Ontario’s Power Trip: The backroom funding of the McGuinty Liberals

[PIK]

http://opinion.financialpost.com/2011/09/23/ontarios-power-trip-the-backroom-funding-of-the-mcguinty-liberals/

It is time to take back the province. Look at our debt, we are right up there with spain, greece, ohio and others that are bankrupt. We don't have much to pick from ,but this has to be a anything but dalton election. If he gets in again, we are doomed. When daltons says no carbon tax coming, history has shown we will get one.

[scribblet]

Agreed it's hard to believe he will keep any promise, especially as two MPPs have brought up the carbon tax issue, so it could surface later on, if Dalton is re-elected.

Another issue is that of third party end runs around election laws.

http://russ-campbell.blogspot.com/2011/09/third-party-election-ads-are-scam.html

Should unions be allowed to run partisan ads during an election campaign? We have laws governing the amount of money each political party can receive in donations from a single source, and how much it can spend on a campaign. This effectively limits a party’s advertising campaign unless, of course, a friendly union or related third-party spends millions on TV ads that support its platform.

How democratic is that?

Why should any group other than political parties be allowed to run partisan ads? Individuals vote, not groups. Individuals are allowed to join political parties and campaign for their representatives. And on election day they can vote for the candidate of their choice. So, why do we need third-party groups interfering with this process?

Should unions which have voting membership in the NDP have every cent of their election spending charged to that party for purposes of the election financing laws ?

[Topaz]

Take back the province but whom do we elected? I know more voters who are very undecided and can find fault with all parties. Hopeful, the election debate tomorrow night 6:30 TVO, but I think other stations are also carrying it, will make things clearer. Right now, we could have a minority government.

[capricorn]

I know more voters who are very undecided and can find fault with all parties.

And many of these undecided will simply not vote. So the party that gets out the vote of committed voters will have an edge. That's one dynamic pollsters can't capture when they do their polling.

Hopeful, the election debate tomorrow night 6:30 TVO, but I think other stations are also carrying it, will make things clearer.

It can't hurt. So far this campaign has been almost invisible and quite uninspiring.

There will be a French debate tonight, carried on a French network, don't know which yet. Because Hudak and Horwath cannot participate in a French debate due to their lack of proficiency, each party assigned a representative. The topic will center on how the parties would best represent and defend the needs of Ontario's francophones.

[Rick]

For what it's worth, on the predominantly right wing radio station, AM 640 this morning, the call in poll had 62% of all callers saying they would vote NDP if the election were held today.

Seems as though the Orange wave continues....

[capricorn]

For what it's worth, on the predominantly right wing radio station, AM 640 this morning, the call in poll had 62% of all callers saying they would vote NDP if the election were held today.

OPSEU members which too much time on their hands again.

[MiddleClassCentrist]

Should unions which have voting membership in the NDP have every cent of their election spending charged to that party for purposes of the election financing laws ?

It depends on the ad.

The teacher's unions, for instance, don't have any public campaigns against PC. Sure they want their membership to vote left but, the actual ads aren't anti PC. Just pro education.

[Scotty]

It depends on the ad.

The teacher's unions, for instance, don't have any public campaigns against PC. Sure they want their membership to vote left but, the actual ads aren't anti PC. Just pro education.

Their ad campaign is clearly in support of the McGuinty Liberals. It's a quid pro quo which the Liberals get in return for all the favours and money they've directed to the teachers unions over the years.

I wonder how many on the Left would shrug about it if instead of unions some big, right wing corporation was funding millions in advertising to help the Conservatives.

They'd be screaming bloody murder, and everyone knows it.

[capricorn]

An influential coalition of unions is hitting the airwaves Tuesday immediately after the televised leaders’ debate with a new ad attacking Progressive Conservative Leader Tim Hudak.

Working Families, an organization of public- and private-sector unions that helped topple the Conservatives in 2003 and 2007, is spending millions to prevent Hudak from winning the Oct. 6 election.

