John Tory well ahead in Toronto mayoralty race but Rob Ford is second

John Tory, a former leader of the Progressive Conservative party of Ontario, is far in the lead for mayor of the city of Toronto. However scandal-ridden Rob Ford the present mayor is in second, and Olivia Chow of the New Democratic Party is in third.

The latest Forum Research Poll has Tory with 40 percent support, to 28 percent for Ford and just 21 percent for Olivia Chow. Chow has seen her support dwindle in Scarborough in the east end of Toronto from 31 percent in July to nine percent at present lower than the approximately 13 per cent for Ford. The CEO of Forum Research Lorne Bozinoff said of Olivia Chow: “Her support really has been declining over the last two months, and she’s hit a new low now … she’s one of the candidates that wants to replace the Scarborough subway with an LRT, and that’s really costing her support. Not surprisingly, almost all the Chow vote would go to John Tory. None of it really would go to Rob Ford." Chow also is in favor of improving bus services. Chow has now started to call herself the underdog in the race as she lags behind even the disgraced mayor Rob Ford. 

 Candidate David Soknacki is withdrawing from the race and has six percent of the vote according to Bozinoff. Three per cent of that vote is expected to go to Chow with two percent to Ford and just one percent to Tory. This will still leave Tory well in the lead. He is leading in every area of the city. The Forum poll was of 1,060 residents using an automated system of interactive voice response phone calls and has a margin of error of three percentage points, nineteen times out of twenty.  

Another poll by Nanos Research earlier also showed Tory well in the lead. The poll surveyed 1,000 residents between August 27 to 31. Pollsters asked participants simply who they would vote for if the election were held today. Tory received 42 percent support, Ford 28 per cent and Olivia Chow 26 per cent. David Soknacki who is now withdrawing had three percent. The vote is to be held October 27, so there is still time for the figures to change. Tory is seen by many as the obvious choice to keep out Ford and this may be hurting Chow. Both Tory and Chow are trying to woo Liberal voters. However, the NDP irritated the Liberals by precipitating a provincial election that the Liberals won. The election could have been avoided if the NDP had supported the Liberal budget. The budget had a number of progressive features that many labor groups supported causing some friction within the New Democratic Party. 

 Just recently Rob Ford was found to have an abdominal tumor. Tests will be needed to see if the tumor is malignant. There is no indication as yet that he intends to withdraw from the race.

Hang in there, Tory urges party workers

Tory is certainly right. Once he brought up the faith-based school funding issue it took on a life of its own pushed by the opposition and the media. How much this mattered though will always be moot. No doubt fear of a return to Harris type policies also played a role even though Tory attempted to portray himself as a moderate. Perhaps the Tories will no do quite as badly as the present polls show.
The last projection from the Democratic Space shows the NDP doing a bit better.


Hang in there, Tory urges party workers

RICK MADONIK/TORONTO STAR
'I never had control of the message,' says PC leader

Oct 09, 2007 11:43 AM
Richard Brennan
Staff Reporter
Progressive Conservative Leader John Tory ranted against his rival Liberal Premier Dalton McGuinty in his 11th hour frenetic campaign sweep through the GTA today but stayed well away from mentioning faith-based school funding.
Even in Thornhill, where the PCs are hoping to get the large Jewish Community onside, Tory did not refer to his controversial election promise – albeit watered down – to publicly fund religious schools at a cost of $400 million.

“He should mention it, absolutely,” said Yirmi Cohen, of Thornhill who was there to greet Tory along with a couple of dozen supporters at Progressive Conservative candidate Peter Shurman’s campaign office.

Late last month, Tory announced that if he formed a government he would put the issue of faith-based school funding to a free vote in the Legislature, a sharp departure from his earlier promise to faith-based school supporters that it would happen.

Gila Martow, of Parents for Equality in Education Funding, told reporters she can understand why Tory might be a little gun shy because of all “this fear mongering from Premier McGuinty.”

“Maybe election time, with all the rhetoric and all the fear mongering, isn’t the time to have a healthy debate,” said Martow, a mother of four, all of whom went or are going to Hebrew school.

“I think there were a lot of minority cultures and religions that have absolutely no idea that they were living in an intolerant province.”

Martow said her entire optometrist’s salary goes to sending her children to private school, while her Roman Catholic colleagues get their children’s s schooling paid for.

During the whirlwind tour of the GTA, Tory said he still hopes voters will turn their back on a the Liberal legacy of “dishonesty” and “cynicism.”

“There are still a million people without a family doctor, the emergency rooms are still in chaos, 150,000 people have lost manufacturing jobs in the last two years, the community safety issue is still with us, the housing in so many communities … is well below any standard we would accept and that is after four years of Dalton McGuinty,” he told supporters in the riding of Scarborough-Guildwood.

“And that isn’t mentioning the broken promises and the low standard of integrity and honesty that we’ve seen over and over and over again for four years.”

