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WHAT THE 2007 ONTARIO ELECTION REVEALED

The Ontario election is quite a story. It laid bare, not just the Ontario political situation, but, also, for the most part, the political scene in most of Canada. It did not indicate that the Liberals are once again on the ascendancy, even though the seat distribution was 71 Liberals, 26 Conservatives and 10 NDPs. What it did disclose was that a Conservative party cannot hope to win an election without the support of social conservatives.

John Tory, the Ontario Conservative leader, is a Red Tory. He was once an advisor, in the 1970’s and 1980’s, to former Ontario Conservative Premier Bill Davis. The latter consistently took the middle or liberal position in his policies, which led to his successive victories. What Mr. Tory did not understand was that politics in Ontario and in Canada, as a whole, have changed. Canada and Ontario have moved, by incremental steps, to right of centre in the intervening years – despite the newspapers’ constant left wing positions, as well as those of other media outlets, especially the unflinchingly left wing CBC.

The move to the right has been so slow and imperceptible that it is only now that we can look back and marvel at the change. Mr. Tory mistakenly trod in Mr. Davis’ exact footsteps, taking the middle or so-called “moderate” position in his policies, believing that he would attract the voters from the middle. At the same time, he cast the social conservatives the supposed gold coin of extended funding for faith-based schools. The “gold” of his coin, however, was dross as even the supporters of Christian and Jewish schools balked at this policy since it would also provide funding for Muslim schools. Many believe the Muslim schools will be funded by Middle East interests, as well as the Ontario government. As a result, these schools would likely teach Muslim students much more than the Ontario school curriculum, such as Sharia Law (Muslim Law), as well as create future soldiers for theJihad (holy war).

In keeping with his red conservative philosophy, Mr. Tory proudly supported same-sex marriage and was a prominent presence in the Toronto Gay Pride Parade in June 2007, beaming proudly at his supposed “tolerance” for marching in the parade. He did not grasp that his presence at the Gay Parade sealed his political doom. No social conservative can stomach Mr. Tory.

The turnout at the Ontario election in October hit a record low, breaking even the record set in 1923 of 54.7%. In fact, only 52.6% of the eligible voters in Ontario went to the polls in October, 2007. We can be certain that many of the no-shows at the polling booths were social conservatives.

Conservative Leaders Today

A Conservative leader today can no longer ride under the banner of conservatism without having a platform of conservative policies based on genuine conservative values. This is not to say that he must support all the conservative causes. The voters are not ready for that – yet. A conservative leader must also appear to be reasonable and “moderate” in some areas in order to accommodate the middle ground so as not to appear as one of those scary “right wing ideologues”. Social conservatives understand this, and are willing to accommodate some so-called “moderate” policies, since we know that we do not have the mass to win an election on our own as yet. We can wait. But, there are certain issues on which we will not support a conservative leader. That is, a conservative leader must protect and support the traditional family, on which the future of society depends, he must support those laws that uphold the fabric of society, such as laws prohibiting illicit drug use, prostitution, pornography, euthanasia, etc. Also social conservatives insist on lower taxes, security, both internally and externally, with a strong police force and tough legislation against violent crimes and terrorism – the latter, fortunately, included in the federal Throne speech in October, 2007. To promote policies in contradiction of these and other basic conservative values is to fatally alienate social Conservatives without which there will, with certainty, be no conservative victory.

On September 22, 2004, REAL Women wrote to the then members of the Ontario Conservative caucus advising them that unless their leader, John Tory, pulled back on his policies, to represent the views of social conservatives (which included abandoning his policies in support of same-sex marriage and homosexual rights) that social conservatives would not vote for him and that he would be defeated in the next provincial election. He did not pull back and, as a result, lost not only the election, but also a seat for himself in the legislature. The inept Liberals, who should have been defeated in Ontario for numerous reasons, are now laughing with glee over the even greater ineptitude of the opposition Conservatives. The election was the Conservatives to win – if only they had understood that the political game has vastly changed in today’s Ontario.

The Referendum on Changing the Voting System

The referendum on changing the voting system from the present system of first-past-the-post to the proposed Mixed Member Proportional system, whereby the political parties could appoint 39 of the legislators in the provincial legislature, based on the popular vote their parties received in the election, was soundly rejected by the voters.

In order to pass, the MMP system required 60% approval. Instead, it received only 36.7% approval, with 63% disapproving of the change. This is similar to what occurred in PEI, New Brunswick and British Columbia when they tried to change the voting system. However, the British Columbia vote was very close and another referendum will be held in British Columbia‘s 2008 provincial election.

The proposed change in B.C. is much more complicated than that proposed in Ontario. In fact, it was so complicated that few apparently really understood it and, therefore, it is believed, many just went along with it. We hope that the same phenomenon will not occur in the next B.C. referendum on a proposed new voting system.

A New Ontario Conservative Leader

The Ontario Conservatives are planning a leadership review in February, 2008. At the time of writing, Mr. Tory insists he plans to fight to keep his job. It will be a pity if he does, as REAL Women can safely predict that, if so, the Ontario Liberals will win again in the 2011 election.

Hopefully, however, the Conservative party will be reading the political ashes of its defeat in Ontario and will choose a leader more suitable for these political times – which means one who is more attuned to socially conservative values..

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