The Ontario Provincial Election Is next month and No I am not excited about it

         

              

         I really hate provincial elections they just aren’t exciting. I also hate the fact that people thirty and under around my age aren’t “into” politics. I am not into “politics” either but I try to pay attention by reading the newspapers, watching the news, reading on the net and try to discern through all the media psychobabble. The media just don’t concentrate on the very important issues. Usually we are lost in a cyclone of fear and not on the facts.

    The first photo is Dalton McGuinty he is the Premier of the province of Ontario and the leader of the Liberal Party. The second photo is John Tory he is the leader of the Progressive Conservative party and he is also the opposition leader. The Opposition party is the second largest party in the province but not the party in power. The third photo is Howard Hampton he is the leader of the New Democratic Party and they are the smallest of the three main political parties in the province of Ontario.

        Remember Aileen Siu the Asian Canadian woman that disrespected the young black man Evon Reid that applied for an Ontario government job? Siu has not been fired but “resigned”. Aileen Siu isn’t really the problem she’s just one individual. The real culprit here is the systematic racism and discrimination against young black people. The Evon Reid case was a perfect example of employment discrimination and its a issue I think that could be an election issue. The mainstream media swept that issue right under the rug. Young black voters should pay attention to that one that’s for sure. The Liberal Party said all the right things but when push comes to shove there is an apathetic attitude towards black voters in the province of Ontario.

      I know politics is important because it affects all of our lives. Now prior to McGuinty being in power there was a man named Mike Harris he was the leader of the Progressive Conservative party and he lead a “Common Sense Revolution”. Basically Harris cut a lot of social programs, slashed welfare rates, and hurt the poor in the province of Ontario. Harris had a lot of supporters because Harris was very big on giving tax breaks to big business. The Progressive Conservative party is trying to comeback in the province of Ontario but I am not sure if they have enough support to win the election but you never know?

          The Liberal party currently lead by Dalton McGuinty have been in power for the past four years snapping a very long streak of Progressive Conservative power. However, this is the first Liberal Party in power since the year 1990. The New Democratic Party was briefly in power in the early 1990s but now the NDP is the smallest of the three political parties in the province of Ontario. McGuinty the Liberal leader has been in power since 2003 and he made a lot of promises in the past four years.

         The NDP party lead by Howard Hampton has been really struggling in the province of Ontario they simply don’t hold a lot of weight and power. The NDP needs to find a way to stand out to distance themselves from the Liberals and the Progressive Conservatives.  The NDP does deserves some praise for pressing the Liberals hard to raise the minimum wage in the province of Ontario to $10 dollars per hour now. The Liberals have stated that the minimum wage simply cannot be raised quickly or the economy will be “disrupted.” The minimum wage is supposed to increase to $10 dollars in about three years in the year 2010. However, lets say the PC party wins will John Tory honor this? The PC party certainly doesn’t care about poor people that’s for sure. The PC party’s ”theory” is that people should just work hard as if just working “hard” everything will fall into place. There is something called systematic racism and discrimination in the workforce. And the other two political parties have enough common sense to realize that there are people working so hard and yet they still cannot find a way out of poverty. People are losing jobs in the auto sector. And the automobile sector is the one the strongest sections of the Ontario economy. People are losing jobs and life is a struggle. And what about the people that work so hard yet are still poor?

           The tuition for post secondary education has increased and yes the Liberal Party did in fact freeze tuition rates a few years ago but the freeze is over. Tuition is increasing and the Ontario universities and colleges are charging more then ever then before to attend. Now of course, I must point out the tuition rates in Ontario is  much lower then other countries but still it costs a lot. And let’s say young people do get a post secondary education there is no guarantee for jobs or even good paying jobs. And what about people that want to go to Law school or Medical school? The tuition rates for those two programs has increased dramatically. What are the Liberals going to do about that?

           My theory is that there is a survival of the fittest scheme in the province of Ontario. The people of colour population in Ontario is increasing and many families of colour tell their kids that an education is a way to move up the social ladder. However, how does the privileged keep certain groups out? They increase tuition to such a ludicrous high level that they keep minority groups out. And this is taking place in the province of Ontario its getting really expensive to attend university or college.

            Just a few years ago minimum wage was only $6.85 per hour and its hard to believe but some people actually worked forty hours a week on that meager salary to feed their kids and pay the bills. For people under the age of eighteen the minimum wage was $6.40 per hour. Now I must give the Liberals credit because they did follow through with a promise to increase minimum wage and they have. However, Howard Hampton the NDP leader argued it simply wasn’t high enough and that’s why the poor in Ontario are getting poorer. The NDP Party lobbied hard and said the minimum wage should be $10 per hour. Now in the province of Ontario we still don’t have $10 per hour minimum wage yet.

              However, the Liberal Party has raised the minimum wage in incremental stages and the current minimum wage in the province of Ontario as of February 2007 is $8.00 per hour. For teens under the age of eighteen in the province of Ontario the minimum wage is $7.40 per hour as of February 1st 2007. Now let me be clear $10 dollars per hour is certainly not great pay since the standard of living is increasing in the province of Ontario and especially in the greater Toronto area. I don’t live in Toronto I live in the suburbs of Toronto but to actually live in the city is very expensive its not cheap.

