Premier Doug Ford's Ontario

[Admiral Beez]

I feel Ford will be re-elected and Del Duca will get the boot.

The fact that after almost nine months of warning and supposed preparation we‘re now again seeing Covid outbreaks and deaths in LTC homes is a big mar on Ford’s legacy.

But yes, he’ll win again, hands down. Horvath has been useless as opposition leader.

 

[jayme2016]

The fact that after almost nine months of warning and supposed preparation we‘re now again seeing Covid outbreaks and deaths in LTC homes is a big mar on Ford’s legacy.

But yes, he’ll win again, hands down. Horvath has been useless as opposition leader.

The issue is Ford could say its 15 years of LIbs that caused so many issues in LTC.

 

[Thinker]

The fact that after almost nine months of warning and supposed preparation we‘re now again seeing Covid outbreaks and deaths in LTC homes is a big mar on Ford’s legacy.

But yes, he’ll win again, hands down. Horvath has been useless as opposition leader.

Not sure if he'll win again with a majority. Horvath has been mostly ineffective due to the fact she is dealing with opposing a majority govt. The Cons are a pretty tight group of elected drones who will not vote or argue against their leader because it's not in their best interest. Horvath can argue or oppose any new Bill or sneaky dealings until she is blue in her face, reality is there aren't enough votes to block them. Hopes that some Con drones would cross the floor have pretty well faded.

 

[Northern Light]

Not sure if he'll win again with a majority. Horvath has been mostly ineffective due to the fact she is dealing with opposing a majority govt. The Cons are a pretty tight group of elected drones who will not vote or argue against their leader because it's not in their best interest. Horvath can argue or oppose any new Bill or sneaky dealings until she is blue in her face, reality is there aren't enough votes to block them. Hopes that some Con drones would cross the floor have pretty well faded.

You're entirely accurate..............but I would say, Horvath has fallen off the public radar.

She's not a brilliant orator; and needs to pick her moments and be well prepped for them; but she needs to be out in front of the cameras more discussing critical issues.

Additionally, she has some good speakers in her caucus who could also be deployed more effectively.

I understand being cautious in the early days of the pandemic not to seem overly partisan.

I would frankly support that now.

But that should not preclude more visible opposition to bad policy.

 

[Admiral Beez]

Not sure if he'll win again with a majority. Horvath has been mostly ineffective due to the fact she is dealing with opposing a majority govt.

Being against a majority government is exactly the opportunity for effective opposition leaders to shine. You have no veto power in the legislature so you must influence policy in the backrooms, the media and in public opinion through the measure of your character and your skills of communication and negotiation. Horvath and the NDP should have been calling out how LTC was ill-prepared for the coming second wave. If the media won’t give you the air time, up the volume, pitch photos of the dead in front of Queens Park, do what it takes to demonstrate to Ontarians that your party is a viable alternative. Instead, in spite of 4,000 dead Ontarians, Ford is going to win re-election, maybe a closer one, but still a majority.

Also, being against a minority government gives mediocre opposition leaders like Singh and Scheer (we’ll see about O’Toole) the opportunity to demonstrate their uselessness. You don’t influence policy by constantly threatening the nuclear option of bringing down the government. In the face of their ineptitude and demonstrated irrelevance, and in the face of over 15,000 Covid deaths, Trudeau is going to win a larger majority than his 2015 victory.

 

[jayme2016]

Being against a majority government is exactly the opportunity for effective opposition leaders to shine. You have no veto power in the legislature so you must influence policy in the backrooms, the media and in public opinion through the measure of your character and your skills of communication and negotiation. Horvath and the NDP should have been calling out how LTC was ill-prepared for the coming second wave. If the media won’t give you the air time, up the volume, pitch photos of the dead in front of Queens Park, do what it takes to demonstrate to Ontarians that your party is a viable alternative. Instead, in spite of 4,000 dead Ontarians, Ford is going to win re-election, maybe a closer one, but still a majority.

Also, being against a minority government gives mediocre opposition leaders like Singh and Scheer (we’ll see about O’Toole) the opportunity to demonstrate their uselessness. You don’t influence policy by constantly threatening the nuclear option of bringing down the government. In the face of their ineptitude and demonstrated irrelevance, and in the face of over 15,000 Covid deaths, Trudeau is going to win a larger majority than his 2015 victory.

I do agree JT is going to win a large majority i think it will be at the cost of the Ndp.

 

[Thinker]

Being against a majority government is exactly the opportunity for effective opposition leaders to shine. You have no veto power in the legislature so you must influence policy in the backrooms, the media and in public opinion through the measure of your character and your skills of communication and negotiation. Horvath and the NDP should have been calling out how LTC was ill-prepared for the coming second wave. If the media won’t give you the air time, up the volume, pitch photos of the dead in front of Queens Park, do what it takes to demonstrate to Ontarians that your party is a viable alternative. Instead, in spite of 4,000 dead Ontarians, Ford is going to win re-election, maybe a closer one, but still a majority.

