By Pepper Parr
April 30th, 2022
BURLINGTON, ON
OPINION
The players in the provincial election that will begin on Wednesday are moving into the campaign offices during the weekend.
Burlington is caught up in the mini scandal over a Council member giving away information discussed in a Closed Session of Council and being sanctioned for her behaviour.
The attention being given the Integrity Commission report is going to have to be directed to the election of the next provincial government – where there are very real and very critical decisions to be made.
The manner in which the province has handled the pandemic and the approach they are taking to climate change are troubling. In the past, Conservative parties have hidden their candidates and relied on their membership base to keep them in office.
Natalie Pierre – appointed not nominated but the Progressive Conservative candidate nevertheless.
This time around Natalie Pierre will be seen and heard today as the Progressive Conservatives open their campaign office. How much the public sees and hears from her after that is questionable.
The same gang that managed the campaign of Emily Brown, is running the Natalie Pierre campaign.
In Brown they had a candidate who could have given Karina Gould a much more serious run – but the campaign directors wouldn’t let the public see or hear her – other than at political party events and the Chamber of Commerce debate.
Mariam Manaa – the Liberal candidate who won the nomination race to be the candidate.
However, there is a change taking place in Burlington that may well put Mariam Manaa, the Liberal candidate into a seat in the Legislature.
What is not yet clear is just how many Muslims there are in Burlington.
Manaa defeated Andrea Grebenc for the nomination to the surprise of many. The number of votes the winner of a nomination receives is never made public so we don’t know just how many more votes Manaa got.
Statistics Canada has released new population numbers. I expect that they will show a significant increase in the number of Muslims – those will all be Manaa votes.
Burlington has for a long time been a Conservative and a conservative city. That day may be gone. Karina Gould showed that Liberals can win and get re-elected as well.
Putting a Liberal in at Queen’s Park is the first step to getting Ontario the government it needs.
Don’t take that to mean that the province needs a Liberal government. My view is that Stephen Del Duca would have difficulty putting together a government – is he going to win his own seat? and Andrea Horwath would not know how to lead a government.
Andrew Drummond – NDP candidate running for the third time.
Andrew Drummond, the NDP candidate in Burlington would be a fine MPP.
The choice for Ontario in my view is a minority Progressive Conservative government. Doug Ford is his own worst enemy. With a hobble on his ankle his government will get the province through two to three years during which the New Democrats can find the leader they need and the public can get a look at what kind of talent the Liberals were able to get elected.
It is going to be a short campaign, probably pretty rough as well. Power is not easily taken away from those who hold it and there are a lot of wealthy vested interests that will do whatever they think is necessary to keep what they have.
We are in a time when huge changes are taking place. Covid has whacked our economy; the hospitality sector came close to being wiped out. The way organizations and corporations manage their employees is going through a change and the most recent climate change prediction talked in terms of years not decades.
How different Ontario looks on the morning of June 3rd is something that will get decided by the people in the province who think about what we are up against and then get out and vote.
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.
The majority of Burlington citizens do not vote Tory. Vote split won the last sleepy Conservative MPP. Who did nothing.. and was never available, or ever in line for a cabinet post (I.e., not influential). People then pounded that we need a change. Well, Burlington, with Ford, the developer friendly Premier, that will mean four-plexes in Roseland and 50 floor condos all over Ward 2, and unregulated infill in Ward 4. He already burned Councils ability to apply the new OP to pending applications…because Ford loves developers and their donations. Yeah. Great job.
Voting in a Conservative minority government means that what voters will get is a Liberal-NDP coalition government. No thank-you.
“How many Muslims are in Burlington” should not and will not decide how many votes Mariam Manaa will get. The Burlington community will surely cast their votes in these disastrous unchartered waters times for our economy and health care system on who convinces them has the best solutions to our significant problems at this time. Tainted to some extent, of course, by party loyalties. We have over the years voted for all party candidates and always ensure we make a fully informed vote. The good thing about our provincial election is that municipal nominations will not have closed by the time they are over! Perhaps we won’t vote for a candidate in a provincial election but may well do as our city councillor! That’s how Goldring got to be Mayor – Anne was one of the few who voted for him as the Green Party candidate. His ward constituents obviously liked what they saw when he put himself up for council.