2003-03-31

Ian Urquhart continues to demonstrate that he feels his job title is Tory Minister for Propaganda, not Columnist for Provincial Affairs. After his disgraceful "profile" on Snobelen (I would really like to see his spin on Steve Gilchrist's conviction for federal and provincial tax evasion), you would think he would lay low for a while and stick to presenting the facts. Nevertheless, no, instead he goes on the attack against the NDP.

The NDP are not just seen as being on correct side of the electricity debate. The public knows that they are also the only party that stands with them in opposing another war against the people of Iraq. Conversely, the Tories have not done a "complete reversal of plans to privatize and deregulate electricity in the province". They have put the privatization of Hydro One on hold and introduced some temporary regulations to keep consumer rates low for a while.

They have not changed their stance on power generation deregulation and privatization. Private power generation companies continue to charge whatever they can get away with. Hydro One then resells it to local power utilities and is reimbursed for their losses by the Ontario Government. What the Tories have done is move part of your electricity bill over to your income taxes.

Can we to trust them to not sell Hydro One after the election? Ernie Eves may try to portray himself as "I'm not Mike" but are we honestly to believe that Harris' right hand man (emphasis on "right") has really had a Paulian conversion? How much of his new persona is simply pre-election window dressing?

Dalton McGuinty seems to be following the Tory lead again. Like Eves, his campaign seems to be based more on the advice of American image consultants than any real substance. Moreover, with his continued flip-flops, how are the voters supposed to decide if they like the Liberal's policies?

Yes, the NDP platform booklet (available for download at www.publicpower.ca) does not talk about everything. It deals with the most important issues facing us today. How the NDP would restore education funding is less important than ensuring that the schools get adequate funding.

GTA governance is an important issue here but it is not one that necessarily distinguishes the parties during an election. Nor is it one that is of interest across the entire province.

Moreover, public auto insurance remains a good idea. I recall that when the NDP tried to introduce it a decade ago, the private sector insurers agreed. They argued that the public service could do the same job with 5,000 fewer staff than the private sector required. Rather than put even more people out of work in the middle of the worst recession since the 1930s, the NDP backed off. Faced with rapidly rising insurance rates, I think many people are again willing to entertain public auto insurance.

After eight years of Tory mismanagement, the NDP have chosen instead to target repairing the damage to the existing infrastructure. Getting into a major battle with the corporations would only detract from the job of safeguarding our education, environment and health care. Being able to set your priorities properly is a sign of competent management.

In the end, this election will come down to people exercising their power by making a choice. If you want four more years of downsizing, privatization, deregulation and management by crisis, you can vote for the Tories. If you want a renewed emphasis on maintaining the public infrastructure that made this province the best place to live and work in Canada, you can vote for the NDP. In addition, if you are not sure what you want one day to the next, you can vote for the Liberals.

Gary Dale, Provincial NDP Candidate
Scarborough East