          Also, I must point out Ontario does not have the highest minimum wage in the country. The largest and newest territory in Canada Nunavut has the highest minimum wage in Canada at $8.50 per hour. The lowest minimum wage in Canada is in Newfoundland and its $7.00 per hour. Now after the Liberals did increase the wage some companies complained there would be higher unemployment and they wouldn’t be able to pay their employees. However, people need to live, pay their bills, and pay taxes. If people do not have disposable income and not make enough money how will the economy grow? People just don’t care about people anymore these days I cannot be more blunt then that. The theory that a lot of people still have is if you work “hard enough” you can achieve. However, school isn’t for everybody. I think for the young people that are not interested in post secondary education more apprenticeships and other training programs should be created. The province needs to reach out to the young men and women that are not interested in attending university or college.

         The Toronto media haven’t really talked about this issue enough lately and I think they should. The rich don’t care about the struggling university students, the single mothers, the elderly, and the disadvantaged. Now not everyone can attend university and even those people with university degrees such as myself are struggling. A university degree is not a perfect antidote for poverty. Life is indeed not easy in the greater Toronto area. The price of living here just keeps on increasing. Toronto’s standard of living is increasing every single day there are people paying over $1000 dollars a month or more for rent. Now imagine if you had children to feed, and you need to pay for daycare, and you need to work? How far is $8.00 an hour really going to go? Its amazing how poor families on the poverty line survive they have to find creative ways to live because the province sure isn’t doing enough.

           In the greater Toronto area we have something called the TTC also known as the Toronto Transit Commission. The TTC certainly isn’ the greatest system. Why hasn’t the TTC been extended to the suburbs yet? We have a subway system and buses for transportation that isn’t the greatest. It costs $2.75 cents just to take the TTC one way. You just know its going to be raised over $3.00  cash fare to take the TTC very soon. Life is getting more and more expensive. There is so much traffic and gridlock in Toronto. We also don’t even have a direct subway line to the airport. Toronto is still in the dark ages compared to other cities across the globe.

           I agree with the NDP Party that the minimum wage should be increased to at least $10 dollars per hour because it would make life just a little bit easier for the poorer people in the province or the people on the borderline. I think the minimum wage should be even higher then $10 dollars per hour I think it should be $14 dollars per hour the higher the better within reasonable limits.

           I think the issue of the minimum wage should be an election issue more needs to be done. I also notice the Progressive Conservative leader John Tory isn’t talking about raising the minimum wage because poor people are the bottom of the PC party list. As far as the PC party is concerned poor people are non existent. Tory has been focusing on the ethnic “middle class” families. Tory has been proposing in the media that if he won the next election he would pay for religious schools. I personally believe Tory is just trying of course gain more “ethnic” votes. Also the idea of the province paying for religious schools is a waste of money. Its total bogus and just a voting scheme by the Progressive Conservatives.

             Notice that I didn’t say that John Tory or Dalton McGuinty cares about the black vote because they don’t. Even though Ontario has the largest black population in Canada the PC party and Liberal Parties could care less about obtaining the votes of black voters. One thing I have noticed is that more minority groups are getting involved in politics but black people we still aren’t getting involved in larger numbers. I can understand why some young black voters are apathetic about Ontario politics. However, I urge young black voters and other young voters to vote. If you don’t vote your voice will not be heard. The PC party is going after the “middle class” ethnic vote because they are conducted their research and they know that there is safety in numbers.

               The PC party’s strategy of course is to go by population numbers and they realize that certain ethnic communities in the province are actually very conservative and they want their votes. John Tory has a strategy and he is well within his rights to establish his platform. However, I don’t subscribe to the religious school vote scheme of Tory because why should everybody pay for special schools that are for a small section of the population?

                 We have public schools for a reason and public schools are for everybody. I personally disagree with Tory and I do not believe taxpayers money should be spent paying for different communities ”special schools” for their children. If people want religious schools for their kids then they should pay out of their own pockets. I don’t think Catholic schools should  exist and I definitely don’t believe taxpayers money should be paying for that. Could you imagine if Catholic schools never existed? Imagine how much taxpayer’s money would be saved? It would be in the millions if not even higher. However, since Catholic schools have existed for a long time I am sure there would be an uproar if they were abolished and of course that’s just never going to happen in the province of Ontario. Parents that want specific religious or ethnic schools for their children do have an argument though. The argument is why should taxpayers money pay for “Catholic schools” and not for say “Jewish schools” or “Hindu schools” or “Muslim schools” or specific language schools such as “Chinese schools”?

             Now of course not one of the three main political parties has proposed that Catholic schools should be abolished because there are simply so many in the province and it would most likely be impossible to remove them. However, I just don’t believe in religious schools because I believe there is a separation between church and state. I think one of the things I love about Canada is that there is a clear line between the two. Now in other countries the lines between church and state are blurred not in Canada there is a clear division and I want it to stay that way.

             There also is the issue of homelessness that will not go away. Recently in the Toronto media there have been articles and news reports about aggressive pan handlers and violence. The provincial government hasn’t done enough about this issue and the winter is coming up real soon.