The forthcoming provincial election needs some hard thinking - I like the look of a minority goverment

By Pepper Parr

January 31st, 2020

BURLINGTON, ON

OPINION

During her State of the City address on Thursday the Mayor would not declare that she is going to run for office again – she said she would declare in May (why the wait) but added that she loved the job.

A majority of the current council have indicated that they will run again; there are a couple that should re-think that decision.

But before we get our heads around deciding whether or not members of the current city council deserve to be re-elected we have to make some decisions on the current provincial government.

Do we re-elect Doug Ford? Personally I wouldn’t. In my view the smartest thing we can do, if we must, is return the Conservatives as a minority government.

I’ve not been impressed with the way Ford has handled the pandemic and his Highway 13 plans would be a disaster.
Doug Ford is a business man – that is what he understands – even if he isn’t all that good at it.
He once made the comment that he “detests” closing down the commercial sector – but that is what had to be done to limit the new Omicron variant from spreading.

Many had taken the position that this most recent variant wasn’t all that bad – failing to realize that more people died of Covid19 during January of this year than at any other time during this now two year pandemic – save one month.
We had children who were being infected.

On Thursday we had genuine nut cases lining the overpasses along major highways cheering on the Freedom Convoy – truckers who said vaccination mandate did not respect their rights; forgetting that not being vaccinated infringed on the rights of others.

There they were – by the hundreds at overpasses across the GTA. Which part of the solution to bringing the pandemic to an end didn’t they understand? And which part of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms do they not understand?

The rank stupidity and level of ignorance is stunning; the crowds that cheered on the truckers to be so uninformed is disturbing – and dangerous. Those who drive a truck for a living have the right to refuse to be vaccinated – but unless they are vaccinated they can’t drive a truck across the Canada \US border.

There are people at city hall who have been told they cannot report for work if they are not vaccinated.
I’ve never had the feeling that this provincial government has a solid grip on the pandemic. The way they have jerked parents with children in school is a real shame.

I am of the belief that Andrea Horvath, the NDP leader would have difficulty forming a government in the very unlikely event that she won a majority.

And Stephen Del Duca has just not inspired me – he is trying to create a profile and get some traction. I like the look of John Fraser, the current Liberal leader in the legislature.

I think the provincial Liberals need a major conference at which they could flesh out just who they are and what their policies will be. Until they do something to let the public know what they will do differently they are wandering in the political wilderness.

Times have changed. The pandemic has brought a lot of the changes to the surface.

One of the issues governments have failed to effectively address is homelessness and Long Term Care.

Housing that is affordable; solving the homeless problem; get a grip on what oxycodin is doing to people – the number who die of this drug when they overdose has to be curtailed.

Learning how we as a society take care of the elderly and ensure that their “golden years” have dignity and the services they need. The long term care problems are far from resolution.

Mental Health – a new health issue brought on by the pandemic with no programs that can come close to meeting the need. More importantly – understanding the need.

Re-thinking the way we are educating our young people. Is what we are doing now the best we can do?

How we allocate the tax money collected needs a much bigger deep think – and it is the public that will have to do that thinking – don’t trust the politicians to do it for you.

With a provincial election less than six months away – it is time to move beyond partisan positions and think about what we as a society need at every level and then decide how we are going to make it happen.

Burlington is going to have three candidates that are very very different.

While canvassing a neighbourhood Manaa found herself on the doorstep of NDP candidate Andrew Drummond. He took the literature but did not invite her in for coffee.

Andrew Drummond, the NDP candidate, is at that point in his political career where he has to do much better or look for a different career choice.

Manaa gained some valuable experience working as a volunteer with Oakville North Burlington Liberal Pam Damoff and Burlington MP, Cabinet Minister Karina Gould.

Mariam Manaa, a young Muslim women about whom we don’t know enough – the question with this candidate (she is running as a Liberal) is this: Are there enough Muslims to give this candidate the support she needs and are there enough voters in Burlington who can get beyond any level of racism they might have to elect her to office?

The current MPP, Jane McKenna will come out of hiding at some point. Don’t expect her to have very much to say – hopefully she will give up on that really stupid speech she made in the legislature that the pandemic was over-rated.

Salt with Pepper is the musings, reflections and opinions of the publisher of the Burlington Gazette, an online newspaper that was formed in 2010 and is a member of the National Newsmedia Council.