Liberal government uses Throne speech to set out their election campaign; Doug Ford takes the sound bite route.

opinionandcommentBy Pepper Parr

March 16th, 2018

BURLINGTON, ON

Revised

Doug Ford is out there getting on every TV and radio station that will give him ten minutes to explain what he will do differently. We get an idea of what he has planned in bits and pieces; he wants to see the private sector involved in the sale of cannabis and he wants to cut out the waste in government spending.  He has said he will scrap the Cap and Trade carbon tax – even though the federal government has made it clear that if a province does not have a cap and trade tax then the federal plan will be imposed on them

Doug Ford

Doug Ford announcing his intention to run for the leadership of the Progressive Conservative party in Ontario.

Ford wants the government out of business; he believes the market is the best approach to controlling prices and wants to see much less regulation.

One wonders what the tens of thousands of people who got those $25 Gift Cards from Loblaws who are trying to put their decades long price fixing on bread prices behind then think about less government regulation.

Brown campaign magazine

Great campaign literature – it will become part of Ontario’s political folk lore.

The Progressive Conservatives had an election platform that had the former PC party leader all over it. There were a lot of good things in the plan but it was scrapped and the hundred thousand copies of that plan that were printed were recycled. They got rid of the magazines – then they got rid of Brown.

The Premier of the province can list all the changes she has made since the last election in 2014. She too needs a way to get her platform in front of the voting public.

Premier Kathleen Wynne found a neat way to get a lot of attention and put her platform in front of the public.
She is going to use all the pomp and ceremony that is part of a Throne Speech.

On Thursday Wynne advised the Lieutenant Governor to prorogue the Legislature, which she did and on Monday she will read out a Throne Speech that will set out what the government plans to get done in the election that will take place June 7th.

Dowdeswell delivering Throne Speech MAr 16-2018Tough to beat a Throne Speech for visual effect on television.

The government will reintroduce government bills that were before the legislature prior to prorogation so that debate on them can continue. This includes proposed legislation aimed at eliminating the gender pay gap and increasing pay transparency for workers, as well as legislation that would transform Ontario’s corrections system, and protect consumers by improving access to elevators and giving people more control over their credit information.

No sitting days will be lost due to prorogation, as the legislature is convening for the 3rd session on March 19, 2018, consistent with the Parliamentary Calendar established in the 1st session.

The prorogation of the Legislature was within parliamentary rules – neat move on the part of the Premier.

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1 comment to Liberal government uses Throne speech to set out their election campaign; Doug Ford takes the sound bite route.

  • Brian Roach

    You’re making it sound as if running a campaign event disguised as a Throne Speech is a good thing. It’s borderline illegal and certainly another waste of our tax dollars. Although I’m not sure the Liberals even know anymore, they’ve wasted so much.