A new wind blowing

Bob Dylan famously (and off key) sang, “the answer my friend, is blowin’ in the wind, the answer is blowin’ in the wind.” It’s no longer blowin’ in the wind; it IS the wind and the wind has ushered in a new era in, as the Toronto Sun’s Sue-Anne Levy likes to call, Toronto’s Socialist Silly Hall. Those sleepy hog town burgers have finally opened their eyes and realized that there was life beyond social democracy and those who paid the piper were entitled to call the tune. While it wasn’t a clean Sweep through City Hall, eliminating the socialist elite altogether, it was a good start and a promise of a brighter future for taxpayers who had realized that David Miller’s brand of governance was for the benefit of his own leftist ideological allies like public sector unions and not for the benefit of the people who footed the bill for Miller’s largesse.

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There’s a larger lesson to be learned here, as the Toronto Microcosm is reflective of the North American Macrocosm. Voters are just damn sick and tired of having professional politicians tell them what’s best for them. This is a moment we can all relish, but not one that suggests we rest on our laurels, as the dark forces of the Left will fester like a pustulent sore and seek new areas from which to erupt. One of the wisest things anyone ever said to me was when Dan Heap, a former NDP Member of Parliament, was campaigning for the position of alderman for Toronto’s City Council. He told a crowd of supporters that in municipal politics it was important to find a candidate one could trust, get the candidate elected and once elected, never, ever trust him or her. Heap, despite being a socialist functionary, had a visceral understanding of the effect of power on politicians. To this end it is important that we do not place complete trust in Rob Ford or any of the new council members that have won seats in today’s races. It’s important that we give them our full support, while keeping one eye on our wallets. And at the first sign of betrayal, we hold them to account by getting them out of office as quickly as possible.

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