The unionists are concerned a Tory government would curb workers’ rights through sweeping changes to labour laws that are outlined in the PC platform Changebook.

Hudak wants to ban groups like Working Families, which he charges is a front for the Liberal campaign. That claim has never been proven despite complaints to Elections Ontario and the courts.

The new commercial, which was obtained by the Star on Monday, is apparently aimed primarily at women voters.

http://speakyourmind.thestar.com/thestar/get-talking/economy/working-families-readies-new-post-debate-ad/

The above link contains the video. It's of the *scary* agenda type.

[charter.rights]

Their ad campaign is clearly in support of the McGuinty Liberals. It's a quid pro quo which the Liberals get in return for all the favours and money they've directed to the teachers unions over the years.

I wonder how many on the Left would shrug about it if instead of unions some big, right wing corporation was funding millions in advertising to help the Conservatives.

They'd be screaming bloody murder, and everyone knows it.

If you believe that, they you must also agree that the Conservatives are anti-education too. Since the Teachers union hasn't complain about an party, or made any endorsements. I guess if the shoe fits.... or it quacks like a duck... the the Conservatives are truly anti-education.

[scribblet]

Their ad campaign is clearly in support of the McGuinty Liberals. It's a quid pro quo which the Liberals get in return for all the favours and money they've directed to the teachers unions over the years.

I wonder how many on the Left would shrug about it if instead of unions some big, right wing corporation was funding millions in advertising to help the Conservatives.

They'd be screaming bloody murder, and everyone knows it.

Exactly !!

[PIK]

If you believe that, they you must also agree that the Conservatives are anti-education too. Since the Teachers union hasn't complain about an party, or made any endorsements. I guess if the shoe fits.... or it quacks like a duck... the the Conservatives are truly anti-education.

The liberals bought off the teachers, it is very simple.

[Shwa]

http://speakyourmind.thestar.com/thestar/get-talking/economy/working-families-readies-new-post-debate-ad/

The above link contains the video. It's of the *scary* agenda type.

Yep, grassroots movements - especially those with a little money to spend - are very scary indeed. Run for the hills!

LOFL!

[Topaz]

One of the better ideas came from the NDP, their corporate cuts to ONLY businesses that HIRE. The HST cuts are good too, but I would trade the HST cut for the removal of the transportation and delivery charge. That is MORE than what the consumer uses and that is what is raises the hydro bill.

[jacee]

One of the better ideas came from the NDP, their corporate cuts to ONLY businesses that HIRE.

I like that a lot. It's about time we attached some accountability to corporate welfare!

In the 80's and 90's the business communities and Conservatives attacked education with both barrels, in Canada based largely on a report by the Economic Council of Canada report that made a great big noise about a literacy study that seemed to show a slight increase in illiteracy in youth 16-24 compared to previous generations. Years later, the 'blip' was quietly acknowledged to be an error, since college and university students were specifically excluded from the literacy sample. (Duh)

In Ontario, Mike Harris' attack on educational achievement included a faked up graph of some 'selectively' organized data showing Ontario at the bottom of a list of international achievement results: This was accomplished by simply deleting all of the countries/provinces scoring below Ontario, including the US, UK, france and other western countries. The pamphlet containing the faked up graph was produced with taxpayer dollars and delivered to a 'selected' group of Ontarians: Conservative supporters.

Point being ... the demand for educational accountability was reasonable, was reasonable - it's public money - but the demand from the business/Conservative community was accompanied by some very dirty politics.

Time to turn the tables on them and demand a public accounting of the results achieved from public money doled out to private corporations. I suspect no dirty politics are even needed: For example, I saw an account of accoun an oilsands company getting a $250m government startupt grant and posting 'profits' of (you guessed it) $250m at the end of that fiscal year. The money went from us directly into shareholders' pockets, including, no doubt, company executives and ... perhaps? ... some Tory operatives 'in the know' ?

It couldn't have been creating any jobs if it's padding the pockets of shareholders. It's a scam. How many other similar scams are there out there? It's certainly time to take a hard look. Are corporate subsidies truly creating jobs, or just political slush funds?

