With education on the line, will Tim Hudak flip-flop on a wage freeze like he did on full day kindergarten?

We know Tim Hudak's position on full day kindergarten for Ontario families has gone from this:

To this

"Tim Hudak...condemned the program, which is to be fully rolled out by 2014"

with Hudak's double flip-flop backed by Kitchener-Waterloo Progressive Conservative candidate Tracey Weiler:

"Weiler said that she “supports the leader’s position” on halting the rollout of full-day kindergarten in the province."

With the Ontario Liberals introducing the Putting Students First Act, here is Tim Hudak saying he would support a wage freeze:

"We'll support a wage freeze legislation"

With his flip-flops on full day kindergarten, will Hudak stick to his word or not? And if he does flip-flop, with Tracey Weiler continue to "support the leader's position", or will she stand up for Kitchener-Waterloo families and put students first?

The family tree of Quebec political parties

Taking a break from talking about Tracey Weiler and Tim Hudak putting full day kindergarten at risk for Kitchener-Waterloo families by talking about some other kind of families: the family trees of Quebec political parties.

Those who know me know I'm a big Quebecophile, so I thought I would make a rough chart showing the evolution and relationship of the different major political parties in Quebec right now. Take a look at see how the Parti Liberal, Parti Quebecois, CAQ, Quebec solidare, and Parti Vert have come into being, and how many of them have family roots with each other.

A solid line indicates a direct merger, a dotted line represents that a part was a breakaway or formed by dissidents of another party. I've used logos where appropriate, and click to enlarge the images. Enjoy!

Tracey Weiler is no Elizabeth Witmer when it comes to local leadership

I wrote yesterday about Tim Hudak doing a double flip-flop on full-day kindergarten, and now let's take a look at the Tim Hudak candidate in Kitchener-Waterloo, Tracey Weiler and her position on full day kindergarten. While previous Progressive Conservative MPP Elizabeth Witmer stood up for Kitchener--Waterloo families, Tracey Weiler is more interested in taking orders from Hudak's Queen's Park backroom boys in Toronto and not listening to the thousands of families in Kitchener-Waterloo depending on full-day kindergarten.

On the important issue of FDK and local leadership, Weiler standing behind Hudak, who "condemned the program" is a sharp and disappointing turn away from previous Progressive Conservative MPP, Elizabeth Witmer, who in her many years of service to the community, was also a strong advocate for full day kindergarten, and showed local leadership by standing up to Hudak over full day kindergarten:

"For two years, Progressive Conservative Leader Tim Hudak had railed against the ambitious new program being rolled out by Ontario’s Liberal government.


So how did Hudak come to see the light?...

Elizabeth Witmer, the party’s tough-minded education critic, told Hudak he was on the wrong side of the issue... Witmer, who wears her social conscience on her sleeve, acknowledged privately to her education contacts that Tory focus groups showed overwhelming support [for FDK]."

Witmer's local leadership got Hudak to commit to full-day kindergarten in the PC platform, as shown below from page 21 of Changebook:

But when Hudak took his third different position and did a double flip-flop back to opposing full-day kindergarten, and putting at risk the education of thousands of Kitchener-Waterloo children, how did Tracey Weiler stand up for families?

"Weiler said that she “supports the leader’s position” on halting the rollout of full-day kindergarten in the province"


If Elizabeth Witmer didn't believe in Tim Hudak's scheming cuts to education, why should Kitchener-Waterloo families? Tracey Weiler is showing how out of touch she is with Kitchener-Waterloo families by not continuing to support full day kindergarten.

Tim Hudak flip-flop on full day kindergarten shows Ontario PC's can't be trusted with education file

It's a little late for the Olympics, but Tim Hudak's triple flip-flop on Full Day Kindergarten would win a gold medal in showing how out of touch he is with Ontario families.

Hudak threw his own flip-flopper Tony Genco under the bus today, after Genco said this in regards to full-day kindergarten:

"Mr. Genco not only said he supported the kindergarten program, but added there was no use opposing it because "the ship had sailed" on the issue."


Makes sense for Mr. Genco to say this, after all, this was in the PC platform last year, right on page 21:

So even Tim Hudak thought it would be a mistake to distrupt FDK. Until now:


"Vaughan PC candidate Tony Genco was forced to backtrack on his support of the Ontario Liberals' all-day kindergarten program today after leader Tim Hudak...condemned the program, which is to be fully rolled out by 2014" 

 This comes after Hudak already flip-flopped on FDK once already.   "For two years, Progressive Conservative Leader Tim Hudak had railed against the ambitious new program being rolled out by Ontario’s Liberal government."   With education a looming issue for Ontario families, Tim Hudak's flip-flop on a flip-flop shows he can't be trusted with the education file.

First post in a long time, some policy discussion!

