Queen's Park reporter Jane Taber takes an inside look at the week in Ontario politics.
Courting the Jewish vote
Justin Trudeau is working hard to recapture the Jewish vote the Liberals lost in the 2011 election. With recent opinion polls showing the Liberals falling to second or third place, every community and vote is crucial. On Monday, after delivering a speech on Canada-U.S. relations, the federal Liberal Leader jetted to Toronto for the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs (CIJA) dinner at the Fairmont Royal York honouring Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne. About 750 people were there – one senior Liberal strategist described it as the “A-list crowd” from the Jewish community. Toronto-area MPs Carolyn Bennett, Chrystia Freeland, Eve Adams and Adam Vaughan were all there.
And so was, interestingly, retiring Montreal MP Irwin Cotler, who has represented the affluent riding of Mount Royal since 1999. (Mr. Trudeau’s father held it from 1965 to 1984.) When Mr. Cotler announced he wasn’t running again, he acknowledged he lost the Jewish vote in the 2011 election and accused the Conservatives of making Middle East politics a wedge issue in his riding, which has a significant Jewish population. His riding has been heavily targeted by the Harper Conservatives. According to Ipsos Reid, 52 per cent of Canadian Jews voted in 2011 for the Conservatives, whose strong pro-Israel stand moved votes. Meanwhile, the only Conservative MP introduced at the dinner was York Centre’s Mark Adler.
The absence of Tories gave Mr. Trudeau lots of space to work the room. Shimon Koffler Fogel, the chief executive officer of CIJA, says the Liberal Party has been trying for a number of years, even before Mr. Trudeau became leader, “to reconnect in a meaningful way and a constructive way with the Jewish community. … And he [Mr. Trudeau] looks for opportunities to make those connections and give the community a sense that there is a place for them within the party, that they want to be engaged on the issues that are important to the community and want to benefit from the Jewish community’s perspective on a whole range of things.” (The other party leaders were invited, too, he said.) Joked one key Liberal: “Now I know the answer to what it takes to get senior Tories to stay away from a Jewish event: honour a Liberal.”
Who's going to Pride
Premier Kathleen Wynne raised the Pride flag at Queen’s Park earlier this week to mark Pride week celebrations and said: “I’m a lesbian and Premier of Ontario - how great is that?” On Sunday, she and federal Liberal leader Justin Trudeau will be marching with other Toronto Liberal MPs, candidates and members of her caucus at the Pride Parade. NDP Leader Thomas Mulcair and his Ontario counterpart Andrea Horwath will also be at the parade, with their party’s float that features a big orange wave. Missing, however, will be Prime Minister Stephen Harper. In an email his office said: “The government will be represented by a member of caucus.”
But Patrick Brown, the new Ontario Progressive Conservative leader, is marching. After asking all week about whether he would show up, his office sent out a release Friday morning: “I am looking forward to attending the Pride Parade on Sunday to march,” he said in his statement. “Pride Week is one of the largest events in Toronto and is celebrated by so many Canadians and others from around the world.” The reigning provincial Liberals have been trying to build a case against Mr. Brown. He has been characterized by Premier Wynne as a social conservative, who does not believe in climate change and opposes the government’s controversial sex education curriculum. Earlier this year, the Premier suggested that Tory MPP Monte McNaughton, who left the leadership race to support Mr. Brown, was homophobic for remarks he made opposing the new curriculum. For most politicians, the Pride Parade is considered an important event not to be missed. Attendance by a political leader shows he or she is progressive and supportive of diversity and equality. Former Toronto Mayor Rob Ford was criticized as homophobic, in part, because he pointedly refused to march in the Pride Parade. And that became an issue in his leadership.
Is Toronto Hydro next?
Toronto Mayor John Tory and his officials are borrowing a page from the province and have considered selling a minority stake in Toronto Hydro to help pay for his $8-billion SmartTrack transit plan, according to sources. Mr. Tory has promised to deliver the transit line within seven years. But he needs the money to move ahead – and selling off parts of city-owned assets is one way to raise the cash. The Ontario Liberals are selling 60 per cent of Hydro One and using some of the proceeds to fund infrastructure and transit.
For now, however, the official word from city hall is there is no proposal before the mayor, characterizing it as “uninformed speculation.” One source says there are significant tax implications with the provincial and federal governments that have to be sorted out before moving ahead. In addition, the province’s plan is not popular among Ontarians, although internal Liberal Party polling has shown it becomes more palatable when linked to transit. The idea of selling a minority share in the city utility has been considered before. It was floated during the Ford administration. In 2011, The Globe and Mail’s Elizabeth Church wrote that city hall was considering selling 10 per cent of the utility. The money would be used to help fund capital projects, including roads, bridges and new streetcars for the TTC, she wrote. City council later abandoned the idea. Toronto Hydro has an estimated value of about $1.5-billion and provides a steady revenue stream for the city, which is the sole shareholder. In 2013, the city earned a $41.9-million dividend.