Tough Decisions for Toronto Voters

[Tropicana]

Normally I automatically rule out PC. This time we have a choice between:

- PC -that plans to cut jobs
- a lesbian
- NDP with its vague platform

I guess I will have to interview the PC and NDP candidates in my riding and figure out where they stand on economic policy, social justice and family values.

This is why I don't vote on the basis of party.

[Tropicana]

Tough Decisions for Ontario Voters

Ontario PCs draw fire with plan to cut 100,000 public-sector jobs


Ontarians won’t really miss the government’s he’s vowing to cut, PC Leader Tim Hudak says.When asked about the impact of his campaign promise to axe 100,000 positions from the broader public service, Hudak said at least one-quarter of those jobs would disappear through natural attrition while others would be contracted out.
There are also large bureaucracies that could be trimmed without impacting public services, he said.
“You would be amazed at how much government you’re never going to miss,” Hudak told the Canadian Club of Toronto Friday.
The PC Leader has been under fire to explain how he can take 100,000 jobs out of the public sector without hurting services, and also how his “Million Jobs” plan could actually deliver that many new private sector positions.
As economists weigh in on his job creation math — Liberal Leader Kathleen Wynne dared him to find one expert who agreed with it — Hudak made a point of stressing his own educational background in economics.
Hudak told the business crowd Friday that if the province continues to run up debt at the current rate, currently over $270 billion, then it will face hard decisions like those made in Greece where an economic crisis forced the country to slash its hospital budgets by 25%.
Ontario’s most vulnerable people — those with disabilities or in poverty — will be hurt the most, he argued.

http://www.torontosun.com/2014/05/30/tim-hudak-to-speak-to-canadian-club

[Tropicana]

Tough Decisions for Ontario Voters

The lesbian

Kathleen Wynne, Partner Talk About What Charter Means To Them As Gay Women



Ontario Liberal Leader Kathleen Wynne opened up Friday about how the Charter of Rights and Freedoms has meant she can live "without fear" with her partner, Jane Rounthwaite, and succeed in politics as a gay woman.
It was the first time in the campaign that Wynne, Canada's first openly gay premier, spoke publicly about her sexual orientation.
The Liberal leader met with a group of immigrants at Toronto's Costi Corvetti Education Centre and discussed the rights they will enjoy in Canada, The Toronto Star reported.
Wynne told them she would not be the leader of a province if not for the Charter and spoke about how she felt when gay marriage was recognized later in her adult life.
"Jane and I can live without fear because of the values that we all share," she said.
Later, at a press conference, Wynne was asked by a reporter if there was a time when she felt she had to "live in the shadows."

Wynne said her partner Jane could answer that question better than she could.


Can I just tell your story a little bit?" Wynne asked Rounthwaite, who was off-camera.
Wynne said Rounthwaite's experience was different than her own.
"Jane grew up knowing that she was different from the time she was very little," Wynne said.
"I didn't figure that out until I was 37 so I lived with all the privilege of being a heterosexual and being in heterosexual marriage."

Wynne was married to Toronto accountant Phil Cowperthwaite for 13 years. The couple had three children together before divorcing in 1991. Wynne and Rounthwaitemarried in 2005.
Wynne told reporters that Rounthwaite, her old friend from Queen's University, spent "many, many, many years" not talking about her social life or being open in her place of work. Wynne said her partner had to pretend to be someone other than who she is.
"That's a very common story among gay, lesbian, bi, transgendered kids," Wynne said.
"I want to believe, and I do believe, because of where we live in Canada, in Ontario, that we can have a society that allows everyone to be who they are. And so kids like Jane and kids who are growing up questioning who they are will have the support in all of our schools to be exactly who they are."
Wynne also addressed her sexuality while running for the leadership of the Ontario Liberals in 2013.
In a speech to delegates at the party's convention, Wynne said she wanted to "put something on the table."
"Is Ontario ready for a gay premier? You've heard that question," she said. "Let's say what that actually means. Can a gay woman win?"
Wynne told Ontario Grits that when she first ran in 2003, she was told the people of her Toronto riding weren't ready to elect a gay woman — but they did.
"I don't believe the people of Ontario judge their leaders on the basis of race, colour or sexual orientation," she said. "I don't believe they hold that prejudice in their hearts."
Ontario voters head to the polls on June 12.

http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2014/05/23/kathleen-wynne-partner-spouse-jane-rounthwaite_n_5380890.html

[Tropicana]

Tough Decisions for Ontario Voters

NDP platforms short on fiscal detail, economists say


The NDP doesn't escape the charge of being too vague, either. Western University economist Mike Moffatt says NDP Leader Andrea Horwath is offering even less detail than the Liberals.
"We can't tell whether or not the numbers make sense or don't make sense, because they won't cite anything," he complains.
Banking on rooting out waste

Horwath, for her part, said Thursday she's "happy to sit down with the people that we worked with to put our plan together."
The NDP campaign platform promises to bring in a variety of measures the party says would save a total of $3.71 billion by 2017-18, when it also says it will be able to balance the province's books. The measures include closing corporate “tax loopholes” and stopping “corporate tax giveaways.” Horwath is also proposing to raise the corporate tax rate from 11.5 per cent to 12.5 per cent.
“We care about a taxation system that’s fair and that makes sense,” she said Thursday in Toronto. “That’s why we’re going to roll up that corporate tax rate a tiny bit to help us with transit.”
Horwath has also pledged that an NDP government would appoint a new “savings and accountability” minister whose sole job would be to find $600 million in savings annually.
“There is a lot of waste in the system — I know that for sure,” she said two weeks ago.
The NDP platform is silent on exactly where that $600 million in savings might come from. One broad hint emerged on the campaign trail on Wednesday, when Kitchener-Waterloo NDP candidate Catherine Fife said the NDP's new accountability minister would look to find efficiencies in the health-care and post-secondary education sectors.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/ontario-votes-2014/ontario-election-2014-liberal-ndp-platforms-short-on-fiscal-detail-economists-say-1.2658617

[Tropicana]

Hudak was an eediat. Glad he is stepping down but....

In what will be seen as a stunning victory for Kathleen Wynne,Ontario has returned the lesbian to power with a majority government.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/ontario-election-day/article19135292/