I WOULD LOVE TO SIGN THE PETITION REQUESTING A REVIEW OF ERIN O'TOOLE'S LEADERSHIP BUT...

 

Most Recent Update:  It was reported in today's Financial Post (5-10-21) that in 2019 the renowned George Will had this to say:  "Conservatism is a state of mind, its point is to bring people together who share that view and then try to persuade others to approve of their policies.  If the voter has no taste for those conservative ideas then it will not form Government ...so be it. The country though will be the worse for it". 

UPDATE:  In her article in today's Ottawa Sun columnist Candice Malcolm astutely points out that "the media began pumping out stories in support of the failed CPC Leader...now that Erin O'Toole has lost ...the media suddenly love him."  She goes on to state that "the media is wrong...do not listen to them."

A case in point - Malcolm notes, is Sport's Journalist Matthew Sekeres who wrote 'Harper grew on people, O'Toole could too. Gotta convince cities that the fringe of their party won't shape policy'.

Malcolm correctly points out that "by fringe of the party" Sekeres was referring to the majority of Conservative Members who are, well conservative".

MY COMMENT - Right On Candice.

I CAN'T.

Why, I would love to sign it is due to the fact that ...as per the title of this Blog, I am a real conservative...in other words both fiscally and socially conservative. In this week's election, Mr. O'Toole showed himself to be neither.

I can understand what he tried to do ...that is appeal to the 70% of Canadians who are progressive that is to say left of centre but I cannot condone giving up one's principles whatever your reason for doing so.

Okay, given that, why will I not sign The Petition ?

It all has to do with your mother.  Last year, she was visiting Scott at his home in Bowmanville- which is located just around the corner from where Erin O'Toole resides.  Anne had taken our 2 granddaughters to a nearby park and in due course found herself in the midst of a gang of youths in their late teens and early twenties.  They were seriously fighting one another and your mum wisely made a bee line back toward Scott's...girls in tow.

On route back, she came across Mr. O'Toole walking his dog and though she recognized him did not make that apparent but she did warn him not to go to the park which was the direction he and his dog were headed.  Rather than turn away or head back to the safety of his home, O'Toole stuck out his jaw rolled bank his shoulders and headed toward the fray. His military experience coming to the fore.

Anne never heard what came of his intervention but she was so impressed with his courage and civic sense of duty.  Bottom-line the guy is a decent enough fellow. He just is not cut out for today's politics and in fact I often wonder who is ?- certainly none of the other current party leaders come to mind.

What Canada needs is a Conservative Party that is true to its roots and a Leader who can explain to Canadians at large why it is in their interest to vote for us.   We have not had that for eons so no wonder the Progressives rule. 

In some future blogs I will deal with the issues that have given countless of our Tory Leaders great difficulty and will suggest how they should have handled them.

Before I go though is it not of passing interest that the Media has joined the bandwagon to replace O"Toole while giving a pass to all of the other Leaders who should also be subject to this type of scrutiny?  

As I See It...

'K.D. Bell'

WE NOW KNOW THE 'WHAT'...

 BUT WHAT ABOUT THE  'WHY'...

AS IN WHY DID MONDAY'S ELECTION TURN OUT TO BE SUCH A BUST AND MORE TO THE POINT, WHY WASN'T JUSTIN TRUDEAU GIVEN HIS MARCHING PAPERS...RIGHT OUT OF POLITICS ?

You might have noticed when all this began a short month or so ago I stated that the Election would be determined by what happens in the Ontario Suburbs surrounding Toronto namely the 905 Region along with its Kissing Cousin the 416.

And they held firmly in the Liberal Camp ergo Trudeau retains his Minority with a miserly 30% or so of the popular vote meaning upwards of 70% voted other than Liberal.

So these two telephone area codes are the reason we are stuck with JT once again.  And the sad part of this is that the folks living in these regions are natural Tory Supporters.  They are the 'soccer mums' - the parents who work tirelessly to make ends meet, overburdened by increasing rental costs and out of reach home prices.  They, like you and I, worry about the future of their children and grandchildren...a future that the Trudeau Liberals and the joined at the Hip New Democratic Party have frittered away. The Conservative Leader O'Toole could of / should of come out of this Vote Rich Region dripping in votes; the fact that he did not goes a long way to explaining why his days as the Tory Leader are numbered.

So that in essence is WHY we are where we are but there are a couple of other reasons worthy of note:

First and Foremost - The Separatist Party - the Bloc running solely in Quebec.  There was a time not that many years ago when the Liberal Party could count on getting the Lion Share of Quebec's 75 - more recently 78 Seats and with those seats they were well on their way to a Majority Government. Flash ahead to this Election and the Liberals won but 35 of those seats followed closely on their heals by the Bloc with 34.  We in the Rest of Canada owe the Bloc a great deal since their winnings went along way to block Trudeau and his selfish attempt at Majority Government.

The Second Reason - was the failure of the NDP to dip into Liberal Support with only 17% of the popular vote albeit an improvement from 2019 when they garnered 16%.  When the NDP is strong - in the mid 20s they take votes away from the Grits and in many ridings it allows the Tories to come up the middle.  Being at only 17% this becomes much less of a factor - hence more Liberal wins and less Conservative victories. 