With less hours to go before to the election, Tory urged party workers not to give up, reminding them that former premier Ernie Eves only won his first election in 1981 in Parry Sound by six votes, emphasizing he believes there are some close races, including in his own in Don Valley West riding.

The tired looking 53-year-old said in an earlier radio interview he could not believe voters are willing to set the bar so low by returning Liberal Premier Dalton McGuinty to office for four years.

“It’s as if the people are saying it’s ok to have a low standard of behaviour for politicians,” Tory said on CFRB this morning as he tried to explain how his campaign got derailed and how the Liberals “dishonesty’ trumped his effort to change the tone of politics in Ontario.

Two polls released yesterday show the Liberals walking towards a majority government and his PC Party finishing a weak second.

“People are going to have to decide, do they want a higher standard of integrity in politics or not, do they want a higher standard of honesty or not. If they want politics as usual, which they say everyday they don’t, then they should be prepared to vote for a different standard,” Tory said.

“You get a bit discouraged … because I’m not sure people really want to change it because if they are going to vote this guy back in, if they are going to take four more years.

Tory said he regretted the Progressive Conservative’s proposal to publicly fund religious schools dominated the first three weeks of the campaign and overshadowed the Liberal record of broken promises, particularly bringing in the so-called health tax when the Grits promised in 2003 election not to raise taxes.

‘I never had control of the message,” he said, later acknowledging at a CityTv interview that even a focus group three years ago rejected the idea of funding faith-based schools.

During the radio show he blamed the media in part for focusing on one small section of his 52-page platform, which dealt with several issues including extending help for autistic children, promoting public transit and phasing out the health care tax over four years, among other things.

“Did I say it was the issue of the campaign? Never once.”

Tory's hopes high for northern Ontario

I guess hope springs eternal. Tory doesn't cite any poll numbers to show that his hopes are realistic! I wonder why?

Tory's hopes high for northern Ontario

Oct 05, 2007 11:29 AM
THE CANADIAN PRESS

Progressive Conservative Leader John Tory says he has high hopes in northern Ontario despite his partying holding just one seat in the region at dissolution.

In an interview with CBC Radio in Thunder Bay, Ont., Tory again laid out a series of pledges to draw voters to Conservative candidates on Oct. 10.

Among them, a pledge to spend about $300 million of gas tax funding to improve northern highways and roads. He said a Conservative government would also establish a $100 million research and development fund for northern universities and colleges to attract businesses and ideas to the north.

Asked how he would help the beleaguered forest industry, Tory said he would seek solutions in a report prepared by experts for the McGuinty government. That report, said Tory, discusses such issues as streamlining regulations and the co-generation of electricity.

Another key issue to many northern Ontario voters is a widening of the Trans Canada Highway. Tory said he wouldn't commit to calls for a divided highway, saying he'd consider "a lot more passing lanes" before four-laning.

Tory said he would also help the northern economy by rolling back the diamond tax which was almost tripled by the Liberals. He said he would also review the Mining Act to ensure regulations do not dissuade people who want to invest in northern Ontario.

With only five days before the Oct. 10 election, Tory said he won't be making any more campaign stops in northern Ontario.

John Tory's place in history

Oh dear this right wing member of the National Post board and some time editorial writer is chagrined that Tory with a glorious (ie. reactionary) economic and health care program has apparently blown it against the advice of Turley-Ewart's favorite prof. Michael Bliss. Certainly Tory's move to support funding faith based schools didn't help but his about face may prevent even further damage. It seems that even Tory's allies in the press are abandoning the sinking ship and berating the captain instead of trying to help him out.

John Turley-Ewart: John Tory's place in history
The Ontario election was John Tory's to win. His Progressive Conservative Party had agreed upon a convincing economic platform and proposed opening up the public health system to private suppliers in an attempt to reduce the outrageous waiting lists in Ontario, where people are still literally dying waiting for certain treatments.

Tory and his followers were also clearly able to see the need for Ontario to get its house in order as far as power generation for homes and industry is concerned. John Tory would not have allowed the provincial economy to suffer in the name of "greening" our energy supplies.

Now all of that seems for naught in the wake of Mr. Tory's "leadership" decision yesterday -- that is his commitment to permit a free vote on faith school funding should he become premier following the Oct. 10 vote.

Mr. Tory would have shown much better leadership, indeed good political judgment, the key to winning and governing, had he decided to leave funding religious schools to a free vote in June rather than make it an issue in Ontario's fall campaign.

Faith-school funding may well be a matter of fairness in Mr. Tory's mind, but it was not a pressing issue in the minds of the Ontario electorate, who were appalled earlier this year to learn that Premier Dalton McGuinty's Liberal government had blown about $32 million of taxpayers money on handouts to community groups with close ties to the Liberals. Ontario's auditor-general investigated this scandal and Mr. McGuinty lost a cabinet minister as a result.