I haven't posted in forever, so I decided to break out of the doldrums of summer by posting a policy I'm considering submitting for OYL Summer Fling on reforming Canadian Content regulations. Here it is:

Whereas - Canadian music deserves to be supported and funded for both economic and cultural reasons,

Whereas- Canadians are accessing more and more content online, bypassing the traditional models of Canadian Content regulation and promotion, [1]

Whereas- Many Canadian bands and performers have recently had more success from establishing popularity outside of Canada, or from online promotion,

Whereas- Canadians access Canadian Content on websites like Youtube at as high a rate as non-Canadian content, without any regulatory regime in place [2]

Whereas- Modern technology and the nature of cultural consumption by Canadian consumers has increasingly made an anachronism of Canadian content regulations for commercial music radio stations,

Be it resolved that - A Liberal government commits to updating the mandate of Industry Canada, the Ministry of Canadian Heritage and the CRTC to better reflect the nature of Canadian musical production and promotion in the 21st century by phasing out the requirements for commercial radio music stations to play 35% CanCon.

Be it further resolved that - A Liberal government commits to directly supporting Canadian artists and not a regulatory framework by committing to increasing the funding for programs like FACTOR (the Foundation Assisting Canadian Talent on Recordings) and Starmaker which fund new Canadian artists.

Be it further resolved that - In recognition of the need for a funding model for giving greater direct support for programs that support Canadian artists, the federal government ensure that ISP's pay a fraction of their Canadian profits directly to these programs.

Be it further resolved: Nickelback sucks.

Citations:

For citation 1: Statistics Canada’s 2009 Canadian Internet Use Survey: 80% of adult Canadians used the internet for personal use https://www.lib.uwo.ca/blogs/education/2010/05/statistics-canadas-canadian-in.html

For citation 2: "Who needs Cancon?", Winnipeg Free Press, Jan 14, 2012: "YouTube reports that Canadian videos are being sought-out and viewed at a rate roughly on par with those originating in the U.S...Annually, in fact, [Youtube] calculate[s] that the site features more original Canadian content than has ever been broadcast during prime time on CBC (English and French) and CTV combined." http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/canada/who-needs-cancon-137339598.html

 

Young Liberals take strong stand against Mulcair's pro-Harper, pro-prohibition stance on marijuana

Today Young Liberals across the country are taking part in a campaign taking on NDP leader Tom Mulcair for his pro-Harper position on marijuana prohibition. I'm proud to count myself as part of the Ottawa team, putting up posters, handing out information and buttons, and reaching out to the majority of Canadians who believe that continuing the war on marijuana would be a mistake.

The current state of marijuana laws in Canada are hitting taxpayers hard, and Stephen Harper's tough on wallets crime schemes will only make the situation worse. Hardworking Canadian policemen and policewomen should be working on stopping serious crimes, not be forced to arrest Canadians for possession of small amounts of marijuana for personal use. It is particularly disappointing to see the NDP and Tom Mulcair stand with Stephen Harper on the issue of marijuana, as those punished under the current laws are disproportionately youth, members of racialized communities,and those with limited income.

Liberals are taking a strong stand for common-sense drug crime policies, as legalization will hurt violent gangs by depriving them a significant source of income, and help policemen and policewomen keep more dangerous drugs off the street. I am happy to see the Young Liberals take the lead on this issue and push the senior party in the right direction, making clear, strong arguments for evidence-based policies.

Liberals want to treat Canadians like adults and take on Harper on his costly and ineffective prohibitionist policies. The NDP and Tom Mulcair want to capitulate and let Harper set the terms of discussion on drug laws and crime. A big part of rebuilding the Liberal Party is staking out bold new policies and advancing them to Canadians, and I'm glad I can play a part in that process today.

Conservative attacks on eco groups should give LPC an opportunity to reach out

A lot has been written about the attacks on environmental groups in the recent Conservative budget, most of it negative, such as this Globe and Mail editorial: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/opinions/editorials/budgets-new-rules-unfairly-target-environmental-groups/article2387590/

While the Conservatives are wasting your tax dollars to go after legitimate environmental groups (full disclosure: I am currently working part time for an environmental organization, although as the group is not a charity I don't believe the new guidelines would impact us) and gut Elections Canada, I believe the federal Liberal Party should use this as an opportunity to expand ties with environmental groups across the country, and help ensure the importance of the environment in the Liberal platform.

I think in retrospect a failure of the Green Shift in 2008 was that a lot of environmental groups couldn't be brought onside to promote it and the Liberal Party as the best choice for environmentally minded voters. One only needs to contrast how vocally environmental groups rallied around the Ontario Liberals in the most recent provincial election to see the difference this kind of support can make. Both the NDP and Conservatives seem to be wanting the next election to be framed as an economy/environment battle (as Paul Wells has written extensively about) for different reasons, and the Liberals risk being shut out of this conversation (which would be terrible for any hopes of escaping third-party status) unless we can present a pragmatic middle ground approach, and talk about building the green economy and creating jobs here in Canada in a way neither the NDP or Conservatives can do. Having the support of the environmental movement behind a green jobs approach would be absolutely vital, and I think the Liberals need to move quickly and firm up these ties, while at the same time keep active talks open with the natural resources sector, to make balanced environmental regulations and create jobs, without the vilification of either environmental activity or the hard-working Canadians who work in the natural resources sector.