The Winds of Change have hit the current NDP. Contributed by K. Fisher – Full disclosure, my vote usually flip-flops between Liberal and Conservative depending on the official mandate of the Party. In the 2020 Toronto Centre By-election, it was apparent the Conservatives were not running a qualified candidate. So, what was a slightly right-of-center minded voter left to do? Vote for the most qualified person should always be the right thing to do. The most qualified was a chap named Paul Saguil. But the Liberals betrayed and punted him at the last minute in order to run Marci Ien. Mr. Saguil had even sent out post cards letting voters know he would be the Liberal candidate. Mr. Saguil is a very qualified first generation Canadian, and lawyer heading up the Anti-Money Laundering task force for a big five bank. Pretty impressive but the Liberals chose a media darling celebrity and kicked Saguil to the curb. A very successful tactic that the Federal Liberals used when they abandoned running highly educated/ qualified leadership hopefuls in favour of a media darling. Perhaps an open minded voter could have looked at Annamie Paul of the Green Party and would have seen an impressive, highly educated (a Master’s from Princeton), highly accomplished (working in the International Criminal courts), etc. The right thing to do, for Toronto and our immediate community, should be to vote for the most qualified person in the Election!
Regrettably, a tragic betrayal occurred when the NDP chose not to return a favour offered them two years ago. What favour is that you ask? Think back to when the talented Elizabeth May was the leader of the Green Party. The Stephane Dionne Liberals, out of respect for an Opposition leader, purposely did not run a candidate against the Green Party and paved the way for Elizabeth May to earn a seat in the Parliament.
In early February 2019, prior to the General Election, Jagmeet Singh was running in the Burnaby South bi-election. In that bi-election, the Green Party continued the cordial tradition, as originally offered to them, and did not run a candidate against Jagmeet Singh to give him a foot in the door. Jagmeet wins and goes to the House of Commons.
Back to our 2020 bi-election in Toronto Centre triggered because Bill Morneau had joined the ranks of scorned senior Liberal Cabinet ministers and quit Trudeau in protest. It was not his involvement with WE Charity that did him in. Rather it was that he as the Finance Minister could not fathom the fiscally irresponsible budget, even by traditional Liberal standards, that he was asked to table. So we have a bi-election and there is a new leader of the Green Party running and that was Annamie Paul. An extremely strong, dare I say overwhelmingly qualified candidate who was the new leader of the Green Party. We know what happened next. The NDP went against tradition and actually ran a candidate against Paul! The NDP did not return the favour to Annamie Paul that was extended to their own leader Jagmeet only a year and a half earlier. The NDP took 16% of the vote and the Green Party lost by 8% in Toronto Centre.
Atrocious, shameful, hypocritical, Jack Layton rolling in his grave (RIP), petty, selfish, cowardly and pathetic are all descriptive words that come to mind. I think is shows the true stripes of the current NDP…and by extension the new ‘progressives’ in the party.
I guess that’s politics. All I know is that the current NDP shocked me and showed itself to be self-serving frauds with no respect for building mutually beneficial working relationships or process. They seem completely disconnected from their traditional founding roots. If they were interested in what was best for Canada and Canadian politics, they would have done the right thing, followed the honourable tradition that they gladly accepted for their own benefit. They should have allowed the best person to run and win and supported an Opposition party that could have helped them on my issues. They should have gotten out of the way. The candidate the NDP ran was nothing more than a 3rd tier underqualified seat warmer and Toronto could have had a truly powerful and accomplished leader, representing this ward in the House of Commons. That would have been a win for everyone in Toronto Centre including even the Conservatives.
I voted for the best candidate and it felt good. Shame on the current desperate NDP.
downtownconcernedcitizens.com
