My choice

I wasn’t planning on endorsing a candidate— that is until Peter Worthington scolded his own newspaper, the Toronto Sun, this week for failing to advise its readers whom it favours in Thursday’s provincial election. Calling it a “dereliction of duty”, Worthington said his paper was wrong to try to absolve itself of any responsibility for what happens on Thursday.

He goes on to observe that newspapers tend to harbour an inflated view of their influence— that most folks make up their own minds about such things as to whom they want to represent them in a political setting. Of course he is right on that count. And if true for a large urban daily—it is surely doubly so for The Times.

Thus liberated, here is my take.

Leona Dombrowsky has been a fine, honourable and hard-working representative for Prince Edward-Hastings. Yet her government has amassed a mountain of debt—and continues to pile it up with opaque deals for courthouses like the one emerging from the earth in Belleville. This sixstorey structure will cost taxpayers more than $270 million. Four others just like are being built across the province—nearly a billion and a half dollars on courthouses alone. Her government has mowed through public safeguards and regulations to realize Dalton McGuinty’s dream of an industrial wind turbine on every horizon. It has ignored the advice of its own officials who warn the province’s grid is simply unable to manage intermittent electricity generating sources like the wind.

Her government has ignored the pleas of communities working to earn a living from the natural beauty of the province—turning a deaf ear to worries that the economies of places like Prince Edward County will be forever ruined the day we wake up and the place looks like Wolfe Island.

The PC Party led by Tim Hudak should have been the beneficiary of the McGuinty government’s arrogance and wastefulness. But the memories of Mike Harris are too fresh. The prospect of angry old guys like Randy Hillier and John Yakabuski vetting priorities for the next government should give pause to all but the most rabid social conservative. Tim Hudak might not be Mike Harris. He may be able to muzzle the likes of Hillier and forge a productive and progressive government—but we don’t know that yet. He hasn’t shown that he is ready to lead this province.

Ontarians are hungry for change. The Tories should have been shoo-ins. It is a measure of the lingering mistrust of his predecessor that Hudak finds himself unsure of the outcome of an election that should have been his.

The NDP seemingly doesn’t grasp that Ontario’s financial choices have been severely narrowed by debt levels that are the highest they have ever been—by any measure. The party makes impossible promises it knows, or should know, it can’t keep.

The NDP is merely telling folks what they want to hear—knowing it won’t be held accountable for its empty promises.

Treat Hull has used this campaign to shine a light on the province’s precarious finances and mismanaged energy file. He has demonstrated a grasp of the challenges facing this province and has proposed workable solutions.

He has been blunt in his assessment that the province’s debt load and deficit spending must be addressed now. Interest rates will rise one day and the cost to service our oversized debt will overwhelm our ability to pay.

On energy Hull is the only candidate to point out that it is irresponsible to pursue industrial-scale wind and solar generating sources until technology is developed to store electricity on a large scale. Until that happens the energy generated by these sources is sloshed around unpredictably, forcing the province to offload excess power to neighbouring jurisdictions—many of whom are happy to take it off Ontario’s hands—for a price.

More sensible, says Hull, is to buy hydro generated electricity from Quebec—vast amounts of it generated by water flowing through dams. At seven cents per kilowatt this clean, renewable power is half the cost of wind generated electricity and a fraction of solar powered electricity.

Fixing these problems can’t wait. Without a stable financial foundation and a reliable and affordable electricity system—Ontario’s choices and opportunities will continue to wither.

But can he win? Hull’s campaign is at best a long shot. At the end of the day, he said what had to be heard. He persisted on the issues that others avoided—or worse, couldn’t grasp.

His party won’t form government, and even if elected in Prince Edward-Hastings, Hull won’t be forming policy. But if elected he will continue to raise these critical issues at every opportunity. He will bring the concerns of this community to Queen’s Park—not the other way around.

For these reasons Treat Hull is The Times’ pick in Thursday’s election.

rick@wellingtontimes.ca