It’s hard to glance at or hear the news these days without the word “bailout” popping up. Prime Minister Stephen Harper had the chance to bailout Ontario Progressive Conservative leader John Tory this week and graciously declined to do so. Tory has spent since the election of October 2007 without a seat in the provincial legislature. Unlike other party leaders who end up at the head of their party with minimal legislative experience, Tory decided not to run in a safe seat that would have allowed him to spend time throughout Ontario bolstering his party instead of trying to win his riding. Tory, for reasons that are hard to understand, decided to run against popular Liberal Education Minister Kathleen Wynne in her heavily Liberal Toronto riding. His Arrogance lost. Since then Tory has been trying to get someone in his caucus to give up their seat so he can run in a by-election, all to no avail. That was probably a good thing because John Tory could have possibly lost the by-election too, making a complete joke out of the party that recently spent eight years with strong majority governments.