We need to know. It's our money.

Ontario is a good place to start.

Go Andrea!!!

Edited September 28, 2011 by jacee

[capricorn]

Yep, grassroots movements -

"An influential coalition of unions.."

"Working Families, an organization of public- and private-sector unions ..."

Yep, grassroots movements...

ROTFLMAO

[Slim MacSquinty]

"An influential coalition of unions.."

"Working Families, an organization of public- and private-sector unions ..."

Yep, grassroots movements...

ROTFLMAO

And as if it weren't bad enough that they twisted the rules using this clearly corrupt semi-sponsorship scheme, when it didn't seem to work on the polls they reverted to "classic liberal tactic No. 1" smear campaign. Call the conservatives bigots it always sticks! And in a classic demonstration of the contageon of stupidity, it appears to be working! Man what's happened Ontario used to be a place to be proud of?

[capricorn]

And as if it weren't bad enough that they twisted the rules using this clearly corrupt semi-sponsorship scheme, when it didn't seem to work on the polls they reverted to "classic liberal tactic No. 1" smear campaign. Call the conservatives bigots it always sticks! And in a classic demonstration of the contageon of stupidity, it appears to be working! Man what's happened Ontario used to be a place to be proud of?

And today's message is that "Hudak is anti abortion".

[Smallc]

I don't think the elections in NWT, PEI, and Manitoba bode well for Hudak.

[Smallc]

That said, the results in Alberta could bode well for him...but I don't think so. Redford ran on a campaign of change that involved hope and a shift in policy. Hudak is running a campaign off....well, he's running a campaign, anyway....I think.

[Smallc]

This also doesn't bode well for Hudak:

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ontariovotes2011/story/2011/10/04/ontario-election-poll.html

41 to 31? Ouch.

[blueblood]

This also doesn't bode well for Hudak:

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ontariovotes2011/story/2011/10/04/ontario-election-poll.html

41 to 31? Ouch.

Hudak and mcfadyen I think were focusing too much on harper's scripted message in all his elections. What they didn't realize was that when harper unseated martin, harper actually had ideas that were easily achievable.

Running a mcguinty sucks campaign isn't going to win anything.

My prediction mcguinty minority.

[Smallc]

My prediction mcguinty minority.

I'll put it anywhere from a strong Liberal minority to a weak majority. Of course, if those Ipsos numbers hold, it won't even be a contest.

[Shwa]

"An influential coalition of unions.."

"Working Families, an organization of public- and private-sector unions ..."

Yep, grassroots movements...

What else would you call them? Here, this is from wikipedia:

Grassroots

A grassroots movement (often referenced in the context of a political movement) is one driven by the politics of a community. The term implies that the creation of the movement and the group supporting it are natural and spontaneous, highlighting the differences between this and a movement that is orchestrated by traditional power structures. Grassroots movements are often at the local level, as many volunteers in the community give their time to support the local party, which can lead to helping the national party. For instance, a grassroots movement can lead to significant voter registration for a political party, which in turn helps the state and national parties.

Do you think that coalitions of unions are "traditional power structures?" I wouldn't.

Once this election is over I doubt we'll be hearing much from them, suggesting an ad-hoc movement.

[Shwa]

Hudak and mcfadyen I think were focusing too much on harper's scripted message in all his elections. What they didn't realize was that when harper unseated martin, harper actually had ideas that were easily achievable.

Running a mcguinty sucks campaign isn't going to win anything.

My prediction mcguinty minority.

I have to agree. Hudak, called "gutless" by other posters in another thread, appears to have stylized himself after Harper/CPC and is now reaping the benefits. There was a time when I easily voted PC (pre-2nd term Harris), but since the "progressive" has gone out of the party (and doesn't exist in the CPC) I am not into the cynical social agendas these types bring to the table. In this particular campaign, Hudak has allowed the attack ads drown out any alternative the PC's bring.

No doubt there are plenty of true progressive conservatives who can see this. Whether they still have enough influence in the party remains to be seen.