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Which Bunch will do the Least Damage to Ontario?
One of the four men pictured above will be the leader of the next Government of Ontario after the October 10th election. The Toronto Tribune will not endorse any of them or their parties. None of the four parties deserve it. We are the undecided. We will not make our decision until we enter the polling station on October 10th, 2007. We are the votes the four men above want and campaign relentlessly to achieve. The party faithful will do what is required. We are the wild cards of the election. If enough of us are undecided we can change the election. Their pollsters know that and so do we. We invited each party to submit provide specific policy initiatives and we asked the leader of each party to answer three questions. For those, like us, who have yet to make up their minds contacting the parties and asking about policies that matter to us will help us make our decision. Our first question, to the leaders, was why should anyone vote in Ontario? IAT and The Toronto Tribune both recognize the importance of voting in a democracy despite having limited or poor choices. Whether federal, municipal or provincial it has been a regular election day event to try to determine in the voting booth which bunch of buffoons will do the least amount of damage. Cynical yes, but both honest of our disgust with politicians and more importantly respecting the benefits of living in a democratic country. It is said in a democracy you get the government you deserve that doesn't say much for Toronto, Ontario or Canada despite having 3 different parties elected to the three different levels of government. Next we asked each party leader, in 100 words or less, to explain why anyone should vote for them to become Ontario's Premier. Finally we asked each leader to explain how they would manage to live in Toronto on an income of $548 per month. That is the amount of basic welfare for a single person. The downloading of social services is a burden on Ontario and a worse burden on it's most disadvantaged citizens. These men can change that but first they need to think about how they would manage on that amount while living in Toronto, something we suspect not one of them has ever considered before in their life. We also asked each party to provide specific policy positions on the Arts, Environment, Tourism in Toronto and Ontario, full-funding for faith-based education and whether they would fully upload social services back to the Province and if so when. For those who are undecided it is important to find out the positions of the parties and through that determine which party would if elected, and honest, the latter a rare commodity, meet our beliefs, values and goals. The era of statesmen and stateswomen in Canada is long past. We refer to individuals who care more about the good of the citizens than the next election, personal glory and cronyism. Given we are the undecided, despite our cynicism, we do appreciate the parties and their leaders taking the time to answer the questions. Only then can we exercise our democratic right on October 10th and vote for one of them. We may not think much of politicians, regardless of party affiliation, but we appreciate living in a democratic country that provides the right to vote. Someday perhaps there will be politicians that earn our respect and you will read about it here! We'd love to write that article but it may take some time. As of today we have no idea which party will earn our votes, individually of course, but we do know that we will not neglect our treasured democratic process. On October 10th we will vote in the Ontario Provincial Election and we strongly encourage our readers to do so. Click on either the image of the party leader or the name of the party to find their answers to the questions we asked. Come October 10th, The Toronto Tribune wishes the people of Ontario the best of luck, we're going to need it. |
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