To this outrage was added further reason for the good citizens of Ontario to rise up against Mr. McGuinty's Liberals when news broke this year about the Ontario Lottery Corporation turning a blind eye to lottery winners who were being ripped off by convenience store owners selling OLG tickets.

Indeed, such political missteps plus Mr. McGuinty's decision to break his promise not to raise taxes after he was elected made him a ripe political target.

That Mr. Tory failed to hit such a big target by allowing an issue to creep into his platform that was incredibly unpopular is why he will most likely lose this election. It's not the he was not warned either.

In a letter to Mr. Tory dated June 28th this year, historian Michael Bliss tried to do his part to keep Mr. Tory on track to victory. In the letter Prof. Bliss notes:

"I have phoned your office and received a perfunctory acknowledgement, emailed the party without acknowledgement, and earlier wrote you on the schools issue, again without acknowledgement.

"This letter is a last attempt to warn you that you are sleepwalking towards electoral disaster with your schools policy."

Mr. Tory never responded and headed into the election fight apparently oblivious to the danger ahead.

Prof. Bliss closed his letter to Mr. Tory writing: "I’m reminded of the bridge to the Islands issue in the [Toronto] mayoralty campaign, and of the public’s reaction to the [Conservative] attack ads you sanctioned in the 1993 federal election. You don’t want to go down in history as a politician who repeatedly was surprised to find out what the public really feels, but I very much suspect it’s about to happen again."

Yesterday Mr. Tory admitted he was surprised.

Tory shrugs off troubling poll results

Whatever the cause recent seat projections and polls are not favoring Tory.This article gives some of the Conservative northern policy. Coming from a rich constituency it is not surprising that Tory's strategy is to make things easier for the natural resource industries who are exploiting the North's riches. He wants to make them more competitive---contribute less to government coffers and pocket more.
This policy will ensure more goes into Conservative coffers as well.


Sunday » September 30 » 2007

Tory shrugs off troubling poll results in Ontario

Mary Vallis
CanWest News Service; National Post


Sunday, September 30, 2007




THUNDER BAY, Ont. -- Ontario Progressive Conservative leader John Tory is dismissing polls suggesting he has handed the Liberals another majority victory with his call to fund religious schools.

"I haven't seen too many hockey games declared at the end of the second period," Tory said Saturday during a campaign stop in Thunder Bay, Ont., where he announced his strategy to help the North. "We're two-thirds of the way through this campaign."

The latest CanWest News Service poll suggests the Liberals have the support of 43 per cent of decided voters, while the Conservatives trail with 33 per cent.

An aggregate of recent polls shows the Liberals could win another majority and that Tory is struggling solely because of his controversial policy.

When a reporter pointed out the coach of the losing team often changes strategy at the start of the third period, Tory chuckled.

"The coach is doing his job," Tory said. "Stay tuned."

Despite dissent in his caucus over his proposal to fully fund faith-based schools, Tory insists his plan involves enough public consultation that a referendum on the issue is not necessary.

"There's plenty of time within that entire process to make sure that we do the right thing, the right way," Tory said. "I'm very committed to continuing to listen to people and making sure that we continue to explain the policy, which I think is something that is the right thing to do."

Garfield Dunlop, the incumbent Tory candidate in Simcoe North, called for a referendum on the matter earlier this week.

The Conservatives also been taking heat over where Tory would find his proposed $1.5 billion in "efficiencies" within the provincial government. Premier Dalton McGuinty and the Liberals are warning the voters of looming cuts and job losses.

But Tory says he will consult civil servants as his "key advisers" to determine how the money can be saved. He added his plan would result in "improvements to services" and "perhaps reallocations of people from one place to another."

"We're short of people over here doing things we really need, and frankly we've probably got far too many people over there doing something really useless shuffling of papers that's just getting in the way of citizens going about their work," Tory said.

The Conservative leader has been trying to keep media following his campaign focused on different parts of his platform each day, although the question of faith-based schools inevitably arises.

This weekend Tory laid out his strategy to revitalize Ontario's North, promising to roll back McGuinty's "punitive diamond mine tax grab" and provide hundreds of millions of dollars for roads and higher education.

The Conservative leader also outlined his party's plan to revitalize struggling communities by moving government jobs out of Toronto.

"I want people everywhere in this province to be able to find a good job and enjoy an unparalleled quality of life," Tory said outside a closed lumber mill in Thunder Bay Saturday morning.

"But I want to go beyond that and work with northern communities so more people from outside this region will choose to come here."

Rebecca Johnson, the Conservative candidate for Thunder Bay-Atikokan riding, said the decentralization plan would appeal to former northerners living in the Toronto area. "I see this as an opportunity for people to move back to northwestern Ontario," she said.

"In Thunder Bay, you can get to work in 10 to 20 minutes. Then you can go hunting and fishing after work, and you can go skiing. People want to do that."

