All is not fair in love and politics. While we’re being pegged as gazebo city, it’s refreshing to see high-calibre Liberal leaders, at both the provincial and federal level, making the rounds to Muskoka.
It is no secret the ire towards Ontario Liberals has been growing in our community, and not unreasonably so. We’ve been punished long and hard for making it Miller time in Muskoka for more than a decade. Our northern status was ripped off our lapel, making it next to impossible to access special status funding despite our economic depression in the winter months and the instability of being a primarily seasonal economy.
We’ve been shouting for some time that we’re not merely the playground of the rich; that we need more jobs and more affordable housing to carry us through the year. But it seems our shouts have fallen on very deaf ears as those in power at Queen’s Park have, in an almost vindictive manner, chosen to ignore us. Then they partitioned the province into funding zones - guess who got left out? You got it, Muskoka! So what were we supposed to think? Coincidence or punishment? It became a self-fulfilling prophecy that Liberal support began to decline in our communities, notwithstanding a weak local candidacy.
So when would-be Ontario premier Kathleen Wynne came to visit, some of us raised an eyebrow. Would the Liberals finally come out of their partisan fog? Now that Wynne has taken the reins, we’re certainly hopeful. Things are already looking up for students and parents in our riding - stuck between the province’s grandstanding and an intransigent union - our kids certainly don’t need any more days off school, our unpredictable weather has taken care of that all on its own, with more bus cancellations than we can count on two hands.
Federally, the Conservatives have no competition - a problem especially when it’s a Conservative government that some of its own party faithful can’t swallow. It’s certainly simmered down the party rhetoric and made our prime minister kiss more babies, but the Canadian Alliance still lingers. It’s time for a healthy jolt and judging by Justin Trudeau’s visit this weekend, he might be the antidote that will take Liberals our of their reverie. He’s been around politics for a long time — but is young, idealistic and still has dreams for a better Canada. If anyone is going to breathe new life into the oxygen-deprived lungs of a weathered, old and lackluster federal Liberal party, it just might be him.
We need more charismatic leaders instead of the old boys’ club monopoly on politics of years gone by. Closer to home, we hope Tony gets to show off his verbal prowess by getting a run for his money when the next election hits. It’s good for democracy and it’s good for voter turnout.
T.d.V