Astral Media has just been bought by Bell for over 3 billion dollars

News has just broken that Bell has bought outright the entire assets of Astral media. This means that the popular News Talk 1010 is now owned by Bell. Definitely showing that convergence is not dead in Canada. It will be interesting to see how this will play out in the media landscape and if Rogers or Telus will make any moves on the media front in Canada.

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http://www.newswire.ca/en/story/938567/astral-enters-into-definitive-agreement-for-acquisition-by-bell

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Toronto Mayoral candidate Rossi plans on stopping all TTC Light-Rail (Transit City) Expansion

New Light-Rail for Toronto

Have we learned nothing from history and the reasons why there is a lack of good public transit options in the city of Toronto? What about jobs for the people of Thunder Bay? Again, with another knee-jerk reaction we may loose all we wanted in the city of Toronto and public transit by electing Rossi. Remember, if this is the attitude we took in the past, we would never have had the full Bloor-Danforth line, Spadina extension or top-end of the Yonge line (even our network of Streetcars that make the city). In other words, if you think transportation is bad now, what do you think it would be like in the future?

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Toronto mayoral candidate pledges to make waves at city hall by banning bike lanes on major arteries and possibly quashing light-rail plan.

When Rocco Rossi vowed to banish bike lanes from major streets, the suit-and-tie crowd at the Empire Club event erupted into its most enthusiastic applause yet for the first real speech of the 2010 mayor’s race.

The line demonstrated that Mr. Rossi knows whom he’s after: right-leaning suburban voters fed up with David Miller’s city hall.

Mr. Rossi is promising to halt all but one of the city’s planned light-rail lines until he can review the project’s finances; to replace the Toronto Transit Commission’s board of councillors with private-sector experts; to create a region-wide economic development corporation; to sell assets, including Toronto Hydro; and to outsource city work in a bid to decrease the power of unions.

“Make no mistake, last summer’s city workers strike showed just how weak the city has become in the face of its major unions and how utterly without a plan we are to correct this imbalance,” the former Liberal fundraiser and businessman told a packed room at the Royal York hotel. “As mayor I will bring us back into balance by pursuing outsourcing and managed competition for certain city services.”

Mr. Rossi’s speech was unusual for making concrete commitments early in the marathon campaign, leaving his competitors 10 months to savage his proposals. They didn’t waste time.

“I’m glad to see he’s throwing out 1,000 ideas and seeing what sticks,” scoffed Joe Pantalone, the deputy mayor who is running to replace his boss. “But this is not a carnival we’re talking about here. This is a city that’s complicated.”

Mr. Rossi drew the most fire for suggesting he might halt the Transit City plan, even temporarily.

In his speech, Mr. Rossi lamented the delays and cost overruns that plagued the construction of a streetcar right-of-way on St. Clair West, but it wasn’t until afterward that he expressed his concerns about Toronto’s plan to lay 120 kilometres of light rail on dedicated lanes.

“I think there’s some real problems that have been shown by what’s happened at St. Clair and I think we’d be foolish not to have a deep and long look at that,” he told reporters.

Asked whether that constituted a moratorium, he replied: “On anything that we can stop right now, yes.” Only one Transit City line, Sheppard East, has broken ground so far.

“Mr. Rossi’s suggestion that he would freeze all new transit projects until he has reviewed the city budget would not only put countless constructions jobs at risk, it reflects a troubling lack of understanding of the city’s finances,” a senior member of George Smitherman’s campaign said. “These projects are funded almost entirely by the province, sometimes with federal help.” Mr. Smitherman, the former deputy premier, is the race’s early front-runner.

The centre-right voters Mr. Rossi is hoping to attract likely would have voted for former Ontario Progressive Conservative leader John Tory.

But Mr. Rossi will have to run a campaign vastly different from Mr. Smitherman’s if he hopes to make the leap from virtual unknown to mayor. For now, he’s casting his lack of elected experience as an advantage.

“It’s been over a hundred years since we elected a mayor who wasn’t already in elected politics,” he told the crowd. “Maybe, just maybe, that’s part of the problem.”

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Rossi vows to put Transit City on hold

Rocco Rossi targets TTC, unions

Why the Conservatives and the PM need an election now to save themselves.

Elections for Canada - October 2008

Some high profile Conservatives are not seeking re-election. Do they see the title wave coming? Are they afraid? The real reason the federal Conservatives are calling for an election now is that they really do not have a choice. What do I mean by that? Let’s make just a few points.

1. The longer they wait, the better chance they will loose even more seats next year, pending the coming downturn in the economy. In case your head is stuck in the sand somewhere, the economy is not doing well.