Tory also pledged to invest $150 million in rural and northern roads in the first year of a Tory government and spend another $300 million by the end of a first mandate.

He promised to spend a further $100 million on research and development for northern universities and colleges.

If elected, the Conservatives would also reduce the heavy load of regulations on flight schools and reduce the "regulatory burden" on the mining and forestry industries to keep them competitive, Tory added.

The Liberals originally announced a diamond royalty in March that would have imposed a 13 per cent tax on profit from Ontario's diamond mines and later reduced the tax to a maximum of 10.4 per cent.

The Liberals argue the tax is "similar to, and competitive with, other Canadian diamond-mining jurisdictions."

"Doesn't John Tory want Ontarians to receive their fair share from companies that are profiting from use of our natural resources?" the Liberals asked in an e-mailed statement.

Tory was to be in Toronto Sunday for an all-candidates meeting in Don Valley West, where he is running in a tight race against Liberal Education Minister Kathleen Wynne. The controversy over faith-based schools is expected to be front and centre.

The Conservative leader said he is confident he will win the Toronto seat, and that his party will win the election.

"I will be sitting here four years from now discussing my re-election campaign, defending my record," he said.

National Post

© CanWest News Service 2007








Copyright © 2007 CanWest Interactive, a division of CanWest MediaWorks Publications, Inc.. All rights reserved.

Tory's plan for two-tier health care

The trend to offload costs to private pockets is endemic to the Canadian medicare system. Not only is it evident in Tory's plan but it is also achieved through delisting items to be covered by insurance. In Manitoba it is also achieved through such devices as tray fees etc. when an operation is carried out in a private clinic. Of course the Canadian system is quite limited in terms of many other countries. Most dentistry is not covered nor is most eye care and drug plans vary widely from province to province. This is from the Star.

Tory's plan for two-tier health care

Sep 23, 2007 04:30 AM
Thomas Walkom

John Tory is proposing a radical change to Ontario medicare. The nub of this change is not, as the Conservative leader suggests, letting private clinics deliver publicly funded medicare services. That's already an established fact.

Ontario has private blood labs, private radiology services and private abortion clinics. All are paid medicare rates by the Ontario Health Insurance Plan. None is allowed to charge patients extra for a medically necessary service.

As far as medicare goes, their existence is uncontroversial.

Tory's plan is considerably more ambitious.

First, he would let private clinics offer so-called extras to patients willing to pay out of pocket. That's a fillip open to blatant abuse.

When Alberta allowed private eye surgeries to offer extras in the early `90s, clinics leaned hard on patients to dig into their wallets. One offered cataract surgery patients an improved plastic lens, better eye drops and a prayer – all for an extra $750.

Second, and much more important, Tory would rescind a ban against doctors operating in both the private and public systems.

This ban, on so-called double dipping, has been in place in most provinces since the late `60s. In effect, it forces doctors to choose: They can opt out of medicare – with the exception, since 2004, of those who work in Ontario, although, presumably, Tory would rescind this ban as well.

But if they do opt out, they have to stay out. They can't make their basic wages from medicare and then use private-pay patients to top up incomes

The Canadian Medical Association, under the presidency of medicare critic Dr. Brian Day, is vigorously urging provincial governments to trash this requirement. The reasons are obvious.

A full-scale parallel private system is virtually impossible unless physicians are able to work both sides of the street. Some doctors can make a go of it, particularly those who service workers' compensation cases (for bizarre historical reasons, workers' comp lies outside of medicare.) But most can't survive without access to the bread and butter of public medicare.

Tory says his proposed clinics wouldn't require medicare patients to pay extra. And, of course, they would not. Extra-billing is illegal under federal law. But they would, presumably, also offer faster services to those willing to pay out of pocket.

Otherwise, what would be the point of eliminating the double-dipping ban? Why allow doctors to operate in both the public and private systems unless you also allow a private system?

And once that is in place, so are all the problems of two-tier health care – including bigger lineups in the public system as doctors focus on more lucrative private patients.

The Liberals are under attack for many things, including their decision to let private firms build and lease publicly operated hospitals. But the fundamental question in these cases has to do with money; experience shows that such partnerships cost the public more.

Tory's scheme, however, is qualitatively different. He's not just talking about letting private clinics deliver medicare services. His plan would set the stage for a full-scale, private, parallel system.

John Tory's promises and TILMA

I wonder if Tory really understands the implications of TILMA. As Weir mentions his privileging Ontario produce is a violation of TILMA.