So that rounds out the Why in regard to Monday's Election.  But what's next?

Speculation has already started as to when the next Election will be called. It won't be long and contrary to the recent one.. it will not be as a result of Trudeau doing the calling.  It will come as a result of a Non-Confidence Vote since the Parties... other than the Liberals are angry with them for having put them through this entirely needless election exercise.  At one point, when the wheels start to fall of the bus ...so to speak - they will lash out and the next vote will be upon us. In the meantime, the NDP - the joined at the hippsters will milk the Liberals for all they can and all the poor - and I mean poor Canadian Taxpayer can do is watch from the sidelines as this continues to unfold.

As I See It...

'K.D. Galagher'

SEEMS LIKE GROUNDHOG DAY...

NEW UPDATE:  Green Party Leader Annamie Paul is gone...Five (5) more to go.

UPDATE NOTE:  It is almost as if Joe Oliver ...a former Finance Minister in the Stephen Harper Government had read my recent Blogs in advance of penning his editorial this Friday in the Financial Post ...here are some of the things he said about current Tory Leader Erin O'Toole:

• Red Tories argue that because Canada is basically a liberal country the route to a majority for a true Conservative Party is a strong showing by the NDP... However a long term winning strategy cannot be based on the uncertain fortunes of a 3rd Party..
• Every progressive and most of the mainstream commentariat proclaim that the only road to victory for the Conservatives is to embrace the values and policies of the centre left (as O'Toole attempted unsuccessfully to do). Those priorities run counter to conservative values and they are not the issues that fire up the Conservative base or persuade swing voters who have plenty of big government environmental alarmists parties to choose from.  And Finally, 
•  Conservatives need to have a broad and indepth discussion about what they stand for and how that can be convincingly conveyed to Canadians.  At stake is not only partisan politics but the future of Canada as we confront another painful 18 months of Liberal Misrule.

My Comment - I of course fully agree with Oliver ie that this change in focus for us Conservatives is desperately needed...Erin O'Toole though has shown himself not to be this agent of change.  

ALL OVER AGAIN.

AND OF COURSE I AM REFERING TO CANADA'S GENERAL ELECTION 

WHICH TOOK PLACE YESTERDAY.

In the previous and very recent Federal Election less than 2 years ago the major parties

finished as follows:

Liberals 157 seats and 33.12 % of the vote;

Conservatives 121 seats with 34.34% of the vote;

Bloc Quebecois 32 and 7.63%; and finally, 

The New Democratic Party at 24 seats and a voter % of 15.98.

So what did Prime Minister Justin Trudeau gain by calling yesterday's election...not much:

His Party gained by 1 extra member - 158 with 32.2 % (less than 2019)

The Tories at 119 dropped 2 with 34% (a little less than last time)

The Bloc at 34 gained 2 with 7.7% (a little more..)

And the NDP at 25 gained but 1 too with 17.7 (slightly more than in 2019 but so far below what they needed to make any difference in the election outcome.)

In my most recent Blog I predicted exactly this outcome and sadly I was right. The only thing that I was not totally sure of - yet expected it - was whether the Liberals and NDP would have enough seats between them to get them past the 170 seat majority needed to run government.  They did so we will once again see them joined at the Hip and the Poor Canadian Taxpayer will pay dearly.

But I also predicted that all for all the major Party Leaders, this will be their last election.

Trudeau because he has now tried unsuccessfully twice to regain the majority he won back in 2015.  More to the point his average voter per centage has hovered around a meagerly 30%.  Stunningly Himself went on t.v. to announce yesterday that He had been given a solid Mandate by Canadians to bring forward whatever He might chose.  This despite roughly 70%  did not vote Liberal.  He most certainly has a future as a stand up comedian post politics.  

O'Toole will be gone soon too - the fact that he could not beat Trudeau with all his warts and faults is simply inexcusable and was the reason his predecessor Andrew Scheer was forced to fall on his sword after his loss in 2019.  In addition O'Toole is not a Conservative ...since he has joined the ranks of the Liberal Progressives.  He even admitted when he said that his party was no longer the party of your Grandparents.  He got that right and by so doing got less seats than even Scheer did.  The Guy is gone.

Singh to use a baseball metaphor has been at bat twice and has two strikes.  Will he be allowed another pitch.  Doubtful plus it is apparent to all - even dyed in the wool NDPers that Canada cannot afford his pricy social platform.  He has also made a number of glaring faux pas that in the days ahead will work against him.  Sayonara Jagmeet.  His meagre vote % at 17 is only slightly better than they attained in 2019. In other words not enough to make a difference in the election's outcome. 

You will notice that I did not include Bloc Leader Yves-Francois Blanchet in my analysis since he is the only safe one.  In fact, the only true winner in yesterday's unnecessary election - he seat count rose by 2. Plus he is not contesting for Prime Minister his role is to protect and promote Quebec although in yesterday's vote he and his party acted as foil to Trudeau and the Liberals of winning a majority.  So we are in his debt. 

I did not include the People's Party and its Leader Madd Maxx Bernier since they are radical fringe with no future but no one will want to replace Madd Maxx - why in heaven's name would they since they are going nowhere.

As I See It

K.D. Galagher