2. The numbers for the Conservatives are still strong in Quebec and they have a chance to grab some seats in Ontario. The election may affect the Liberals more than the Conservatives.

3. The Honourable Stéphane Dion polling numbers are not strong. However, that is slowly changing and they need to go to the polls now, rather than later. The longer they wait, the more “sympathy” for Dion. I believe that the Conservatives will stay away from poking fun at Dion, because this stragedy does not help. They will will HAVE TO focus on making the PM more personal to win.

4. Prime Minister Stephen Harper is betting that their low-profile governance will help them at the polls. To be honest, there is not much news and “substance” to go on. People tend to figure, if it is not broken why fix it, to be frank.

5. The overall view is, when the economy is in a downturn, you need a “fiscally conservative” approach. That is a perception that has not changed much. This is probably what did in the government of Bob Rae in Ontario, leading to the extreme right in the Harris “common sense revolution. Again, I have already said it, but the PM does not want to have the stain of being the government that caused a ressession. Even though it would not be true, it does not really matter. Its all about perception.

6. The western provinces are doing well, so “milk it while we have a chance to”, because the Greens are coming!

7. The George Bush factor! Need I say more, as November approaches? If people believe that they have become a bit too “neo-conservative”, than the Conservatives are in trouble, especially in Ontario and Quebec. So go now while we are “a sleep at the wheel”.

8. The PM needs an election fast, before the historic election in the U.S. It is a fact the a huge amount of Canadian’s are watching the American election. No matter what you think the Conservatives “DO NOT” want to be caught in the “change title wave” that is approaching. If they do, they will basically drown in the possible Obama factor, no matter what side of the fence you are on.

The fact is the only point the Conservatives are riding is the fact that they can say “the Green Shift is not a prudent policy for the coming economic downturn”. While, offering no option of their own, they are “fear mongering” people into thinking that this is all about raising taxes. This is a dangerous gamble, seeing that people list the environment as an important factor, despite economics. Now make no assumption, I am not a Liberal member. To be honest, if there was a viable Libertarian Party I would go down that route (albeit I do like the Greens a bit). But that is besides the fact! There is a burning ship in parliament, and the Conservatives are doing what ANY party would attempt to do. Get a few more years and hope, you can ride the possible recession out. Maybe even a possible Liberal, NDP leadership review and like magic call another election. We will probably see another Conservative minority. Who really knows? This election may end up hurting the Liberals, more than the Conservatives and the NDP or Green Party may make substantial strides in politics this time around. The question is, at who’s expense? What will happen if Canadian’s want change? Can any leader capitalize on this? Or is this a bit of Russian roulette? I welcome your comments!

By Andy MJ
a.k.a the G.T.A Patriot

Fledgling party targets John Tory detractors – Reform Party?

The fledgling Reform Party of Ontario is appealing to Progressive Conservatives disillusioned with party leader John Tory to join their right-wing ranks. In an email appeal apparently sent to thousands of Tories in recent days, the new party claims Reform is “the new home” for people who support the policies of former premier Mike Harris.

“Mike Harris brought sanity to Ontario with two majority governments. Sadly, since Iron Mike retired, we’ve seen Ontario slide badly,” says the missive, which invites people to a June 21 meeting in London.

“The Liberals, bolstered by the ineffectual opposition of John Tory and (NDP Leader) Howard Hampton, will continue to bring Ontario more of the same,” it continues.

“There is an alternative. The Common Sense Revolution didn’t die. It just has a new home … the Reform Party of Ontario.”

A source close to Harris emphasized the former premier has nothing to do with the group and did not give permission for his name to be used.

“During the early 1990s, when Reform was growing federally, Mike Harris was successful in keeping Reform out of provincial politics,” noted the Harris confidant.

Reform takes its name from the defunct Western-based party that splintered from the federal Progressive Conservatives and enabled the Liberals to govern for 13 years until Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s reunited Conservatives took power in 2006.

Andrew Long, the party’s chief financial officer, said he is not worried about the same thing happening in Ontario. Long said the party is home to former federal Reformers as well as provincial Tories and Liberals, and members of the radical rural group, the Ontario Landowners Association.

“I am not happy with John Tory whatsoever,” he said, noting Tory “single-handedly lost the election” last Oct. 10 with the controversial pledge to expand funding of faith-based schools.

While Reform ran two candidates in that election, the party hopes to field a larger slate in the 2011 vote.

Party leader Brad Harness, a former federal Reform member, said yesterday word of the burgeoning movement has spread through the Internet.

“We’re really pleased by the response,” said Harness.

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Dalton McGuinty’s increasing centralization of power

Premier Dalton McGuinty insists he is not rattled by apparent dissension in his Liberal ranks. In a move that even loyalists now concede was ill-advised, McGuinty ordered all staff members to leave the Liberal caucus room on May 13 then criticized MPPs for speaking out of school.

