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There were no realistic scenarios for the outcome of Ontario's recent election that would have been good news for real conservatives. Nevertheless, the final outcome was probably the best scenario that could have been imagined: the thorough defeat of the far-left anti-policy party known as the Progressive Conservatives, and the defeat of the party's anti-leader, John Tory, in his own riding.
Not only that, but the election had the lowest turn-out ever - 52.8% of eligible voters - as a huge number of conservatives chose not to waste their time voting for a conservative-hating party that seems to be pursuing a position on the political spectrum somewhere between the Liberals and the Marxist-Leninist Party. (If the next Ontario election is equally inspiring, hopefully more of these people will place their vote with the Family Coalition Party.)
John Tory was openly supportive of abortion and homosexual "marriage." He has led Toronto's Gay Pride parade and one of his most photogenic moments was smiling while being kissed by a transvestite. In an interview with Western Standard magazine (July 30), he summarized his outlook by saying, "On community safety issues, I'm very conservative. But I have a huge social conscience." Wrong answer!
In his concession speech on election night, he said, "A short while ago I telephoned Mr. McGuinty to congratulate him on winning the election. ... I say to him and to his colleagues tonight ..., so that we can in turn together all of us restore faith in government and all the good that it can do." Restore faith in government !!?? I don't know if that's a direct quote from Karl Marx, but it might as well be! What unmitigated nonsense from a professed "conservative."
Former Ontario PC leader Mike Harris wasn't a consistent conservative - he had very little time for social conservative values - but he did advocate strong policy positions that carved out territory clearly to the right of the Liberals and the Communists. He was also decisive on many issues. Sadly, however, the Tory leadership is dominated by visionless girlie-men who can't stomach the conflict that naturally results when political leaders pursue policies that stir up the fat-cat status of entrenched parasitic interests, such as (teacher) unions. So, Ernie Eves, then John Tory, have overseen the suicide of their party as they abandoned even the few economic conservative and governmental conservative policies of Mike Harris.
Hopefully there are still one or two people left in the leadership of the party who have both courage and intelligence and realize that the flatulence strategy - the nothing-but-hot-air strategy - that also humiliated the post-Thatcher British Conservatives and the post-Reagan Republican Americans is an equally stupid approach in Ontario.
In this respect, probably the best positive development of election night was the victory by Randy Hillier. Randy Hillier was the founder of the Lanark Landowners Association several years ago, and Hillier quickly became known for this take-no-prisoners approach to confronting government goons who threatened the private property rights and livelihoods of rural farmers, businessmen and home owners. Hillier also had a reputation for some cases of civil disobedience, or at least border-line actions, and as far as I know, he never blinked - but government inspectors and other officials sure did.
When Hillier was nominated as the Progressive Conservative candidate for Lanark-Frontenac-Lennox and Addington, some small-minded Liberals attacked him and the PC party because of his principled positions. According to a May 8th Ottawa Citizen article, Liberal Health Minister George Smitherman said, "He's a hurt machine. Every time he opens his mouth, it's to divide up Ontario and demonstrate some way in which he's distinct from the rest of us. Some of the comments he's made in the past are hurtful and divisive to multicultural communities, to gay and lesbian people, to people that are living in urban environments."
Tory's response was that Hillier had committed to being a team player: "I reminded him that now he is part of a team of people - we're all accountable for the things we say."
Well, in light of the recent election results, Hillier doesn't owe John Tory a tiddlywink! As some of his supporters are noting, he essentially won as an independent candidate, considering the value of the Party's campaign to his own local efforts.
Let's hope that Hillier becomes a catalyst for a real conservative revolution inside the carcass of today's useless Progressive Conservative party. According to Christina Blizzard in the Toronto Sun, "he upset a couple of party insiders to win the Tory nomination in Lanark-Frontenac, Lennox & Addington. Well, it's time for him to chew up and spit out a few more of these has-beens in the hierarchy of the party who have lost touch with the views of warm-blooded, hard-working, patriotic, family-oriented Ontarians.
Hillier's win is also a kick in the seat for desperate leftists who are trying to argue that the PC defeat had nothing to do with their loony-left posturing. The sub-title of a Toronto Star column by David Olive that I hope appeared in the Humour section reads, "John Tory went down hard this week but it wasn't his moderate brand of conservatism that voters rejected. In fact, the spirit of Red Toryism is being embraced by leaders the world over."
Yeah sure it is!
Actually, soggy leftism has been embraced, but by leftists who saw the political centre being moved rightward again by people like Thatcher and Reagan, and to a lesser degree in Canada by the Reform Party, Ralph Klein in Alberta and Mike Harris in Ontario. These leftists didn't want to end up in the trash heap of history along with Howard Hampton's Ontario New Democrats, so they reinvented themselves.
So, where's the evidence that this is as far to the right as civilized people want to move? Actually Hillier's victory is a slap in the face to that kind of self-serving leftist parsing of the evidence. More principled conservatives can still win elections. We just need to find more principled conservatives. Maybe MPP Frank Klees is one. Are there any others?
Another benefit of the thorough rout of the PC's is that the push for taxpayer funding of "faith-based" schools is now effectively dead in the province. That was another leftist notion that simply would have expanded the size and role of the provincial government as well as its level of interference in the lives of Ontarians. Let's hope that Christians and others will move on, unified, in pursuit of a more principled conservative approach to education reform, such as vouchers or tax relief that puts more of the responsibility and freedom for children's education back in the hands of their parents.
If you have not yet purchased a copy of "State vs. Church," I look forward to your order today. I would encourage you to stay ahead of the curve of what God is doing in Canada by ordering your copy today. It will be your most encouraging and challenging reading this fall. It will also make a great gift for a friend, pastor or family member.
Please contact me at timothy@christiangovernment.ca or at 613-482-1790 for interviews or speaking engagements and other opportunities for promoting the message of “State vs. Church.” Let’s talk about how we can work together.
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