Ontario must do its duty -- Its voters can save the Liberals -- and they must not

Calgary Sun ^ | May 2, 2005 | Ezra Levant

[Clive]

The Liberals are dead in the West and French Quebec. Only Ontario can save them now. Will they?

And do they know what Alberta and Quebec will do if Paul Martin's corrupt party is renewed by Ontario?

The Conservatives have done everything Ontario voters "told" them to do to make themselves palatable as an alternative. Their leader, Stephen Harper, is young and bilingual and has made the party's policies more centrist.

On the other hand, the Liberal party is in a shambles. Chretien's former staff and ministers fire public broadsides at Paul Martin. Liberal MPs are defecting, like Edmonton's David Kilgour did. The next Liberal leadership campaign is under way, with dauphins like Brian Tobin and John Manley organizing to dump Martin. The party has a multimillion-dollar debt.

As prime minister, Martin has shown himself to be without focus. After more than a year, he can point to no achievement other than antagonizing the U.S., the provinces (especially Alberta, Ontario, Quebec and Newfoundland) and the majority of Canadians who believe the definition of marriage should remain one man and one woman.

These are reasons why Ontarians could feel comfortable switching to the Conservatives. But these are points about which reasonable people can disagree. Intramural disagreements within parties are the stuff of gossip columns, but they don't go to the core of government. And people can disagree about any particular policy, such as same-sex marriage.

There is only one reason Ontarians should not -- must not -- vote for the Liberals. And that is because to vote Liberal is to join in the brazen, public, shameless corruption of Canada's public institutions. For Ontario to vote for the Liberals is to condone, and excuse, and become accomplices to the corruption being unearthed by Gomery. And don't think for a moment that a Liberal win in the next election won't be held up by the Liberals as the public's acceptance of its conduct. That's what the Liberals did after the 2000 election, when they won in the face of the Shawinigate scandal -- where Chretien personally pressured the president of the Business Development Canada to give a loan to an acquaintance.

This isn't about right wing or left wing anymore -- and the new Conservative party is hardly right wing by the standards of the old Reform party or even Mike Harris's first term. This is about the normalization of corruption, the turning of Canada into a banana republic, where the public treasury is doled out in brown envelopes over dinner.

Martin's conduct over the last 10 days is that of a red-faced schoolboy caught doing something naughty -- begging for time, shifting blame, desperately looking for allies. He's found one in Jack Layton who, for the fee of $4.6-billion in spending, will prop up the Liberals. That Martin would sell off his 10-year reputation as a prudent finance minister for just a few more months in 24 Sussex Drive shows how desperate and amoral he is. Nothing counts to him except maintaining his grip on power. If Adscam crimes weren't enough to make him blush why would perfectly legal overspending do so?

A more politically attractive Conservative party couldn't be conceived. A more despicable Liberal party could not be conceived. The West and French Quebec are lost to the Liberals for a generation; it's up to Ontario now. Here's hoping that Ontario will throw Martin out -- and hard. If it doesn't, don't be surprised if Alberta and Quebec throw Ontario out -- or more accurately, try to leave themselves.

[Clive]

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[goldstategop]

Yep. It'll be interesting to see what Ontarians do in the face of a campaign by the provincial Liberals to get Ottawa to stop shortchanging the province to the tune of $23 billion a year. If Ontario returns the federal Liberals to power, it'll be good as saying we like to be suckers. Keep on stealing from Ontario to line your own pockets.

(Denny Crane: "Sometimes you can only look for answers from God and failing that... and Fox News".)

[junta]

Political liberalism is down to old queens wanting to tie up their "boi" toys in more ways than one.

[Squawk 8888]

Ironically enough, if Québec separates Ontario will win big. We're the biggest contributor to equalization and Québec is the biggest recipient so separation would erase the $23 billion gap overnight.

Hmmm... that almost sounds like a good reason for Ontarians to vote for Martin.

[ikka]

When I was growing up in Canada and decided to leave for the USA, taking advantage of my native-born, American citizenship, I thought the problem with Canada was Quebec.

Now I am more and more coming to the conclusion that the problem with Quebec is Ontario.

[youngtory]

"Now I am more and more coming to the conclusion that the problem with Quebec is Ontario."

That's what too many Canadian freepers are too chicken to admit, that it's Ontario(an english speaking province) that keeps the libs in power not Quebec. Take away the 75 Quebec seats and we still lose.

[ikka]

Actually I meant to say "problem with Canada". But it does make sense, in that the Bloc was enabled by the wussies in Ontario who figured "give them a little something to get them off our case".

[Pres Raygun]

There are two main reasons why Ontario votes Liberal. First Toronto dominates Ontario politics and like all large urban areas Toronto is predominantly liberal. Second Ontarioans fear the west and particularly Alberta. They believe that anything that is good for Alberta is naturally bad for Ontario. This type of irrational thinking goes back to the energy crisis in the 70s. They would rather have a corrupt liberal government than a government that the west voted for.

[backhoe]

ADSCAM: Click the picture-

[Heartofsong83]

The problem is more Toronto than Ottawa. What we need is Toronto to separate into its own Singapore-style city-state.

[Heartofsong83]

Oops, more Toronto than Ontario.