When the Liberal Party Tweeted policy statements from its Annual General Meeting,
this past weekend, Dwight Ball was essentially telegraphing a message to voters he had no
intention of going near the minefield
chosen by Ontario Conservative Leader Tim Hudak.
While Hudak may
never win any awards as a strategist, he has also made sure no political leader in Canada will
ever advance risqué ideas when the opposing Party is already on the ropes.
NDP Leader Andrea Horwath brought down the Liberal Government of Kathleen Wynne even
though it proposed a huge deficit which would be added to a large debt. Then, in
a measure akin to ritualistic Harikiri, Conservative Leader Tim Hudak kicked
off the ensuing election campaign by proposing tax cuts of 30% and axing of 100,000
public sector workers.
The Ontario Liberal Party was exceedingly unpopular. Referring to a Study conducted for the Paper, The Globe and Mail reported that “61 per cent of people who cast ballots agreed it was “time for a change in the Ontario government,” next to only 21 per cent who disagreed.”
Former
Premier Dalton McGuinty chalked up a record of lost jobs and lost industry,
deficit spending, a costly and failed energy strategy as well as charges of
corruption that saw the police search his former offices. McGuinty’s low polling numbers fit well when placed
alongside those of former Premier Kathy Dunderdale.
But when the
election was held last Thursday 12 June the Liberals were returned with a
majority Government.
When so many
Ontario Liberals, who thought it “time for a change” stuck with the Party it wanted to be rid of you
know that the Tory Opposition had seriously miscalculated.
Hudak might
have let the Liberals fall on their sword. That's exactly the strategy Dwight Ball has been working on, with the Tories, since he became Leader.
While the
Tories have steeped Ball in opportunity he has always been reluctant to take
the bridle of leadership even when marginal issues offered advantage.
Never one to
condemn the Muskrat Falls Project, he skirted around even peripheral issues having
either bought Ed Martin’s “spin” or felt conflicted by pro-Muskrat insiders. He
was careful to recognize that two-thirds of the population support the Project;
most of them without a sweet clue how it might impact them.
He has spent
a short time on the “Oversight” issue but has given it no staying power.
Even on the
Humber Valley Paving scandal, Ball gave it little attention once the Auditor
General was engaged, possibly seeing no merit in causing political damage to
transitional Premier Tom Marshall.
Ball has simply never differentiated issues when it comes to an assessment of political
risk. He eschews all risk.
It is one
thing to avoid the advancement of ideas that might mortally wound one’s political
survival, as in the case of Tim Hudak, but those issues should never be
confused with the importance of advancing others that demonstrate talent, prove
leadership or that simply keep the Government honest.
Ball may be
savvy enough not to rain on the public’s parade of ‘good
times’; debt and deficit notwithstanding. The question is: will he ever be able
to communicate bad news when that is the right thing to do. Will he be able to prescribe bitter medicine?
The
following policy Tweets from the Liberal Convention demonstrate Ball's 'soft’ approach, one that might command more accurate descriptions like 'mushy' and 'mother-hood':
Ball –
Liberals believe in the dream we all share, that home will always be home.
#nlpoli #nlliberals #AGM2014
Ball – We
will take mental health as seriously as physical health. #nlpoli #nlliberals
#AGM2014
Ball –
Liberals will move province away from reliance on mega-projects. #nlpoli
#nlliberals #AGM2014
Ball - Our
policy will ensure the people of #Labrador share equally in the benefits of
their resources. #nlpoli #nlliberals #AGM2014
Ball – A
Liberal government will never give up on our fishery. #nlpoli #nlliberals #AGM 2014
Ball –
Health care providers say money already in the system – we just need to spend
it smarter #nlpoli #nlliberals #AGM2014
Ball – Over
time we will lower cost of health care & improve quality with NO CUTS.
#nlpoli #nlliberals #AGM2014
Don’t they make you you feel
emboldened! “Never give up on the fishery”, lowering the costs of health care
with “NO CUTS”, “move… away from reliance on mega projects”; wouldn’t you just wish a ballot box were
close by!
Of course, besides the Tories' unpopularity, Ball has one
other advantage which will compound his propensity to pull him back from any experiment with much needed (forget risky) public policy change. The Ontario Liberal Party chose a Leader who proved
to be intuitive and even “likeable”. For
certain, Wynne is a skilful communicator capable of embracing rather than
isolating her electorate.
The Tories
have Frank Coleman, a recluse tainted by the HVP affair, whom the SRB Papers Blog has already dubbed the ‘peek-a-boo’ Premier.
If you had
thought there might be some public policy options advanced by the
Liberal Party in the next election, that is less likely than ever. The Tories have the support of just 29% of
voters and they have Frank Coleman.
The Liberals are not just careful; they are
content. While Ball told his troops not to get too "cocky" the bigger problem may be his own: his claim to caution suggests he stands for little.
His caution
many cause a fickle electorate to see him as too weak just as Ontario’s voters thought
Hudak over the top.
Dwight Ball needs
to dig deeper. The Ontario electorate certainly did.