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This is annoying.
Aug. 12th, 2007 08:34 pmIvan Luksic passed over for local nomination
I went to university with this guy, and was casual friends with him. He and one other friend of mine had several long talks about politics, religion, etc, etc, so I knew him fairly well. He's smart, he's a moral person, and he's worked his butt off for the Liberal party for two decades. Though he's technically unknown, he's also young and dedicated. He's worked his whole life towards a career in politics, and he did it, not because he wants power, but because he wants to help people and serve his community.
He's being passed over for the local nomination, and a candidate from another Hamilton riding (which is also coming open, ironically enough) is being parachuted in.
Now, the Liberals did the same thing in this riding in 2003. They pushed Jennifer Mossop into the nomination at the last minute, and she won, because this is a swing riding and she was pretty much guaranteed to win against a Conservative cabinet minister. I campaigned for her. But she hasn't done a good job for the riding (she's decided not to run again rather than be voted out) and I'm wondering if people will be willing to make the same mistake twice. Granted, the parachute candidate is much closer to home - she at least lives in a different part of Hamilton - but she doesn't live in the riding and she doesn't have the grassroots support.
If Ivan runs as an independent, I'll vote for him. If he doesn't, I don't know what I'll do. Overall, I'm pretty happy with the job the Liberals have done. They set out to improve the situation in education, and they're doing it. I don't really want that to be derailed in the middle by a change of government - I think the province's schools are better off continuing on their current course of improvement. I also have a pretty good idea what a Tory government would mean for education, and that scares me silly. (Yes, I vote on education first and everything else second. Most civil servants do, I think.) I know the Ontario Federation of Teachers (read: my union's umbrella federation) will be supporting the Liberals again, for exactly these reasons. But I don't know if I'm comfortable voting Liberal under these circumstances.
I went to university with this guy, and was casual friends with him. He and one other friend of mine had several long talks about politics, religion, etc, etc, so I knew him fairly well. He's smart, he's a moral person, and he's worked his butt off for the Liberal party for two decades. Though he's technically unknown, he's also young and dedicated. He's worked his whole life towards a career in politics, and he did it, not because he wants power, but because he wants to help people and serve his community.
He's being passed over for the local nomination, and a candidate from another Hamilton riding (which is also coming open, ironically enough) is being parachuted in.
Now, the Liberals did the same thing in this riding in 2003. They pushed Jennifer Mossop into the nomination at the last minute, and she won, because this is a swing riding and she was pretty much guaranteed to win against a Conservative cabinet minister. I campaigned for her. But she hasn't done a good job for the riding (she's decided not to run again rather than be voted out) and I'm wondering if people will be willing to make the same mistake twice. Granted, the parachute candidate is much closer to home - she at least lives in a different part of Hamilton - but she doesn't live in the riding and she doesn't have the grassroots support.
If Ivan runs as an independent, I'll vote for him. If he doesn't, I don't know what I'll do. Overall, I'm pretty happy with the job the Liberals have done. They set out to improve the situation in education, and they're doing it. I don't really want that to be derailed in the middle by a change of government - I think the province's schools are better off continuing on their current course of improvement. I also have a pretty good idea what a Tory government would mean for education, and that scares me silly. (Yes, I vote on education first and everything else second. Most civil servants do, I think.) I know the Ontario Federation of Teachers (read: my union's umbrella federation) will be supporting the Liberals again, for exactly these reasons. But I don't know if I'm comfortable voting Liberal under these circumstances.