Provincial Politics

Ok. Its been a while since I've really posted on the MoonTower, and I rarely go beyond things that make me laugh or items I find interesting, but we've recently begun to receive the Globe and Mail, and I've been reading more than just comic books. So here are my thoughts on the recent actions of our provincial government and the layers upon layers of rhetoric that are served up daily.

While it may be old news already, Premier McGuinty offered up $17.5B on June 15th for the GTA corridor (Toronto to Hamilton), which was 2/3 of the total amount promised, with the expectation that the federal government would chip in the other 1/3. The problem is that this offer of funds by the provincial government is CONDITIONAL - if the federal government decides not to chip in their 1/3, the provincial government does not have to put out a penny. And it is more than likely that the feds will say no, since they were not consulted in the original decision. So this is an obvious empty promise that the provincial government can blame on the feds when the money doesn't arrive.

The other one that irks me is the latest news that McGuinty is promising to close coal plants by 2014. First of all, didn't he promise to close them already by 2007 when he was elected in 2003? And 2014 is a long way off. Even if the Liberals get voted back into government in October, that mandate will only last until 2011, so these long-term promises are quite disconcerting. Even the climate plan laid out is suspect with its dates ranging out to 2050. Unfortunately, this is a problem with our system, in that elections and "changes of the guard" often result in new priorities, mostly more short-term "buzz of the day" issues, or more debate on same-sex marriages. Yeah, like that's our biggest issue.

And don't even get me started on health care, education, or the Provincial Offences Act. The Harris government put us into such a hole as to make the 407ETR deal look like roses compared to the other blunders.