Feuding

The on-going feud between the Ontario Liberal and Federal Conservative governments over the financial future of Ontario (are we heading for a recession; will we be a “have-not” province, whatever that means, etcetera) seems rather too prototpycial. It is a truism of Canadian politics that whichever party is in power in Ottawa, the (Progressive) Conservatives or the Liberals, the other is in power in Toronto (the obvious exception being during NDP government in Ontario). It is a further truism that the two governments feud. So having the two governments feud over the possibility of recession on Ontario, and reducing the issue largely to an ideological disagreement between Tories and Grits, at a time when serious economic pressures in the United States could actually cause a serious recession, and when an increasing number of Ontarians are against Conservative policy (to the point that they are even abandoning attempts at gaining votes in the province, and investing almost all their majority governments hopes in Quebec), seems a bunch of smoke and mirrors.

John Tory throwing his voice behind the Federal Conservative position certainly added to the air of of smokescreen aswell. Given that he had nothing to say on the issue during the previous election, nor during the intervening months, but not until he had dealt satisfactorily with internal PC issues over the future of his leadership (economic of the kind now being talked about having been brought up by the Ontario NDP during the former, and the Federal Conservative’s opening salvos of the feud having come while the latter issue was being addressed), the issue doesn’t seem to be too high on his mind. No, in fact it seems that he is just jumping on the Federal Conservative wagon, in the hopes of building on any dissatisfaction it may be generating among Ontario voters with the Liberals.