'Dalton McGuinty has failed seniors' - and 'moms'

John Tory is looking out for seniors:

Mr. Tory announced that if elected, a Progressive Conservative government would establish a 5% annual cap on property assessment increases for as long as a person owns their home.

"Dalton McGuinty has failed seniors" who still live in their own homes, Mr. Tory said.

This is another issue of fairness. Seniors on fixed incomes should not have to worry about exorbitant property tax increases. Feeling independent for as long as possible is a crucial issue for seniors. It is a matter of pride and respect. Failing health is enough of a worry. They don't need to be taxed to death before they actually do die.

On a tactical level, this is brilliant. Boomers are entering their retirement years now and they are looking for advocates.


Meanwhile on the election front, all three major parties seem stuck according to SES president Nik Nanos:

With only 14 days left in the campaign, the poll shows the Liberals with 41-per-cent support of committed voters, the Progressive Conservatives 33, the New Democrats 18 and the Green Party eight.

Nanos observes that with Tory at 31 per cent and McGuinty at 29 per cent, "they are in a statistical tie for best premier"and that "no one really has the upper hand on the leadership front". This could be a problem for Tory with his slogan "leadership matters."

Nanos suggests that the Conservative campaign has failed to attract female voters:

The campaign has focused more on issues that appeal mainly to men, such as promise- breaking, taxes, nuclear power and cracking down on what the leader has called "illegal occupations" by native protesters.

Well, I think that's a fairly sexist comment. Keeping your word is important to women too. I'm not at all sure that the issue of integrity only matters to men.

I don't think Toronto mom Fiona Marshall would agree with Mr. Nanos either (Lying to 'mom' could be costly on election day):

I'm definitely not going to vote Liberal," said Fiona Marshall, the leader of the outdoor fitness class for new mothers, and a former teacher herself.

As her eight-month-old daughter Ailie plays on the grass, Ms. Marshall explained that while she voted for the party in 2003, she cannot do it again.

"This is a 'mom' thing to say, but we don't lie in our house. You don't make promises you can't keep."

Ms. Marshall said the Liberals' problem clearly went beyond the financial problems they inherited after taking office. Mr. McGuinty cannot lay the blame there for the many promises he did not keep, she went on.

"Wherever my politics lie, morally I can't support a party that has done basically nothing that it promised to do around education," Ms. Marshall said.

"I'm normally left of Liberal. But for the first time in our house, we're talking about voting right."

The Society for Quality Education appears to support Ms. Marshall's viewpoint - McGuinty hasn't delivered on his promises.

Former BC Liberal Education Minister Christy Clark also berated Dalton McGuinty for his broken promises and hypocritical attitude on Faith-Based funding.




John Tory can only hope that there are many more Fiona Marshalls out there; especially in Toronto.

Education - Another broken promise

The Liberal War Room's clever manipulation of the media to remain focussed on the Faith-Based funding brouhaha has detracted from the real issue - How well are our public schools performing?

Some advocates for improving the quality of education in the Ontario public school system want to redirect attention back to performance, and to the latest release of provincial tests showing that another key 2003 election promise by Dalton McGuinty has been broken - specifically, that they would get "75% of all Grade 6 students meeting or exceeding the standard in provincial reading, writing and math tests by the end of their first mandate."


In press release by the Society for Quality Education, Doretta Wilson states:

The Society for Quality Education (SQE) is not surprised that Ontario students did not come close to meeting the 75% target set out by the province. With only 64% of the province’s grade 6 students passing their reading test, an average class of 25 students would yield only 16 students who can read well enough for the work of the next grade. The results are even worse in writing, with only 61% of students passing, and math, with only 59% of students passing – down 2% from last year.

“Generous increases to the amount of taxpayers’ money spent on various initiatives haven’t translated into improvement,” said Doretta Wilson, executive director. “Test results have flat-lined compared to last year and, in some cases, the results are actually worse.”

Once again we find that the Liberal ploys of appeasing unions and throwing money at a problem do not necessarily lead to positive results.

There is even some controversy surrounding the possibility that these standardized tests have been "dumbed-down" in an attempt to improve the results and thereby make the current Liberal government appear successful.


As one of my readers recently commented, instead of being known as the Education Premier, we should start referring to Dalton the "Teachers' Union Premier".


Because as Sandy so aptly notes:

Yes, while Dalton McGuinty was breaking his promises to the people of Ontario, he was keeping them to the teachers’ unions.

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Related - Check out a few more reasons why you shouldn't vote Liberal (if you really need them):

Officially Screwed - Trade-offs. I will take Tory's Faith-Based Funding over the Liberal's Lawyer and Crony Based Funding Anyday.

Joan Tintor - McGuinty loses debate: Ads go more negative.

Steve Janke - From the Ontario Liberals to the ALF-CIO to the Working Families Coalition.

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Sunday Update: Another reason not to vote for McGuinty - Heartbreaking story about an Ottawa cancer patient via Step to the Right.

Toronto Star's Christina Blizzard - Dalton Stumbles, Bumbles Along.

Interesting mention about Working Families in Blizzard's column:

Trust me, the Liberals know all about attack ads. Remember the "Not this time, Ernie" campaign the so-called "Working Families" coalition ran in 2003? Sure, the party claimed not to be involved, apart from sharing their desire to defeat the Tories.

The series of TV and billboard ads portrayed former premier Eves in a very derogatory light. Talk about demonizing him. They were close-up, black-and-white pictures that showed every pore of his skin and portrayed the guy as some kind of lounge lizard.

And while Working Families is a largely union-led coalition, the person behind those ads was Marcel Wieder, a well-known Liberal "dirty ops" specialist.

So please, let's have no Liberal finger-wagging on negativity

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Tuesday Update: Good site here on Catholic Education - Tomorrows Trust. Lots of great links.