Jim Merriam and others in the commentariat community are turning themselves into pretzels as they avoid talking about the NDP. It's as if Andrea Horwath is the new Voldemort. To listen to them there is only the "stark choice" between the tightie rightie Doug Ford and the semi-lefty Kathleen Wynne.
They're reducing Ontario politics to a grudge match. Well, who doesn't love a grudge match.
In the red corner, is the Liberal Party of Ontario. They, like their federal partners, talk like Bernie Sanders but walk like Monty Python's Minister of Silly Walks. Look up it up on You Tube. It's as hilarious as the Prime Minister's town halls, his Finance Minister's pharmacare plan, and the Premier Wynne's idea of balancing the budget by selling off things that make money.
And in the blue corner, are the Progressive Conservatives. They're quite right to acknowledge the anger of citizens who feel the economic game is rigged. After all, it is. Corporate profits (and CEO wages) are way up, but real wages have flatlined. We can't buy anything more than we could in the 1970s, especially decent housing, and we've got the debt to prove it.
But life isn't going to be any more afFordable if the they freeze the minimum wage at $14 an hour. And cutting $6 billion worth of "economies" out of Ontario's budget will also axe jobs and services. Oh, and the PCs, like the Liberals, want to turn over a moneymaker to business buddies – pot stores.
What can you do? Pundits are a stiff-necked lot. If they refuse to look left, that's on them. As long as they don't say I didn't warm them when they go to cross the street and get slammed by a bus load of millennials.
So let me tap them lightly on the shoulder and whisper in their ear: psst, if you look in the orange corner, here's what you might see.
A leader (she who must not be named) who is well ahead of Ms Wynne and Mr Ford in popularity and credibility. And a party whose platform is based on (dare I say it?) research. Want examples?
Equal access to day care from the day a mom goes back to work creates jobs (mostly for women), increases the workforce (mostly women), and kick-starts early education.
Keep it public, because privatization costs money. The Auditor General of Ontario reported in 2014 that privatization of public projects cost us an extra $8 billion dollars. If we own it, let's keep it. That goes double for things that bring in revenue, such as hydro, the LCBO and Ontario Cannabis Stores.
And speaking of revenue, increase taxes on those who can afford it – CEOs whose incomes have skyrocketed as ours have stagnated, and corporations that are sitting on record earnings and not investing in workers or in production.
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Equality of access to health care must include dental care and pharmacare. Bulk buying prescription meds saves us money and so does a population who can afford to take them. And there's a positive connection between good teeth, getting a job, and self-sufficiency.
The NDP is always accused of being the Party of tax and spend. Well, duh. That's how government works. Taxes raise funds to buy the things we need – roads, health care, clean water – surely I don't need to list them all. The trick is to spend on things that pay back dividends (like lower health care costs, and better education).
Psst ... here's something else those stiff-necked columnists won't tell you – over the years, the governing Party that has done the best job of balancing budgets has been the NDP. And you can take that to the bank.
David McLaren
Neyaashiinigmiing