The Ontario Election and TILMA
Posted by Erin Weir under TILMA, budgets, farming.
September 19th, 2007


A clear contradiction has emerged in John Tory’s election promises. It reflects an existing tension in the McGuinty government’s position.
As noted previously on this blog, the Conservative Party’s election platform proposes that Ontario join TILMA. As reported in today’s Globe and Mail, Tory has pledged to require that provincially-funded institutions buy their food and beverages from Ontario producers. Such a policy would definitely violate TILMA, which explicitly bans preferential provincial procurement policies.
While the Liberal platform appears to be silent on TILMA, the last provincial budget committed to “exploring the merits of joining the Alberta-British Columbia Trade, Investment and Labour Mobility Agreement (TILMA).” This agreement would contradict the spirit, if not the letter, of the province’s Pick Ontario Freshness campaign

John Tory will vote against MMP

Tory has very strong views on the issue of MMP considering he takes no position on the issue.


Tory signals he'll vote no in referendum
MMP 'Less Accountable'
Mary Vallis, National Post
Published: Saturday, September 15, 2007
Ontario Progressive Conservative leader John Tory hinted strongly yesterday that he will vote against an electoral reform proposal that will be put to voters in a referendum next month.

In a candid interview with the National Post's editorial board, Mr. Tory said he is wary of the mixed-member proportional system because some MPPs would be "appointed by party bosses and accountable to no constituents."

"I'm very skeptical about a system that ... adds more politicians to begin with," Mr. Tory said. "I haven't met a single voter yet who has told me they're looking to add more politicians to the Ontario legislature, or any other place."



Ontario Progressive Conservative leader John Tory: "I'm very skeptical about a system that ... adds more politicians to begin with."
Peter J. Thompson, National Post
After saying he has taken no official stand on the referendum, Mr. Tory spent several minutes criticizing the proposed new system, which would raise the number of seats at Queen's Park to 129 from 107. It would also reduce the number of ridings to 90; the parties would create lists of candidates from which an additional 39 MPPs would be selected.

"I certainly haven't run into anybody who thinks it would be better to have MPPs, or any other kinds of politicians, who are appointed by party bosses and accountable to no constituents," Mr. Tory said.

"The notion to me that you'd have a whole bunch of people that would be down there now who will be accountable only to party bosses who put their names on the list, to me seems to be making the place less democratic, not more, and less accountable."

The system was developed by an independent citizens' assembly of 103 voters from across the province at Premier Dalton McGuinty's request. The assembly did not suggest how political parties should draw up their lists of candidates.

The issue of funding religious schools is contentious enough without mentioning "creationism,'' said David Docherty, dean of arts at Wilfrid Laurier University in Waterloo.


That stirs up fears Ontario is moving toward the American model, where "creationism is going to get equal time with evolution,'' he said.

If Docherty is quoted correctly there seems so far little evidence that creationism is going to get equal time with evolution anytime soon. So far it hasn't done so anywhere. The US consitution specifically rejects the teaching of creationism. The religious right has tried to get around this by supporting the teaching of intelligent design but even this has not had much success as yet. I will post an article on the US situation.



DID YOU SAY CREATIONISM?

CANADIAN PRESS
Ontario Progressive Conservative Leader John Tory, poised to hit the campaign trail on Monday, is already facing criticism for his remarks on teaching creationism in schools.
Conservative leader finds hot-button issue can be too hot
Canadian Press

TORONTO

Burned by his rekindling of the emotionally charged battle between creationism and evolution, Ontario's Progressive Conservative leader anxiously tried to deflect some of the attention yesterday as he urged voters not to judge him solely on the party's promise to fund faith-based schools.

John Tory, poised to hit the provincial campaign trail for the first time Monday, said he believes in evolution and admitted he needs to "choose his words carefully'' when talking about such a controversial issue on the eve of an election.

"In the course of an election campaign, you have to have an open, honest discussion about these kinds of issues and you always have to choose your language with precision,'' Tory said when asked if he regretted musing about teaching creationism in public religious schools.

"I understand that this issue is controversial. . . . But it doesn't mean that you shouldn't discuss it or try to sweep it under the carpet.''

Ontario voters go the polls Oct. 10.

Tory opened a political Pandora's box Wednesday when he said he didn't see why creationism couldn't be taught in public religious schools on top of evolution and "other theories.''

He later clarified the remarks by insisting the subject would be restricted to religion class and wouldn't get the same emphasis as evolution, which is taught in the science lab.

Yesterday, Tory said his proposal to fund faith-based schools that teach the Ontario curriculum, hire accredited teachers and administer standardized tests shouldn't be the defining issue in the minds of voters.

"It's a part of our platform,'' he said following at an event in a Toronto suburb. "It represents a quarter of a page in a 52-page document. . . . The education issue is one issue.''

Meanwhile, Liberal rival Dalton McGuinty was staking out his own safe territory on the thorny topic.

"Creationism is not a science,'' the incumbent premier said. "Evolution is a science. When we're teaching science in our public schools, we should be teaching evolution.''

By wading headfirst into the highly charged issue of creationism in class, Tory mystified political observers and became the latest in a line of politicians to learn the hard way how Canadians react when the thorny issue of religion rears its head during election season.

