-=> Quoting Michael Grant to Doug Powless <=-

Hi Michael.

 MG> Ontario voters can be hard to predict sometimes, they seem to easily
 MG> switch between the Liberals and Progressive Conservatives. I doubt that
 MG> Ontario will vote NDP again, I can only see that happening when the
 MG> Liberals and PC's are very close and the NDP comes up the middle. I
 MG> think unless the Liberals really drop the ball badly, my best guess at
 MG> present is that it looks like a Liberal majority to me.

I was going to say that too, except for the *very* attractive "public
insurance" and "public power" platform the NDP is using.  We know for
a fact that public insurance seems to work in the provinces where it's
available.  Neither the Liberals or Tories are willing to go that route.

 MG> Eves does not have the appeal that Harris had, and I think the voters
 MG> view him as not having a clear plan for the province. I also tend to
 MG> think the blatant capitalization on his popularity
"boost" due to the
 MG> blackout crisis will backfire on him, because voters will question why
 MG> a failure in the US would black out such a large area of Ontario in the
 MG> first place. The recent privitization of Ontario's power may be viewed
 MG> as partly to blame. 
 
 Yup, that theory has been put out there.  Don't know if the "explanation"
 is factual, or merely an opportunist slant on it.  Doesn't matter 
 though:  if enough of the public even hears the theory (presented as
 fact of course), they'll buy it.
 
 DP> Hampton's "Public Power" campaign may do him well.  We'll see.
 DP> As for me, all I know for certain is that I won't be voting Tory.

 MG> Auto insurance seems to be a hot issue in most other provinces these
 MG> days. Is it so in Ontario as well, and if so how do you think it might
 MG> affect the election?

 Auto insurance is a *huge* deal here.  In fact, that might be the straw
 on the camel's back for us.  We all pretty much flipped out over the
 huge energy rates we were suddenly charged after we went through a 
 partial privatization of electricity.   The Eves government capped the
 rates but we all know (surprise, surprise!) that the private companies
 are going to operate as non-profit organizations.  The results are
 predictable.  The populace believes the problem shouldn't have arisen
 in the first place.  The auto insurance issue has become front and centre
 here, and the combination does the Tory party no good at all.

 I'm fairly convinced he's gone.  Unless those opposed split their vote
 between the Libs and NDP.  Stranger things have happened.

shades{at}shadesworld.net
http://shadesworld.net

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