There are a little more than five weeks to go until Ontario's election. And, if you believe the polls, Doug Ford might just win it. Bob Hepburn writes:
Ford’s laughing because his Progressive Conservatives appear headed for a second straight majority victory — and the NDP and Liberals seem incapable of stopping them.
With the June 2 election less than 50 days away, latest polls indicate the PCs are backed by 38 per cent of decided voters, the NDP and Liberals by 25 to 27 per cent, and the Greens 5 per cent.
Indeed, vote splitting between the NDP, Liberals and Greens could result in progressive voters, who comprise more than 60 per cent of the electorate, seeing their worst nightmare come true — a second Ford victory in which his Tories match or exceed the 76 seats they won in 2018. A total of 63 seats are needed to form a majority government.
That’s why a growing number of progressive voters are urging strategic voting. They believe such a strategy solves the problem of vote splitting by voting for one candidate in each riding to allow the progressive majority to win the seat.
Importantly, they also believe — or fear — that it may be the only way to defeat Ford, or at least limit him to a minority.
There's no talk of a deal between the NDP and the Liberals:
Both NDP Leader Andrea Horwath and Liberal Leader Steven Del Duca say they aren’t at all interested in working together in individual ridings to defeat Ford. “You aren’t going to hear me talk about strategic voting,” Del Duca told reporters last week.
While rejecting any deal with the Liberals, Horwath is urging voters to vote strategically for the NDP. “I’m asking folks who may have decided in the past to vote Liberal to keep Conservatives out to recognize that this time that’s not the strategy,” she said last week. “This time, that strategy will split the vote and cause Doug Ford to come up the middle.”
Meanwhile, Ford keeps announcing billions of dollars in giveaways. Clearly, he believes he can buy his way into a second term.
As in the last two federal elections, progressive voters will have to vote strategically -- and force the Liberals and the Dippers to work together.
Image: thestar.com
6 comments:
Who is this Del Duca? I thought he was a legend, a bit like Bigfoot. Do we have a definite, confirmed, sighting?
Ford is a disaster but unless a lot of teachers and health professionals remember how badly the Ford Gov't has treated them, I think he has a good chance.
We need at both provincial and federal levels some kind of proportional representation. At the moment from what I am hearing the New Zealand mixed-member proportional system looks good or perhaps the German-style one which seems to looks similar.
Given several recent elections, jrk, it's abundantly clear that we need proportional representation.
Nope Owen. Hepburn is right because Dugg is laughing all the way to the bank. The opposition activity has been appalling because of its absence!
Does Jane Doe know who DelDuca is? Are they impressed by Horwath and who are the only politicians in the race - the PCs? One should ask oneself why this is. Where are the whizkids running the oppo parties? Howcum the youngsters are active in the PCs and absent elsewhere?
So many questions but the fact is that apart from the Ridings around Brampton that can turn out thousands of partisans most Riding associations are defunct.
Owen it looks as though that organised politics has been allowed to disintegrate and condoned by ineffective Party leaders. It is as though the apathy of the electorate has been adopted by politicians who seem to think that politics is not worth the effort.
It's always been true that we get the government we deserve, Ben. If Ford wins, it will be because the opposition parties didn't know how to.
https://www.bmj.com/content/377/bmj.o1011
Different in details but BoJo and Dougie sound like solemates [sic].
An interesting link, jrk. When it comes to the pandemic, Ford has been as utterly incompetent as BoJo.
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