Tim Hudak Is Successfully Defining 2011!
October 20, 2009 · By Matthew Campbell
Opposition really stinks, as the federal Liberals are finding out these days. It’s even worse for parties that were in power for a longer period of time;just ask the Ontario Tories in the late 80s after they had a 42-year run ended. The problems don’t just stop at the fact that you no longer make the policy or get the big offices, but also because you’re practically ignored by the media, especially during a majority government and especially at the provincial level.
Tim Hudak, who won the Ontario PC leadership this past June, has so far impressed me by indicating, through his actions, that he’s been around long enough to know these challenges and their solutions too! While Michael Ignatieff was dogged all summer with reports that he wasn’t hitting the road and meeting the grassroots of his party, Hudak was. Various community newspapers were peppered with stories during the summer about just who this new, young leader was. In other words, Hudak was defining himself!
Now that the Ontario Legislature is back in session, Hudak has used that momentum to define the McGuinty Liberals. Unlike previous party attempts, Hudak has targeted the bread and butter issues that will most resonate with people: the HST implementation and the e-Health/OLG scandals (say “AdScam” everyone!).
The former, while an interesting issue in that many PC Party members will support a harmonized tax to some degree, has been successfully cast as the “Dalton Sales Tax” by many of the party’s MPPs. It also is an issue that Hudak is wisely building up now, but not too much! This is smart politics — when the HST, Hudak has made himself the defacto spokesman of the backlash forces that the media will turn to.
As for the scandals that have rocked McGuinty, Hudak’s announcement that calls for a public inquiry is only being delayed by the Liberals because they saw what a similar inquiry with a similiarly corrupt scheme did to their federal cousins about six years ago! The consistent and continued calls though will dog the government so long as this issue remains at the forefront of provincial political coverage (and McGuinty has done nothing to help his team by keeping the legislative agenda a ho-hum one at best!).
It’s therefore good to see that Ontario has an Opposition leader that truly opposes; who will go out on a limb to define himself but is smart in picking his battles. This will go a long way to telling us how the 2011 election campaign will play out; both HST and e-Scam will be on the agenda. As for Hudak, his next move will likely be to build up a team for that campaign, and then build up an alternative vision of how Ontario should be governed. Time will tell how this will look, but so far this blogger likes what he sees!
McGunity’s liberals have had more breaks in power than I expect that Obama will receive. Time for change is nigh.
Are you kidding me? Hudak has impressed you? He hasn’t been able to spin either the E-Health scandal or the pay-hiding debacle into anything with legs. This is where Tim was supposed to shine! He was billed as the bulldog who would tear the Liberals to shreds. He has had two good opportunities, but goody-two-shoes media outlets like the Toronto Star have proven to be greater critics than the leader of the opposition.
First timid Tory and now ineffective Hudak. Great. Just great.
I would say Rudy that there is a noticeable difference in tone and attitude taken by Hudak, when compared with his predecessor. Let’s keep in mind that Opposition Leaders have limited coverage prior to an election and that very few of them have successfully earned meaningful media prior to an election. While Hudak hasn’t taken the PCs to that level yet, he is beginning to define the PC Party and set the battle lines for the next election. The fact that the Star is independently contributing to this is a pleasant bonus.