The Holyday is Over for Hudak

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The recent by-election results in Ontario could be very bad news for the righties in Toronto. Toronto Council will be losing the reasonably competent Doug Holyday and Rob Ford will be losing a key ally. Provincially, Holyday's voice will unfortunately be neutered as an Opposition MPP, and locally a Ford-unfriendly Council could bypass an election and appoint a burr under the cheeks of Doug and Rob.Hudak

For Tim Hudak the news is even worse. Holyday's bragging rights were short lived – when the dust settled, the Liberals had taken 2 out of 3 close races. In his own riding of Etobicoke, fully supported by Ford Nation and the endorsement of Mike Harris, Holyday only led by 4%. In Scarborough the Liberals won by 5% and even in gas plant McGuinty's old riding the Liberals managed to hold on to a 3% lead. In London, the NDP swept away the Conservatives with 10% and thoroughly punished the Liberals in Windsor with an astonishing 40% margin of victory.

Ontario will see a minority government run by Kathleen Wynne and Andrea Horwath, and Tim Hudak will see the back of the door at the next Conservative leadership convention. They won't need riot police this time because no one cares. Until Ontario conservatives find another leader of the caliber of a progressive Bill Davis, the taste of Ipperwash, Walkerton, the destruction of the best education system in the world, downloading, amalgamations, and partisan fascism will remain bitter in our mouths.

Enjoy it while you can Tim, but I fear that Holyday was your goodbye present.

*****

Skid Crease, Caledon

SERVE AND PROTECT or PUNISH AND ENSLAVE

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I remember once believing in that motto: To Serve and Protect. For years, I taught children to always seek out a police officer if they were in trouble. They were right up there with ambulance drivers and paramedics and firepersons – people you could trust and who would come to your rescue. I remember when they wore friendly light blue shirts and red striped pants and drove bright yellow squad cars so you could find them easily.

Pollice2That all changed in Ontario under Mike Harris and his right-wing police state. Under Mike's watch the uniforms changed to the dark side of the force, and the blue shirts were hidden under black flak jackets. The squad cars got a patriotic law and order make-over, some even into stealth mode with stealth markings. I remember a Conservative political convention that Boss Harris held in Toronto near the end of his reign of terror. The people had begun to protest, so he had the Convention Centre surrounded by police in full Darth Vader riot gear. It was like a scene out of a totalitarian nightmare – the SS keeping the elected elite safe from the people.

Something has gone very wrong when the people who are hired by us and paid for by us no longer Serve and Protect but, like that ominous Decepticon, seem to Punish and Enslave. It doesn't matter now who the political leaders are – the new norm is order by intimidation. There is a good reason for Julian Fantino's meteoric rise to Conservative federal Cabinet Minister, and it has nothing to do with serving and protecting.

Somewhere between corrupt Toronto drug squads, the killing of Robert Dziekanski, the ineptitude and brutality of the G20 riot response, police who lie under oath, and the overkill of Sammy Yatim, I have lost faith. If this is the new normal, like the radar traps out for the end of the month quota rush, I do not like it. I do not endorse it. Bring back Sergeant Frank Preston and Yukon King and Rex. I want a police force that makes me feel safe and secure. What you are doing now makes our children cry at night.

Skid Crease, Caledon

Enemies of The State

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Well, it's official. I've been a very bad boy according to Our Government. skid-creaseSo bad that I am classified as "an enemy" of the CRAP that rules the country. I found out when a friend who runs a political advisory company emailed me to sympathize that we had been branded. It wasn't a public humiliation where six squad cars of black ops police without name badges pull up to your home, drag you out and beat you, while those other guys with the big hats and red coats repeatedly taser you into submission. No, this is a lot more subtle, like that election fraud that never happened.

You are simply ghosted – Our Government won't answer your mail, emails, or tweets with anything other than a non-committal talking points response, if at all. You don't get invited to any speaking engagements, fundraisers, fishing trips, or caucus meetings. Your chances of receiving a plum appointment or a patronage grant are less than a snowball's chance in hell. You may find yourself stopped at the border as a security risk, especially if you are known to subscribe to nature magazines or other eco-terrorist resources like the IPCC Assessment Reports on Climate Change. And may the gods have mercy on you if you are a supporter of the David Suzuki Foundation.

Now I am part of that shunned minority of 70% of Canadians who no longer support Our CRAP Government.

I watched Michael Moore's Capitalism: a Love Story the other night (also on the enemy list). It reminded me with shocking clarity why I became an enemy of a government committed to the partisan promotion of profit over social justice, environmental literacy, and economic security for all Canadians. You forgot the old adage, Mr. Harper: Keep your friends close, and your enemies closer. As Attila the Hun revealed in his Leadership Secrets: "Do not underestimate the power of an enemy, no matter how great or small, to rise against you on another day." Let the games begin.

*****

Skid Crease, Caledon