Raise the Hammer

I don't believe in a Parliamentary democracy it's the role of any party to be the conscience of the lower house. That's the role of our senate. Which is why our senate should remain an unelected senate that way they don't have to make decisions just to get elected again.

I just didn't see anything new from the NDP convention. Horwath may have been the best choice, but it was weak choice of candidates. The NDP can't continue to harp about the same issues and expect to call that change. It was extremely frustrating for me to see the Party not present fresh ideas. Talking about problems is not solving them.

Obama is making necessary changes. He in fact is solving the problems not just talking about them. We witnessed Bob Rae get elected and then we he found out was now in charge to fix the problems he was harping about he was faced with the fact that's easier to complain then to act. Remember his campaign idea of giving every household a new more efficient refrigerator? Rae's NDP turned into Liberals, checking their ambitions at the door.

McQuinty is far ahead of the NDP in issues that are the typically core NDP issues; urban, healthcare, transit, and the environment. Could he be dong better in some of these areas? yes he could. But the NDP/Horwath didn't show any creative solutions, certainly not more creative then the Liberals. Fighting for unions? It's just a political tact to get their votes. Fighting for what exactly. Identify the problem and offer a solution. I'm not anti-union or pro-union. They have their place, albeit a less and less relevant place. And there are laws in place for unions. Not everyone works in a mine, for auto assemblers, and in steel production. The NDP focusses almost entirely on giant single sector industries. Why not focus on Walmart and these slimeball pub/sports bar owners you mentioned?

My perspective of Horwath's politics is different then yours. I agree the Party's roots achieved a lot; workers' rights, and universal healthcare to name two. I just don't see the same vision of the past NDP/CCF in the current NDP. It's reaching back on past achievements without any vision of new policies for a changing country/province. We can't and won't continue to be a resource based/manufacturing based economy. If we try to be we'll be doomed. Every party tries to save manufacturing jobs, not just the NDP. If manufacturing jobs are disappearing then fighting on behalf of the union workers is a lost cause. They should be fighting to bring manufacturing jobs back. And that would require working with business leaders.

I've never heard of servers being on the hook to pay for dine and dashers and patrons' returned food/beverages. If that's the case these employers must the slimeballs of the industry and my advice to those servers would be to find another job. Besides that would be against the law as it stands today and they could take their case to their MPP or Ministry of Labour, if it were indeed true. I think our existing workers' laws do a fair job.

We've all had those crappy jobs as teenagers and students. It was my motivating factor for me to find a better paying more respectable work environment. Steelworkers and autoworkers make a great living. I wouldn't give credit to the NDP for making that happen. It was the result of rank and file workers who struggled and fought for their rights. The Stelco strike of 1946, Winnipeg General Strike, Stratford furniture workers strike, Hamilton's General strike, Hamilton's 9-hour work day protest, secret (illegal at the time) meetings held by the rank and file, and on and on, resulted in the rights we enjoy today. It wasn't because of the NDP.

Everyone who sits in an elected seat is feisty. Because you stand up and yell at the house doesn't make one feisty. Sometimes that's not the way to get things done. It does look good on camera though, especially to those voters who support the cause the representative is yelling about.