I never thought I would say this, but I am seriously considering voting
NDP in 2022's provincial election. I am going to list my reasons, but then
also list some concerns about the party that perhaps some of you could
address for me.

Reasons:

1) Doug Ford. This dickhead goes and rams through an omnibus bill in the
midst of a pandemic that ripped a lot of right away from tenants (of
which group I fall into) and gave landlords more power because 60% or more
of his cabinet are landlords themselves. This alone is deplorable.

2) They don't care. I understand that the PCs have always leaned more towards
big business, but it never drew my ire until the Ford administration, which
is doing it blatantly at the expense of the average Ontarian. This is
completely unacceptable.

3) Liberal party. As far as I'm concerned, they can never be trusted again
after all the crap that Wynne did in her tenure, and especially after
McGuinty. Total fubar.

4) The Greens are a joke, period.

Concerns:

1) Andrea Horwath. I don't understand her thinking. During the last few
years of the Wynne government, Horwath both condemned said government, but
then went and propped it up a couple times when she could have really laid
down the law. She seems to drop the ball more often than not, and I don't
get what exactly she stands for.

2) Unions. It's well known that the NDP favour unions (including the
teachers), and I'm not a fan of unions whatsoever. Giving in to unions
at every turn isn't something I want to see a party that I might support
start doing over and over.

3) Direction. Does the NDP really stand for everyday Ontarians and our
struggles? I see a party that has potential, but looking on their FB and
Twitter pages has shown me that they give in to political correctness and
a lot of nonsense that is completely irrelevant in the grand scheme of
things. We need unity more than ever, and grandstanding just to highlight
special interest groups and virtue signal is beyond ridiculous.

One of the main reasons I've stuck with the provincial PCs is the fact that
they don't (for the most part) get caught up in a lot of that nonsense.
There is far more at stake than worrying about the feelings of all these
groups that have nothing better to do but bitch and moan about everything.

4) Bob Rae. I haven't forgotten the early 1990's. Not by a long shot.


Thoughts?

-J.

   

I am actually not that shocked. I have considered things in Alberta pretty much for the same reasons you have. The Right wing party is corrupt, the liberals are a no-show, there is a severe lack of a credible right wing alternative, and the NDP didn't do too bad a job last time.

That said, I never vote for a party, I vote for a candidate. If there is a candidate put forward in my riding who encompasses my mindset more than other candidates, I will vote for them.

   

I knew this was a problem in Britain:

https://tribunemag.co.uk/2020/05/government-by-landlord


And Ireland:

https://extra.ie/2019/12/07/news/politi ... g-homeless


And just found out some interesting figures from the US:

https://www.opensecrets.org/news/2016/0 ... rty-owned/


But I didn’t realize Ontario was in a worse spot. Senior politicians at cabinet level should be in the business of politics and nothing else. Landlords shouldn’t be voting on any matter that might pertain to them. It’s a flagrant conflict of interest.

   

The last time around, the PC candidate was less of a dumpster fire than the others, so there wasn't much of a choice as far I was concerned.

My big issue with the party right now is the 'leader' and what he's doing. Lots of people didn't like Tim Hudak, but he wasn't the piece of trash that Doug Ford is.

-J.

   

That's putting it mildly! I hit the roof when I found out why that bit of bill was shoved in there, and was shocked to know how much of Ford's cabinet were landlords! Not only a conflict of interest, but a deliberate move to line their own pockets at the expense of tenants!

Not cool!

-J.

   

Still surprised that Ontario elected another Ford thinking that he'd be better than the first one.

   

I'd almost go with the provincial Libs instead, depending on who their new leader is. The Ontario NDP is pretty radical and really don't care in the slightest for anything outside of Toronto. Plus they have interesting features in their party, like candidates in the last election calling Remembrance Day a "glorification of war" on Twitter. I can only imagine how badly in the tank the Ontario NDP are now for BLM and all this trans nonsense.

Just IMO. The Liberals always eventually skew more towards the center so, despite all their inherent corruption and privileged mentality, they won't nuke the province in their first term; they tend to not get truly bad until they've been re-elected three or four times which triggers their sense of entitlement. The Ontario NDP though? I'd be majorly hesitant supporting them. They seem just too radical in all respects, and with the trends happening these days a Horwath government would be so crazy it would make the Bob Rae one from the 1990's look as sane & sober in comparison as Dwight Eisenhower.

   

Interesting take. I shall ponder that.

-J.

   

It's time for me to run for office.

   

I ran for political office back in 2006 with a municipal run, and it opened
my eyes to things that I saw from the other side of the table. It was an
interesting process, and I encourage anyone politically minded to give it a
shot if they believe in something enough to run.

-J.

   

"If abattoirs had windows, everyone would be vegetarian" - Paul McCartney

   

I wouldn’t worry about Notley being in charge again. She’s an excellent speaker and was a sensible Premier. The Western NDP seems to produce a fair few like this. Horwath doesn’t fill me with similar confidence at all.

   

Hence me still being quite undecided. Even though I have never gone NDP, I didn't mind Howard Hampton back in the day, because he spoke his mind and stood up for the little guy.

-J.

   

Only advice I can offer is - don't vote based on who you think will win. Vote based on what you think is right.

They might be the same thing. But odds are, they are not.

   

Sound advice, and this is what I normally do. I'm not likely to make a final
decision until the election campaign itself is in full swing. There is a lot
to consider, and because I'm someone that doesn't switch often at all (this
would be only the second time ever), I need to carefully consider my options,
and their ramifications.

-J.