The Grits seem to be toying with the legislature. They pay
By Christina Blizzard
When it comes to the art of manipulation, Dalton McGuinty's Liberals have proved themselves the true masters.
The Tories are in disarray. New Democrats are more effective, but there aren't enough of them to do serious damage. So the Liberals are riding roughshod over the opposition.
The worst offender is Health Minister George Smitherman. He was under fire last week over news reports that the Rouge Valley Hospital was about to lay off nurses.
Nickel Belt New Democrat France Gelinas asked Smitherman about the layoffs in question period.
After Smitherman had gone through his litany of blaming (a) the Tories and (b) the hospital management, he reminded Gelinas that when the NDP were in power, they closed hospital beds.
"That's when Howard Hampton was on a five-year bathroom break," Smitherman said contemptuously.
That's just rude. People should be able to raise issues of concern without being mocked or trivialized.
It's time the Liberals quit blaming previous governments. The NDP hasn't been in power for more than a decade and it is ludicrous to keep harping on their mistakes.
McGuinty himself is folksier in his approach. Look at the brilliant way in which he tried to deflect criticism of Economic Development Minister Sandra Pupatello's ill-timed trade junket to China.
Pausing every now and then for dramatic effect, he gets into a breathless, preacher-style way of talking when he gets into the spin cycle.
We need "constructive engagement" to persuade the Chinese government to be more like us, he argued. Hallelujah, sister Sandra is going to spread the gospel of good government to China. Hallelujah, hallelujah.
This bafflegab is frustrating for anyone seeking real answers.
Thornhill Tory Peter Shurman was tossed from the chamber last Thursday for suggesting rookie Health Promotions Minister Margarett Best was misleading the legislature.
Shurman tried to get a response from Best over new legislation that is set to kick in next month that will ban large displays of cigarette advertising in convenience stores. Small, independent stores are fearful they will lose business. They're worried because the illegal trade in cigarettes has already harmed them.
Best's response to Shurman's question was pathetic. She made no attempt to answer him directly and simply read a prepared briefing note.
Best's response to an earlier question from Norm Miller so baffled the veteran Tory MPP that he raised a point of order.
"Doesn't the answer have to relate to the question?" Miller asked Speaker Steve Peters.
Well, yes it does. And if you keep up this kind of patronizing gobbledegook, you will reduce question period -- the only time there is any semblance of accountability of the government for its actions -- to a complete farce.
CREDIT FOR NOTHING
The Liberals are contortionists in taking credit for doing nothing.
Take the issue of a Canadian content ratio for new transit vehicles. Thunder Bay-Atikokan Liberal Bill Mauro brought a private member's bill asking that 60% of transit vehicles be built in Canada. The massive Bombardier plant is in his riding, so he has home-town issues. Meanwhile, Timmins-James Bay New Democrat Gilles Bisson brought in his own bill pegging it at a more realistic 50% -- the figure unions had been pushing for.
The government quietly announced they would set the figure at 25% -- which most observers feel will do nothing to help Thunder Bay. It was a slap in the face from his own premier for Mauro. Even so, he's claiming victory.
"I've taken it from zero per cent to 25% -- first time Ontario's ever done that. It's the first time any province has done this," Mauro, told the Thunder Bay Chronicle Journal on April 5, claiming the province had no Canadian or Ontario content policy until now.
That's nonsense. From 1992 to 2005, there was just such a requirement. It was the Liberals who dumped it for an Ottawa bus contract in 2005.
You can't suck and blow at the same time. You can't sneak in an unacceptably low 25% Canadian content rule in the legislature in Toronto and allow your Thunder Bay MPP to claim victory.
Right now, you get the impression the Grits are just toying with the legislature. They pay lip service to one thing -- and then push ahead and do exactly the opposite.
The sad thing is that they're getting away with it.