The Political Theater that is Ontario

What bothered me most about Michael Ignatieff was his attempt to show us just how smart he was. The dissolve of Parliament prior to the 2011 Federal Election is a primary example of that. 

It wasn’t enough to simply have a motion of non-confidence it had to be something historic, a government falling to a contempt of Parliament motion, the Liberals using their leverage allowing the Speaker of the House to set the table and then creating a situation where Ignatieff could do something that had never occurred in the history of Parliamentary Democracy. 

This was followed by Ignatieff making another kind of history on election night, but I digress. 

Ontario has rapidly entered into the same sort of theater that had me rolling my eyes federally a few years ago. 

Contempt of Parliament has once again reared its head, and the word “Prorogue” which the media had seemingly never heard of in 2008 is now commonplace and “within the right of the Premier”.  (Amazing how the folks in the media have become Constitutional Scholars all of a sudden)

However I bore of the opposition’s tact. 

Hudak wrote a stern letter, and Horwath seems to be thumbing her nose at the Premier. 

All this conversation about accountability and investigation and scandal. 

The reality is that no proper investigation can be conducted from the opposition bench, you can hold a “political trial” and win in the court of public opinion but the reality is without the strength that being on the government side of the aisle brings with it this becomes nothing more the bad political theater. 

McGuinty has Prorogued Parliament hoping that the memories of Ontario voters are short and will fixate on something else, whereas the opposition is yet to use the term I demand to hear

“Non-Confidence”

This is very simple, Ontario voters’ wants answers the only way they will get answers is if the opposition in some form takes control of government. 

This is one of those rare times where the PC’s and NDPers have a common goal. 

Hudak and Horwath need to share a stage and agree on a singular matter.

That for the former Premier and his government to be held accountable there needs to be an election where the voters of Ontario decide how they want to move forward. 

Regardless of the outcome of the next few weeks there needs to be a clear understanding from both opposition leaders that the 40^th Legislative Assembly of Ontario is over, and that the Premier has left them no alternative but to vote no confidence in this government as its clear by the Premier stepping down he also lacks the confidence in his own government. 

There must be a clear line in the sand drawn. 

However both the PC’s and NDP are posturing and attempting to lap up support when they should be doing everything they can to get back to work and the only way to do that and investigate the government is with the strength an election will bring. 

Anything short of an election is conversation and a waste of time and energy.