The MPP said the ensuing one-hour discussion, sparked by a May 10 Star article headlined “Premier McGuinty’s tight ship,” exposed a growing resentment from elected officials over the increasing centralization of power.

“There’s a bit of arrogance coming out of the premier’s office,” said another senior Liberal.

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Is replacing John Tory and going neo-consertive a bad move in Ontario? Yes!

As I have mentioned before if the PC’s decide to go the “neo-conservative” route, and it plays out in the public eye as an “internal turf” of their leader, it maybe many years before they ever hold the seat of power in Ontario again. Insiders have also said that the people who want John Tory removed are former Harris conservatives. Maybe they are living in another world, but those days are long and gone. Ontario will not tolerate another Harris styled government, love him or hate him. What I find interesting is that Dalton McGuinty, Mike Harris and a other past leaders got a few “kicks at the can”. However, with John Tory it seems that many conservatives are unwilling to do so. It seems that he did the unforgivable sin? It maybe because of the school funding issue and the move to run in Don Valley, a not so “safe seat”. Unfortunately, this is something that John Tory may wear for years. Ironically, if he waited he probably would have easily defeated David Miller in Toronto for mayor. If the Tories want to ever win again in Ontario they must go to the “grass-root” level and focus on the next generation of voters. Dalton McGuinty, at the moment, is playing towards the middle of the pack (pulling soft-c conservatives). Going backwards to the old Harris era will just not work in Ontario. At the moment, times are good in Ontario and if they go further to the right they just might find themselves even further back than they are now after the next election.

By Andy MJ
a.k.a “The G.T.A Patriot”
Toronto, Ontario

Read more information about the move to remove John Tory from the CTV article below.

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Everything is proceeding as the Liberals has foreseen

 

“Everything is proceeding as Dalton McGuinty had foreseen”. John Tory was supposed to lead Ontario‘s Progressive Conservatives to certain victory over the “supposed” dark side; however he led them instead to a resounding defeat. Emperor Dalton McGuinty became the province’s first Liberal leader in 70 years to claim a second straight majority government. Albeit, one has to wonder; did John Tory simply not stand a chance against the political dark elements of deception, manipulation and down right Liberal political experience and know how? The Liberal engine is experienced; they knew what the electorate was prepared to talk about and what they did not want to hear. Elections are not for issues because in reality we only like comfort and ease. We like to know that everything is alright and under control. Only an all encompassing “Provincial Empire” can achieve this stability in Ontario and we gladly allowed it. Progressive Conservatives, and others, in Ontario thought that John Tory would have brought ‘A New Hope’ to the “integral deficit” that now exists among politicians; however the imperial forces of the Liberals got their way.

As such, the seasoned Liberals (lets give our due to the Liberals – they know how to run a campaign, like it or not) knew what to do and perhaps, over-confident conservatives thought that they had the upper hand. But with a strong economy and positive outlook, I assure you, the Liberals were quite safe. It did not take much to “scare” Ontarians into voting for the status quo. Now, on radio and media outlets, they are talking about the “real” issues, that were never brought up during the election. Unfortunately, John Tory and the PC party left Ontarians defenseless to it and our journey to the “Liberal Side” was completed! “The Progressive Conservatives and their feeble skills was just no match for the power of the Liberal side of the force! Ontarians allowed our Emperor Dalton to use their own aggressive and hostile feelings to focus on the faith-based school issue; essentially allowing fear and trepidation flow freely. Dalton and the Liberals felt that fear and knew how to use it. You would think that Ontarians would have not allowed one issue to dominate the election, but it did. Our radio and media outlets participated in the mix that focused us all on that one issue. Now that fear, along with hate, has made ‘Emperor McGuinty’ more powerful then we could ever imagine; fulfilling the destiny of a second term.

So now, Ontarians, we selected another path. One that we think is certain, stable and safer, but is it? Dalton led a smart and clean campaign; showing himself on television, always telling Ontarians what he would do. He always said “we can do better” and “there is more work to be done”. Your compassion for him led you to vote overwhelmingly for the Liberals. And those of you who hated the faith-based school funding issue, allowed yourselves to be used by simply not showing up to vote. This will be our undoing and in the end we will pay the price (that’s called taxes, if you haven’t gotten it already…) for our lack of vision!

By: Andy MJ
a.k.a “The G.T.A Patriot
Toronto, Ontario

NEWS FLASH: The Imperial House of Commons will no longer be of any concern to Ontarians. We have just received word that the Emperor has dissolved elections permanently. No point anyway since only half of Ontarians bother to get out of there house and vote anyway. The last remnants of the “OldRepublic” of Ontario have been swept away. The regional Mayors, (David Miller and others) now have direct control over their territories, using the template of the “City of Toronto Act”. Fear will keep the locals in line. Hasn’t it always?

