Trying to interface with Pierre; no empathy, no personal contact and no help

By Blair Smith

December 23rd, 2024

BURLINGTON, ON

When I read the announcement that Natalie Pierre had changed her mind and was going to be the Progressive Conservative candidate for Burlington, my first and very uncharitable thought, was that to have “renewed energy” one, theoretically, needs to have some energy in the first place.

I have some personal experience with trying to interface with Pierre and her constituency office over a personal health care issue. What I received was the official party line, no empathy, no personal contact and no help.

Whom I did receive a great deal of help from afterwards, quite unexpectedly since we have been on opposite sides of many issues, was Jane McKenna. Thank you Jane. So, there is my disclosure – I do not support Natalie Pierre. I consider her to be less than useful and certainly not the best choice for Burlington for the Ontario Legislature – a placeholder at the very best. But, she may take up residence at the end of Queen’s Park Circle again.

Andrea Grebenc; Ontario Liberal Party flag bearer in the next provincial election.

The Ontario Liberals in general and the Burlington Liberal Association in particular have a habit of shooting themselves in the foot while simultaneously eating their young. They draw defeat from the jaws of victory with little effort and even less thought. Moving in to the next provincial election they have chosen Andrea Grebenc as their flagbearer and, in my opinion, she is a good choice, Her competition in the nomination contest, Oliver Parker, was also a very solid candidate and has much to offer in the future. But what will they do with the opportunity? Grebenc will have her challenges; she is bright, personable and works hard but does she work at the right things; the things that will make a difference in the campaign? Will she tie herself to the local Liberal Association and follow its mediocre history of performance? And if she is wise, and aligns herself to the Provincial Liberals most securely, will she be able to differentiate herself from a nebulous Crombie and a toxic Trudeau?

I love American football and while watching the Cincinnati game I was surprised to see a political advert from the Provincial Tory Association. It focused exclusively on Bonnie Crombie – her “friendship” with Justin Trudeau and her history of approving tax increases – “Bonnie Crombie, she’s too expensive”. Wow! The campaign can’t be far off and now we know, as if it wasn’t obvious anyways, what the Tory tag lines will be. We know what Natalie Pierre is (and isn’t). Anyone that can say with a straight face “I continue to be inspired by the leadership of Premier Ford and our government’s vision for Ontario” will never be capable of independent action, will remain a party shill.

But do we know what Andrea is? Is she strong and savvy enough to be able to present an option that resonates with jaundiced voters like me; that offers the best choice for the City, divorced from the tired policies and unrestrained egos of those above?

We will know soon enough.