Former federal Conservative leader Stockwell Day, a devout fundamentalist Christian, was excoriated during the 2000 election campaign for stating his belief that dinosaurs and people walked the Earth together.

It made for a Liberal field day. One strategist brandished a Barney doll as he declared, "This was the only dinosaur ever to be on Earth with humans.''

The issue of funding religious schools is contentious enough without mentioning "creationism,'' said David Docherty, dean of arts at Wilfrid Laurier University in Waterloo.

That stirs up fears Ontario is moving toward the American model, where "creationism is going to get equal time with evolution,'' he said.

If Tory was trying to differentiate himself from McGuinty, "he's chosen an unwise way to do it,'' Docherty said.

"Mr. Tory is a very experienced politician. He learned at the feet of the master, (former Ontario premier) Bill Davis. But this is something Bill Davis never would have done.''

Davis extended full funding to Ontario Catholic schools in the mid-1980s.

James Laxer on John Tory's Education Policy

This is a good critique of Tory's push for funding of faith-based schools. As Laxer notes it is a bit odd and rather risky that Tory should push this issue so hard. Of course some groups will be in strong support but perhaps there will be a majority backlash in defence of the public school system.

On Education: John Tory Starts a Culture War

John Tory, Ontario’s Conservative leader, has enjoyed a reputation for moderation and judgment. In light of this, it has come as an unwelcome surprise that Tory has embarked on a radical strategy, no less disruptive than Mike Harris' Common Sense Revolution, in his bid to lead his party to power in the upcoming provincial election. The traditional approach for a moderate opposition politician, as Tory was presumed to be, is to campaign on the defects of the sitting government, showing how it has failed to keep its promises, and capitalizing on scandals and administrative lapses.

Tory and his handlers have obviously decided that this timeworn method will not succeed in toppling Dalton McGuinty’s Liberals. Instead Tory has started a culture war. He hopes to win by injecting highly divisive hot-button issues into the campaign. The tactics are borrowed from the playbook of the American hard right.

At first glance, Tory’s proposal to provide public funding to faith based schools can be seen as nothing more than an attempt to extend to other religious denominations what Roman Catholics already enjoy.

In fact, his goal is not to engage in a debate about the rights and wrongs of public support for Catholic schools, a policy that is rooted in the Constitution of 1867. His goal is to launch a 21st campaign to stress the fault lines in Ontario society and to win power in the process.

If the Ontario government were to fund faith based primary and secondary schools, two consequences would be highly likely. First, public funding for Jewish, Muslim, Orthodox Christian and other faith-based schools would inevitably open the door to legal challenges from still other faiths and sects for the funding of their schools as well.

Analogies with the Catholic case for funding are misleading because the existence of Catholic schools, whatever one thinks of this, is constitutionally based. This means that the presence of publicly funded Catholic schools cannot be used as the basis for court challenges on behalf of other faiths. Once some other faith’s schools are funded, though, this situation would be completely altered. Tory’s proposal, if implemented, would throw the courts open to plaintiffs arguing for the support of all manner of sectarian schools.

Second, assurances from advocates for the public funding of faith based schools that this would not lead to a massive exodus of students from public schools provide cold comfort. In a rapidly evolving multi-cultural society such as Ontario’s, against the backdrop of rising assaults on secular norms in many countries, it is foolhardy to suggest that the availability of publicly funded sectarian schools would not lead to a flight from public schools.

At present, public schools are a meeting ground for people from diverse backgrounds, a key to Ontario’s success as a society that has done better than most others in realizing the benefits of diversity, and avoiding the pitfalls. Public funding of sectarian schools is bound to generate campaigns to win parents over to the idea that to be true to their faith they should send their children to a school whose students are members of their faith alone.

That Tory has his sights set on a radical debate about public education can be grasped from his flirtation with the idea of introducing creationism into the school curriculum. The Conservative leader threw this stink-bomb into the debate and then appeared to back off a little.

His mention of creationism sent a coded message to those whose religious convictions motivate them to launch a wide-ranging attack on what they see as today’s Godless, secular society.

Creationism, the idea that the earth was created by a divine-being a few thousand years ago and that humans once walked with dinosaurs, is bogus science. It has no more place in a school curriculum than the notion that the earth is flat or that the sun revolves around the earth---ideas that were once held by powerful religions whose leaders were prepared to execute those with different views on the nature of the universe.

What Tory was doing was letting religious fundamentalists know that he is not unsympathetic to their aspirations.

Beyond the fundamentalists, there are other interests at play. Look at the coalition Tory has supporting him on the funding issue. In addition to those who support public funding for faith based schools there are the advocates of public funding for private schools. It is not accidental that private schools that draw their students largely from upper middle class families see the current election campaign as a golden opportunity for their own cause.

