserves kudos for starting conversations in our region. I felt his closing speech at the all aandidates meeting fell flat: mostly ‘vision’ speak without clarity on what the NDP might actually do to help our region.
The Good: Getting our fair share? Back to Miller, he says municipalities 
will fare better under his government as the PCs would make sure there was a better sharing of the gas tax for municipalities like ours that don’t have transit. Personally, I think it might be a tough sell given the clamoring of urban municipalities, but locally we need and deserve a better share.
The Really Bad: Job cuts affecting schools. The 100,000 job cuts by the PCs will include cuts to jobs in schools – most to non-teaching support staff, anywhere from the PC number of 10,000 (in a 2013 PC plan) to 22,000 according to Kathleen Wynne. (If you want to read my entire piece on the 100,000 job cuts and more of my interview with Norm Miller, see the additional copy at the end of the Good, the Bad and the Ugly list).
The Ugly. Play acting as a female bureaucrat to make a point. Admit the somewhat misinformed rhetoric and sometimes comic relief; I thought Andy Stivrins actually had some good points about ‘police state’ concerns. But when answering a question about WHMIS regulations hurting business (a good starting discussion point about an issue legitimately affecting small and medium sized businesses in our region), Stivrins talked about ‘people in pink hats’ and then assumed a falsetto voice to mimic a woman coming into a business to drive the owner crazy. You lost me at ‘pink hat’, Mr. Stivrins, and made me wonder about your Freedom Party’s position on freedom for women to make a living in the workplace.
The Bad. No mention of how getting Muskoka back into Northern Ontario Heritage Fund was abandoned. I’m surprised it didn’t come up at the all candidates, and I didn’t ask Miller about this when I could have, but I believe Muskoka’s fight for access to funding deserved more attention from our MPP. I believe Miller should have led a much stronger charge to allow Muskoka to take advantage of the Northern Ontario Heritage Fund. Just because a party isn’t in power does not make an MPP powerless. Muskoka, thanks to the efforts of local Mayors and others, can now supposedly take advantage of the Eastern Ontario Development Fund that I bet displeases some people in rural areas around Ottawa and Kingston. Locally, I know people personally who have lost job opportunities because they didn’t live in Parry Sound even though they were only minutes away in Muskoka Lakes.
The Good. Better thinking on electricity. At the all candidates meeting in Huntsville, Miller mentioned importing cheaper electricity from neighbouring provinces. It’s not a new idea, but it’s a good one. According to Paul Norris of the Ontario Waterpower Association, all parties have looked at interties (transmission between provinces) as an economic framework and have all mentioned it on the campaign trail (except for maybe the NDP) and importing electricity is a core plank of the Green platform. It would take government negotiations to import more, says Norris, but it can be done.
The Good. Infrastructure work here. Miller also deserves praise for pushing ahead with his private members’ bill on paving highway shoulders. It may not sound very environmental, but non-paved shoulders in our region are a hazard. I fear for the lives of youth on bikes heading into work, for example. At first, I thought this legislation would not really affect our area, but I was wrong. Hwy 124 now has paved shoulders – and people who travel that route tell me more cyclists are now taking advantage of that change. Miller deserves credit for that.
The BADDEST. Partisan Politics that make debates seem more like football games being fought to the death. Instead of footballs, it’s scandals being tossed around and a lack of individuality that is Orwellian-scary. And, hey, if we want to cut jobs, what about the whips (a tip of the hat to Liberal Waters for raising that during the campaign) and the people in the premier’s office that help feed partisan politics. We need to hear good ideas from all MPPs, all parties, and from all citizens. Just like we have a problem federally thinking that somehow the PMO office has become an ‘elected official’, we have to remember that each MPP is one vote. And government has to work together. Refusal to do so is what got us this election.
More musings, as promised, on the 100,000 job cuts if you really need or want to read more…
Perhaps I asked the wrong questions of Norm Miller about this issue when he graciously gave me a one-on-one interview to talk it over. In doing my research, there was evidence that Hudak couldn’t find enough Ontario public service jobs to cut so the PCs might have to widen it to the broader MUSH (Municipalities, Universities, Schools, Hospital) sector. Yet Hudak had said doctors and nurses and police would be safe.
