Raise the Hammer

@RobF

'How is she "wasting our money by quitting all the time"?'
The by-election she forced cost about a million dollars. So, in order for Olivia to try out other opportunities we all had to dig deep to help her. If her campaign had introduced new ideas, generated an interesting discussion or demonstrated her much heralded leadership skills then there may have been some value. But she failed to ignite anything. And now she bails again - no doubt costing Ryerson some cash too. To me this demonstrates selfish behaviour and a lack of a clear direction - not something I want in a politician.

In terms of comparing by-election waste to fraud, that is indeed an unfair comparison if taken literally. The broad strokes of my argument is that this all demonstrates a lack of respect for tax payers dollars and inherently self interested behaviour. But I agree that this is somewhat apples and oranges and I don't mean to put her behaviour in the same bucket by any means.

'Political life is about timing'

Exactly! You make my point for me. Olivia is all about opportunity and timing and screw the cost and the tax payer. SI'm guessing that she is only running now because she senses that the NDP may win power. Olivia is all about Olivia. She could affect change and pursue her agenda in many ways, she doesn't have to ravage the public purse to do so. Yet she chooses to, time and again.

@KevinLove

'I don't want politicians who have done nothing else with their lives.' Neither do I. Olivia has mostly been a public servant all her life. I am impressed with her volunteer activism work and I believe that may be where she is best suited - working at the ground level maybe with a NFP. I would prefer a politician who has gained some experience in other areas, so we can get the benefit of that knowledge. Career politicians are like any other life long public servant - they tend to melt into the furniture and find it difficult to overhaul the system from within or bring anything innovative to the table.

Truthfully I am a little conflicted about this topic (it might not seem so...;) ). I like the direction the NDP is heading and, like many Canadians, I have many reasons for wanting a change of party. And I always liked Olivia and Jack's social policies. But a political career is not something to dabble with on a whim moving this way and that. Pick a path and go with it.

Enjoying this discussion, thanks for contributing.