Ontario election off to a bad start?

Machjo

Hall of Fame Member
Oct 19, 2004
17,878
61
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Ottawa, ON
Ontario PC Party

Already the Progressive Conservatives main page is focussed more on how bad a leader McGuinty is rather than on how good its own candidates are.

And then you go to what they sand for, and it's all vague one-liners that are hard to disagree with but with no clear plan of action outlined. Now of course if the idea is to give each candidate more freedom to communicate his own policy platform, then that might be a good thing. We'll have to wait and see.

http://gpo.ca/sites/gpo.ca/files/gpo_platform_2011.pdf
The Green Party of Ontario at least has a platform, plus its main page does not attack other parties, but rather just presents the Green Party, which is definitely a plus. I'll have to look into it, though I still expect a quality candidate who will still have his own ideas and not just be a bobblehead.

This part of the platform isn't too bad in principle, though again it's still somewhat vague, not to mention not particularly well thought out:

"3. Develop youth employment opportunities by updating and strengthening our education system
[FONT=Akzidenz Grotesk BE Light,Akzidenz Grotesk BE Light][FONT=Akzidenz Grotesk BE Light,Akzidenz Grotesk BE Light]a) Freeze tuition for the 2012-13 school year while maintaining university and college budgets; index tuition increases to the rate of inflation from 2013-15
b) Expand training and certi
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[/FONT]fi[FONT=Akzidenz Grotesk BE Light,Akzidenz Grotesk BE Light][FONT=Akzidenz Grotesk BE Light,Akzidenz Grotesk BE Light]cation programs in job growth areas such as green buildings, biomedical technology, renewable energy and sustainable transportation
c) Increase investments in apprenticeship, co-operative and mentorship programs
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http://ontariondp.com/en/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/NDP-Platform-2011-OUTLINE-small.pdf

Like the Green main page, the NDP one doesn't attack other parties, though it does attack the HST without necessarily presenting a clear alternative. And like the Green Party, it does have a platform online, though I can't access it right now (maybe some techincal issue with their website right now, who knows).

Turning the Corner

The Liberal Plan is still pretty basic so far too.

I do like some of the Green Party platform though:

"
1. Fight for good jobs and a fiscally responsible government
[FONT=Akzidenz Grotesk BE Light,Akzidenz Grotesk BE Light][FONT=Akzidenz Grotesk BE Light,Akzidenz Grotesk BE Light]a) Lower income taxes on families and local businesses to stimulate job creation
b) Reward ef
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[/FONT]fi[FONT=Akzidenz Grotesk BE Light,Akzidenz Grotesk BE Light][FONT=Akzidenz Grotesk BE Light,Akzidenz Grotesk BE Light]cient use of resources and responsibly balance our [/FONT][/FONT]fi[FONT=Akzidenz Grotesk BE Light,Akzidenz Grotesk BE Light][FONT=Akzidenz Grotesk BE Light,Akzidenz Grotesk BE Light]nances with a revenue neutral tax on waste, pollution and carbon emissions
c) Balance the budget by 2015, saving billions in debt and ensuring our tax dollars are spent on public services instead of interest payments
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Still a little vague, but I do like the basic idea of moving towards a more user-pay tax-system.

Scanning the rest of the Green platform, it has good ideas in principle, but again, it's not so precise on how it will do it, still sticking to nice-sounding comments. Those Green canddiates will need to be grilled on the details of these nice-sounding promises.

Anyway, that's what I'm getting so far.
 

lone wolf

Grossly Underrated
Nov 25, 2006
32,493
210
63
In the bush near Sudbury
Huh? The left can stoop pretty low too sometimes.
The Left? Sometimes.... Listen to the put-downs then tell me that isn't bullying. Listen to a kid do the same thing on the schoolyard and tell me that kid isn't a bully. Left/right has nothing to do with it - but it sure is an easy way to play dodgeball.