Sunday, November 20, 2011

Don't Be Like Mike

The Legislature, and consequently, the PC Party of Ontario, gets back to business tomorrow. And I'm sure they remember this guy, right?


Yeah. Don't be like this guy.

Contrary to what your friendly neighbourhood Liberal War Room Boss would have you believe, minority Parliaments are all about rising and falling election threats. We went through years of this silliness at the federal level. He should know, having borne witness to a particularly spectacular failure of will by the federal Liberals on that score some years ago. And no, an election next year is not out of the realm of possibility.

There is a world of difference between "Get ready for an election" and "Mr. McGuinty, your time is up." The PC Party would do well to remember this. The first is OK and keeps your supporters watching. The second makes us look silly.

By all means, keep the heat on McGuinty. Make his life miserable. He deserves it. But there's something to be said for letting McGuinty dig his own grave.

His caucus is packed full of perennially re-elected municipal politicians who owe their success to everyone knowing their name and who are quickly turning their ridings into franchises where nobody's thinking about succession planning. The young up-and-comers were shut out of cabinet. Some of his MPP's are in their 70's and 80's. Others are radicals who will force him into more of those humiliating backtracks that were so common this year. And if that wasn't bad enough, he's got four of his MPP's butting heads over the Speaker position, a Fall Economic Update looming, and nervous staffers considering their career options as the public sector gets squeezed.

Something is going to give. And soon. So we don't need to huff and puff and threaten to blow the house down every week.

Remember: whatever the federal Liberals do, or did, we go in the opposite direction.

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