And they are not the only ones. A campaign is in full swing in the United States to establish a new multi-billion dollar market for the private sector through the privatization of much of the public school system. Education is seen as a lucrative field in which private companies can move into the designing, managing and supplying of schools. The neo-cons and business interests who support the establishment of charter schools (some public, some private) and other privatization initiatives make the case that the public school system is an unproductive monopoly dominated by teachers and teachers’ unions. They look forward to the day when this public monopoly will be dismantled and parents will be free to “choose” the types of schools their children attend.

In the process, the public school system will be reduced to a last resort option for the poorest and least powerful segments of society. Out of this will come billions of dollars in profits for those who have had the foresight to spot a golden opportunity.

The Ontario Conservatives are not telling the electorate where the path they have chosen will lead. But we were not born yesterday, Mr. Tory. We have seen this motion picture before.

Ridings to Watch: Ontario Election

I will run articles on the Ontario election from time to time in case people are interested. This looks to be an interesting contest. Tory is taking a chance running in a difficult riding. This is from this blog.Tuesday, September 4, 2007
Ridings to watch in Ontario's election
The Liberals can lose no more than 15 of their current seats if they wish to retain their majority government status following the 2007 election. Ian Urquhart's newest column highlights some of the key races.

Of course, one of the most intense races will be Don Valley West, currently held by Liberal heavyweight Kathleen Wynne. She is being challenged by Conservative leader John Tory, who has been representing Dufferin-Peel-Wellington-Grey, which he won in a by-election. However, he promised to run in Toronto in this year's election, and kicked his campaign off yesterday. His task is not an easy one, but neither in Wynne's task of retaining her seat.




"I knew it (Don Valley West) was a big challenge the minute I left Dufferin-Peel-Wellington-Grey," Tory told reporters after yesterday's rally. "I knew I had a very formidable opponent and that I'd have to work hard."


Urquhart notes that, "Don Valley West is a swing riding that will probably follow the provincial trend. If the trend is toward the Liberals, Wynne will win it; if it is toward the Conservatives, Tory will emerge on top."

We'll see if Don Valley West serves as Ontario's swing-state.

John Tory pledges to use gas tax money to improve transit and roads

Tory is beginning the election campaign in good time! The Tories certainly picked a person with an appropriate name for their leader. Not only is Tory a Tory he also once worked for the law firm of Torys LLP. On October 10 maybe there will also be a Tory Ontario.

Tory pledges gas tax for roads and transit
Last Updated: Monday, July 9, 2007 | 3:17 PM ET
CBC News
Progressive Conservative Leader John Tory says every cent of Ontario's gas tax will go toward improving roads and transit if he is elected premier this fall.

Speaking to reporters at a Toronto gas station on Monday, Tory said he is promising what he called "truth in taxes."

He accused the Liberal government of Premier Dalton McGuinty of cheating Ontario residents saying it is taking in more than $3 billion in gas tax and fuel tax revenues, but spending less than $2 billion on transit.

"I want to have this money accounted for specifically and have the taxpayers know the truth — that it is all going to transit and roads."

Tory says his plan includes reducing gridlock and minimizing greenhouse gas emissions. He is also promising more GO Transit service to under serviced areas around the Greater Toronto Area.

About 14.7 cents from every litre of gas goes to the provincial government.

Ontario goes to the polls Oct. 10.

PC Ontario Leader John Tory unveils election platform

This is from the GLobe and Mail.
All the provincial conservative parties have retained the term "progressive" in their name while the federal party is just "Conservative". The provincial wings must think that the product will sell better with the "progressive" tag. Tory seems to even throw some sops to those left behind. No doubt the Tory tide will lift all boats--but not equally. The metaphor is not exact. The poor getting the crumbs of the bigger cake is more accurate. Some people even seem to think of Tory as a Red Tory. I guess in comparison to Harris he at least has a pink tinge.

ONTARIO POLITICS

PC leader unveils election platform
Tory distances himself from Harris with measures to reduce poverty
KAREN HOWLETT

June 11, 2007

Ontario Progressive Conservative Leader John Tory vowed two years ago to rebuild his deeply divided party by positioning himself as a moderate in the mould of former premier Bill Davis and by reaching out to the party's right wing.

In his maiden speech as party leader in February, 2005, Mr. Tory said he planned to embrace the best attributes of two of his predecessors - his mentor, Mr. Davis, and Mike Harris, father of the province's Common Sense Revolution.

"I think if you could put together the inclusiveness of a Bill Davis, together with the kind of clarity and purpose of a Mike Harris, you'd have something that's going to be a very powerful combination for 2007," Mr. Tory said at the time. "The two of them sum up what I'm about."

This weekend, Mr. Tory officially kicked off his campaign for the Oct. 10 provincial election by unveiling a platform that contains something for everyone. Like Mr. Davis, who led the province from 1971 to 1985, Mr. Tory says he would be fiscally prudent while socially progressive if he wins. (He was Mr. Davis's principal secretary in the mid-1980s.) At the same time, he would avoid the radical cuts to social programs imposed by the Harris government in the mid-1990s that polarized voters.