Also, being against a minority government gives mediocre opposition leaders like Singh and Scheer (we’ll see about O’Toole) the opportunity to demonstrate their uselessness. You don’t influence policy by constantly threatening the nuclear option of bringing down the government. In the face of their ineptitude and demonstrated irrelevance, and in the face of over 15,000 Covid deaths, Trudeau is going to win a larger majority than his 2015 victory.

Lobbyist make deals through the party in power. We all knew nothing was done about the LTC facilities as they are mostly all for profit and run by friends and large contributors to the Conservative parties. Concerns have been raised by many and unless these facilities are held responsible nothing will be done, other than being accountable to their investors. Not implying Horvath has been effective as an opposition leader, but her voice has been heard and the reputable media has repeated her parties opposition. Since the Cons have gotten rid of Dean French the conservative members revolt has been settled but make no mistake, none of the trickery and dishonesty has been resolved. It goes on quietly until they present a new bill and pass it with fanfare.

 

[syn]

I feel Ford will be re-elected and Del Duca will get the boot.

This would not surprise me.

Del Duca doesn't feel like a leader that's going to move the needle.

Haven't heard much from him so I could be completely wrong.

 

[lenaitch]

The problems in LTC could have been, not solved, but at least ameliorated by meaningful regulatory scrutiny. In some of the worst cases, it took the military to provide a third party analysis.

 

[DSC]

According to BlogTO

"Hamilton's Lime Ridge Mall, a Cadillac Fairview facility less than an hour's drive from downtown T.O., issued a notice to its stores on Monday — the first of York Region's 28 days under the most drastic form of Ontario's pandemic restrictions — stating that hours were being immediately changed to "help spread out traffic and allow more time for visitors to shop safely." "

Shows that the government needs to re-think having different rules for adjacent- and heavily populated, well connected, - areas. If it's bad to shop in a mall in Toronto it's not likely good to do so in Hamilton (particularly with lots of fellow Torontonians!

 

[PinkLucy]

Yes, because that wasn't predictable at all.

 

[ShonTron]

I don't know about the NDP - Andrea Horwath has far overstayed her welcome. Her presence is very tired and they need fresh blood. Unfortunately, no matter how pathetic Ford's leadership gets over the next 2 years, he'll have a cakewalk to another mandate barring a catastrophic scandal.

That's the thing. The NDP has some very good people in their caucus right now, and Horwath is at best a caretaker leader, like Howard Hampton. But the NDP rarely challenges an existing leader, and the most you'll hear about are rumours of internal strife.

They need someone with gusto, especially now that some reporters are going to Del Duca first for opposition takes, even though he doesn't have a seat and his party doesn't even have official status.

 

[Johnny Au]

That's the thing. The NDP has some very good people in their caucus right now, and Horwath is at best a caretaker leader, like Howard Hampton. But the NDP rarely challenges an existing leader, and the most you'll hear about are rumours of internal strife.

They need someone with gusto, especially now that some reporters are going to Del Duca first for opposition takes, even though he doesn't have a seat and his party doesn't even have official status.

The Ontario NDP needs to be led by a visionary like the late Jack Layton.

 

[Richard White]

The Ontario NDP needs to be led by a visionary like the late Jack Layton.

That won't happen. I knew Jack Layton, Jack Layton was a friend of mine, Andrea Horwath is no Jack Layton.

That being said, the ONDP is a different beast when compared to its Federal Counterpart. The Federal NDP is more centrist because it has to focus on the entire country along with much larger issues. The ONDP is more of a leftist, grassroots working class party.

Bob Rae did a number but that was a generation ago. If they are to expand past the Rae Day fiasco they need to go a bit closer to the centre akin to the Liberals. Right now they are much father left as denoted by the Marxist-Leninist wing of the party.

The days of working class politics are long gone. Workers in Hamilton, Oshawa, Niagara Falls, Southwestern Ontario, Windsor, etc are not voting NDP like they used to. Nobody votes for a party just because their union told them to anymore and that is why the NDP is failing. They need to expand their reach, appeal to the masses and shed the working class moniker.

The party can't survive on cities they have held for years because the blue collar workers in their strongholds are voting conservative or liberal now.

 

[Towered]

The days of working class politics are long gone. Workers in Hamilton, Oshawa, Niagara Falls, Southwestern Ontario, Windsor, etc are not voting NDP like they used to. Nobody votes for a party just because their union told them to anymore and that is why the NDP is failing. They need to expand their reach, appeal to the masses and shed the working class moniker.

If they did this, what would differentiate them from the Liberals?