Greater Sudbury Northern Life
Ontario's opposition Progressive Conservatives need to
inject some optimism into a leadership campaign that has gone
badly off track and the governing Liberals suddenly are
providing it.
The Conservatives' race has produced a few policy ideas worth
considering, but been dominated by unnecessary backbiting over
an issue that cannot help, but only hurt their party - a push
by two candidates to scrap or severely restrict powers of the
Ontario Human Rights Commission and tribunals that investigate
alleged abuse.
Extreme right-wingers have been worked up over this, but few in
the public care about it. The Commission, starting half a
century ago, and tribunals with a few aberrations, have done
worthwhile jobs protecting against discrimination, and the
party needs to move on quickly to other issues and hope voters
forget it flirted with this one.
The race also has struggled because of widespread feeling the
Liberals, under Premier Dalton McGuinty, despite the economic
recession, have enough support - 47 per cent - in polls to win
a third successive election, and whoever the Conservatives
choose will not matter anyway.
But the Conservatives are fortunate in having an issue that
could help invigorate them dropped in their lap, revelations
the health ministry has spent hundreds of millions of dollars
setting up a still unfinished electronic records system and
wasted money on it spectacularly at a time it lacks money to
fund real health care, including reducing wait times in
hospitals.
The Liberals have paid $2,700 a day to individual consultants
who were mean enough to charge the taxpayer an extra $1.39
every time they bought a muffin and $1.59 for a can of pop.
This is at a time when many residents are particularly hurting
through losses of jobs and is the sort of waste taxpayers
easily relate to, while overspending millions is so remote from
their lives, it sometimes goes over their heads.
Parallels were seen in the uproar over nannies, hired to look
after children, being forced to work unpaid overtime washing an
MP's car, and an environment minister building Ontario's
biggest garage at her home for her family's gas-guzzlers, for
which she lost her job - these are down-to-earth failings
people can recognize and do not accept.
Most residents had not blamed McGuinty for the economic
recession that has cost tens of thousands of jobs in Ontario,
because they saw this happening elsewhere and attributed its
start, particularly, to financial institutions pushing credit
on people in the United States who had no hope of repaying.
But the Liberals' waste on electronic health information has
started to focus attention on the whole issue of Liberal
spending, some aspects of which have been overlooked.
The Liberals first said their deficit this year would be $14
billion, and most residents appeared to accept this
extraordinary shortfall was necessary to preserve jobs, but it
has jumped to $18 billion and prompted a wave of charges they
cannot be relied on and are dithering.
The Conservatives have an opportunity to remind the Liberals
lost more than $100 million investing in those shaky sub-prime
mortgages forced on U.S. residents - a huge error of judgment
they have never fully explained.
The Tories will be able to recall the Liberals were caught
helping children's aid societies pay for top-of-the-line,
gas-guzzling SUVs for employees to drive in their jobs, and
$2,000-a-year gym memberships to relieve their stress, while
they did not have enough to pay for programs children need.
The Conservatives are able to remind David Caplan - the health
minister responsible for making sure those overpaid consultants
got free muffins - not long ago was the minister in charge of
lotteries, failing to protect ticket buyers from cheating
retailers.
The Conservatives are demanding McGuinty fire Caplan this time
and the premier, struggling to defend the indefensible, must
wish he had done so earlier and may have to put him in a less
visible role when the heat cools down.
The Conservative leadership, that seemed a booby prize, is
looking more a job worth having.
Eric Dowd is is a veteran member of the Queen's Park press
gallery.
