by arthur Weinreb,
august 31, 2004
P aLIGN="JUSTIFY"> an article appeared on the website of Rabble.ca in mid-august. Entitled, "McGuinty was more than ‘overly ambitious’" and written by Scott Piatkowski, the article criticized Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty for saying that he lied and broke major campaign promises because he was overly ambitious and that none of the lies and broken promises were his fault.Rabble.ca, published by extreme left wing activist, Judy Rebick, describes itself as being "built on the efforts of progressive journalists, writers, artists and activists". "Progressive", as we all know, is another way of describing extreme left wing views. What is truly amazing is that while Piatkowski wrote this piece for a leftist publication, I could have just as easily written the same thing for Canada Free Press which is, on occasion, referred to as a "right wing rag".
Piatkowski chides McGuinty for his defense of his lies and broken promises. The writer quotes McGuinty’s comments about the only alternative that had was "shutting down 10 hospitals, firing 16,500 teachers or kicking 30,000 people out of nursing homes". Piatkowski correctly points out that not even Jim Flaherty, one of the most conservative members of the PC caucus who is making his second bid for the leadership of that party has ever suggested anything that drastic.
as has been noted by people of all political persuasions, McGuinty had to have known that the deficit left by the previous Conservative government was in the vicinity of $5 billion. Two members of the Liberal caucus said as much during the election campaign. McGuinty simply chose to ignore what the pair, who now hold prominent positions in his cabinet, had said about the deficit. as Piatkowski points out, McGuinty knew. The writer also points out that McGuinty had to have known that he couldn’t possibly have kept the freeze on hydro rates that were imposed by the Tories as he had promised to do.
Piatkowski also notes that not all of McGuinty’s lies and broken promises involved money. He could have frozen the development on the Oak Ridges Moraine that had not been approved without incurring any financial liability. and he must have known that he could not freeze tolls on Highway 407--he had to have the terms of the contract that had been entered into by the previous government.
When someone on the left can write a political article for a left wing publication that could, word for word, appear in a conservative publication, something is very, very wrong. Despite political differences we are all Ontarians and Canadians and we share certain values. We don’t like corruption. We don’t like lying and deceitfulness and more importantly, we don’t like being lied to. It’s a fact of life in Canada and in Ontario that while politicians of all parties occasionally stretch the truth, only the Liberal Party of Canada and the Liberal Party of Ontario have turned lying, deceit and corruption into a way of political life. Only a hard core Liberal Party supporter, who goes to sleep with dreams of goodies being dished out by the Liberals, could agree with McGuinty’s claptrap that he had to break promises and lie to us for our own good. Piatkowski hit the nail on the head when he wrote that McGuinty was just determined not to lose another election and "Ontario voters, desperate to put an end to the Conservatives, simply chose to believe whatever McGuinty told them".
Dalton McGuinty would be much more at home holding power in a country like Pakistan or Nigeria--somewhere where lying and deceit are a way of life. and as an aside, he wouldn’t have to face criticism about bringing in the Sharia. In expecting to be praised by playing fast and loose with the truth, McGuinty has shown that he has the same mentality as many third world dictators have. His actions and his policies are not about us — they’re about him.
at a time when many people in this province, and in this country, are polarized in their political beliefs, Dalton McGuinty has managed to bring the left and the right together.
Dalton McGuinty--the great uniter.