John Tory: Where’s the Beef?

John Tory looked every inch the premier in last night’s televised leaders debate. Or, at least, he looked like the old time Conservative premiers of Ontario in the days before Mike Harris. I can remember an evening at Queen’s University decades ago when John Robarts was premier and Bill Davis was an up and coming star. They both wore scrumptious navy blue suits, just like John Tory did.

Meanwhile Dalton McGuinty seemed to be a very thin hare caught between Tory and Howard Hampton.

With John Tory as their leader, the Conservatives have found a man who gushes compassion. They have dispensed with the “axe-murderer” look achieved by Mike Harris and by the man with the slick-back hair, Ernie Eves. Tory painted McGuinty as a premier who has allowed people to suffer for the past four years. Tory appeared to care about students, seniors, wage and salary earners and he even took a shot at the super rich for the low taxes they pay in comparison to low income single mothers. Fortunately, I had a box of tissues on hand so I could weep along with him.

Who’s kidding who!

John Tory plans to drop Ontario’s health tax at the same time as he claims to care about health care. He bleeds for students but will do nothing to hold down their tuition. He is a dedicated crime fighter, but failed to commit himself to supporting a call for the banning of hand guns in the province. He complains about the province’s job creation record, but is a member of the party that at the federal level is sandbagging Ontario with its full steam ahead approach to the Alberta oil sands---which are spewing out greenhouse gases, driving up the dollar too quickly, causing massive job losses in Ontario, and bringing in insufficient royalties for Albertans. He claims to support public education, but he would deliver hundreds of millions of dollars a year to faith based schools.

Where’s the beef, John Tory?

That’s the question that needs to be posed over and over again in the closing weeks of the campaign. John Tory’s compassion is not backed up by commitments to make life a little less comfortable for his friends on Bay Street and the Post Road, so that much more can be done to help those who need help.

On the other side of the bruised premier stood NDP leader Howard Hampton, who does have some very intelligent ideas. His proposals for saving energy instead of building nuclear plants, and for holding down electricity rates to help keep Ontario competitive are excellent. So is his commitment to roll back tuition fees for students. Many of my students now go to school part time because they can’t afford the tuition. Hampton’s pledge to raise the minimum wage to ten dollars an hour immediately is crucial. In a province, where the rich have never had it so good, it’s time for those at the other end of the spectrum to get a little closer to a living wage. Hampton’s platform is well thought out. Alone of the leaders, he actually has ideas for strengthening Ontario’s economy during a time of difficult transition.