Mr. Tory told reporters on the weekend that his campaign pledges address the fact that he does not want to see anybody left behind.

"I don't think it's worth being in public life, I don't think it's worth creating the prosperity that I'm committed to producing ... [unless] everybody has the opportunity to share in that," he said.

Many of the promises in Mr. Tory's 52-page campaign document titled For a Better Ontario: Leadership Matters, are not new. In recent months, he has announced plans to boost spending on health care and education, build new nuclear reactors, tackle gun violence and give faith-based schools in Ontario the option of joining the public education system.

In a striking departure from Mr. Harris, Mr. Tory said a Conservative government under his leadership would fight poverty by creating jobs to get more people off the welfare rolls, and revitalize vulnerable communities by creating more affordable housing for the poor and homeless.

"The Progressive Conservative Party that I lead is a party that is committed to helping disadvantaged people, to doing as much as we can to offer people a hand up," Mr. Tory said.

But in a nod to the right, Mr. Tory promised not to ignore the party's traditional supporters - farmers and residents of rural and northern communities. He said he would give smaller communities hard-hit by job losses a "small shot in the arm" by relocating government jobs from Toronto. He has also promised to phase out the annual $2.6-billion health tax over four years.

Mr. Tory said he would make government more transparent by providing frequent disclosure on how tax dollars are spent. But the Liberals attacked him for not saying how he plans to pay for his promises. Mr. Tory said he won't do that until he reviews the provincial Auditor-General's pre-election report on the province's finances, expected this summer.

Deputy Premier George Smitherman accused Mr. Tory of floating a trial balloon.

"What they're really saying is, here's some ideas that we have so far, but check back with us later once the Auditor-General's report comes out and we'll let you know whether we actually intend to do any of these things."

New Democrat MPP Paul Ferreira said the Conservatives have failed to distinguish themselves from the governing Liberals. Both leaders are in favour of nuclear energy, and the government outlined plans in this year's budget to tackle child poverty.

"What we saw here today is John Tory and Dalton McGuinty are one and the same," Mr. Ferreira said.

John Tory: Provincial PC leader.

This is part of a longer article on Tory from Wikipedia.
Tory obviously has a family background as a member of the elite including the corporate elite. He positions himself as a progressive conservative to drain support from Liberals and NDP.

Background
From 1972 to 1979, Tory was hired by family friend Ted Rogers as a journalist for Rogers Broadcasting's Toronto radio stations CFTR and CHFI.

Before enrolling in university, he attended the University of Toronto Schools, a private high school affiliated with the University of Toronto.

Tory received his Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Trinity College, University of Toronto in 1975. He continued the family tradition of studying law at Osgoode Hall Law School of York University, where he received his Bachelor of Laws degree in 1978. He was called to the bar in Ontario in 1980.

From 1980 to 1981, and later from 1986 to 1995, Tory held various positions at his grandfather's Toronto law firm Tory, Tory, DesLauriers & Binnington, including partner, managing partner, and member of the Executive Committee.

From 1981 to 1985, Tory served in the Office of the Premier of Ontario, Bill Davis as Principal Secretary to the Premier and Associate Secretary of the Cabinet. In 1985, Davis retired as Premier. Tory joined the Office of the Canadian Special Envoy on Acid Rain, as Special Advisor to the Special Envoy. The Special Envoy had been appointed by the federal government of Brian Mulroney to review matters of air quality with a United States counterpart. Tory supported Dianne Cunningham's bid to lead the provincial Progressive Conservative Party in 1990 (Toronto Star, 3 May 1990).

Tory later served as Tour Director and Campaign Chairman to then Canadian prime minister Brian Mulroney, and managed the 1993 federal election campaign of Mulroney's successor, Kim Campbell. Tory was criticized for approving a 1993 election ad that mocked Liberal Party leader Jean Chrétien's facial deformity (although the Conservatives denied that was the ad's intention). The Conservatives suffered the most lopsided defeat for a governing party at the federal level, losing half their vote from 1988 and all but two of their 151 seats.

From 1995 to 1999, he returned to Rogers Communications Inc., but this time as president and CEO of what had become one of Canada's largest publishing and broadcasting companies. Rogers has interests in radio and television stations, specialty television channels, consumer magazines, trade magazines and, at the time, the Toronto Sun and the Sun newspaper chain. In 1999, he became president and CEO of Rogers subsidiary Rogers Cable, Canada's largest cable television company and a leading video rental chain and cable Internet provider. He led it through a period of transition from a monopoly environment to an open marketplace, overseeing a significant increase in operating income. Tory stepped down after Ted Rogers announced that he would stay on as President and CEO of parent company Rogers Communications.

Tory also served as chairman of the Canadian Football League from 1992 to 2000.