So there was a lot of talk about where the 100,000 jobs would come from and I bought into some suggestions that even jobs in municipalities could be cut. I took that to mean municipal governments, like our township offices. Putting that aside, if doctors and nurses and police don’t have to worry about being a few of 100,000…
That leaves schools and universities, and there’s no doubt there will be ‘modifications’ as another PC candidate Rob Leone said repeatedly (and chillingly) on TVO’s The Agenda last night. A PC plan released in 2013 promised to cut 10,000 non teaching jobs. Liberal Kathleen Wynne (whom I think could have done a better job pushing for more non teaching support when she was Education Minister) said it’s more like 22,000 education jobs that will get cut by the PCs.
As a former school trustee I fear I know where those cuts will come from. From educational assistants and support workers who work with the students who need help – and the parents of these children– the most should be concerned. Teachers need those support workers as they try and accommodate students who need extra help. And if you think, well, that doesn’t affect me as my child is doing just fine, thank you, recognize that your child is losing out, too, when there’s not enough support for their peers.
Oh, but the cuts will just be those highly paid management jobs at school boards, one voter said to me. Just imagine what those severance packages would look like, I answered back. Savings, really? Not in the short term, anyway.
Are we trading off public sector jobs in favor of promoting private sector positions, I asked Miller. He answered, “It’s not trading off, it’s right sizing government is to get back to a balanced budget and a government we can afford. That’s the reason to reduce the civil service back to 2009 levels.”
As for other jobs that might be lost in Muskoka. Ontario public service jobs are some of the best paying ones around. The PC plan is to “do away with middle management bureaucracy,” says Miller. Perhaps certain board positions might be lost if the PCs cut the LHINs and other bodies and government agencies the PCs would cut.
The constant stressing of attrition and retirement bothers me though: is Miller suggesting the “5-9 percent” he mentions that retire every year are jobs that never needed doing if they are so replaceable? Perhaps there is a gravy train.
True or not, it sounds to me like we’re going to lose jobs in the middle-income sector, and isn’t that where much of our provincial tax revenue comes from? So yes, political rhetoric exploded all over the 100,000 job cut promise, but in my opinion it is not a promise that will meet its goal of balancing budgets. At best, it might seem to create savings in the short term, and I agree with Dan Water’s comment that “when payroll is lost, we all suffer.”
In fact, the announcement that Hudak would cut 100,000 jobs was quickly named the ‘Pink Slip Plan’ by the Liberals who claimed in a press release that Hudak had confirmed in a radio interview (CFRA) that the cuts would include municipal jobs. Some pundits suggested municipal cuts would come by way of cutting transfer payments to municipalities and others, like NDP Clyde Mobbley, demanded Miller show what local jobs would be lost. Yet if you read the media reports carefully, it’s hard to find one showing a direct quote about municipal cuts attributed directly to Hudak. For example, the CBC report attributed it to a Hudak staffer. Here’s what that report said, again:
“In response to a question from CBC News, a senior Hudak campaign member confirmed Hudak’s plan would include cutting funding to municipalities.
“Yes, Mr. Hudak made it clear that we will be reducing spending across the board except in health care. More details on our full fiscal plan will be forthcoming.”
When you think about it, the word, forthcoming, is apt. Because in the real world of politics, campaign promises, be they bad, or good, or ugly, can sometimes turn out to be promises that are impossible to keep. But voters CAN see an action through. They can vote.
*Disclosure: I am a supporter of The Green Party of Ontario and of Parry Sound-Muskoka Green candidate Matt Richter.
Matt Richter
As a result, you didn’t see a discussion of Matt Richter in this analysis at all. It’s not that I’m ignoring him or the Greens. It’s just that I support him too strongly to be able to comment on his party’s position without a bias: I would cheer him on in ways that could put the Raptors Dance Pak cheerleaders to shame.