P.S. OKAY! I’m having little political fun with my love for Star Wars!

John Moore on Spinning John Tory’s troubles

History may be written by the victors, but the vanquished always try to get in their licks. When it became clear last week that John Tory and his Progressive Conservatives weren’t going to achieve their dream of a majority government in Ontario, his supporters cranked up the spin machine. I could hear its whirring behind the calls I took about election issues on my Toronto radio show. Conservatives were hoping they could deny the punditocracy an unflattering portrayal of their leader and party by preemptively offering their own narrative. I’ve noticed three principal themes.

The first is the rather huffy assertion that the voters are simply misguided — or even out and out stupid. Admittedly, this is an argument raised only by the most embittered. (It should also be noted that the left has been known to trot out the same complaint as well: When George W. Bush was re-elected in 2004, Britain’s Daily Mirror ran a full-page cover featuring the President, along with the banner headline, “How can 59,054,087 people be so DUMB?”)

Whether from left or right, it’s a patronizing supposition. Every party plays to the same electorate. To dismiss one portion of the voters is to slander the entire population. Worse, it suggests a level of arrogance since it presumes that the superiority of your party is so self-evident that only an idiot could fail to recognize it.

A somewhat more sophisticated talking point is that John Tory is just too good a man; that he was an innocent eaten alive by the savagery of our political process. No small number of my talk-radio colleagues argued that Tory’s devouring would become a cautionary tale for any other titan of business who might consider a life in public service.

John Tory is indeed a good and decent man with an admirable record in the private sector and in public service. But to represent him as some kind of wide-eyed Tyro is a stretch. Tory contested one of the most competitive mayoralty races in Toronto’s history and nearly won. He fought two party stalwarts for the leadership of the provincial Conservatives, won a seat in the Ontario legislature and served two-and-a-half years before the launch of the campaign.

He’s a big boy, capable of taking on all comers. He wasn’t the victim of a vicious and soulless process. He made his own mistakes — first in running to head the wrong party, and second in embracing a faith-based schools policy that any Ontarian (save for his advisers) could have told him would become an unrecoverable fumble. Tory has not been consumed by the process nor suffered character assassination at the hands of the Liberals. In a fair fight, an able man has simply failed to win the population’s favour.

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Conservatives in Ontario defeated themselves in the 2007 Ontario election

The real losers of the election were the conservatives. However, they really were not defeated by the Liberals. The conservatives actually defeated themselves. Why do you say? (1) They selected to attack Dalton McGuinty constantly during the election did not help. We already knew that Dalton McGuinty broke promises; however he did say that he would let Ontarians judge him. He also said many times “we are still working on that”. He effectively diffused any criticism by appearing to take the higher ground. (2) Faith-based funding was a bad misread. Essentially they failed to realize that people were generally either afraid of Islamic schools (ignorance of the voter of course) in receiving funding or worried about the health of our public schools in the province. I will not get into an argument on whether we should or should not fund religious schools, but the fear in Ontarians was there. They should have known that Ontarians were simply not ready to deal with the problem, not matter how worthy the cause. (3) A failure to articulate what the PC Party would do for the province of Ontario. Somehow the message was not heard by the public; maybe to no fault of their own? Maybe it was the media? Nevertheless, the message did not resonate with voters. (4) Finally, at this is the biggest, the destructive elements within the PC Party who essentially did not like John Tory in the first place. There was a movement to “Vote for the Tories, not Tory”. This was a direct aim at the leader from neo-conservatives in the party that want to go back to the Harris years of power. Love them or hate them, they do exist. It is not fiction! Right-wing elements of the Progressive Conservative party that want to make it “less progressive”. Unfortunately, in the end the PC Party can only look in the mirror for reasons. PC support was not unified and a large majority of conservatives decided to just sit on the hands and stay home. John Tory is still seen in a positive light, and an honest person, even amongst non-conservatives in the province. Even Bill Murdoch, conservative MPP, was challenged by the ever-increasing popularity of the Green Party. With there influence spent and the ever shrinking power based ruralized, the future may get bleak for conservatives. If the PC’s decide to go the neo-conservative route, and it plays out in the public eye as an “internal turf” of their leader, it maybe many years before they ever hold the seat of power in Ontario again.

 

By: Andy MJ
a.k.a “The GTA Patriot”
Toronto, Ontario

 

So far a Liberal majority has been declared by most of the GTA media tonight

One of the most interesting things about the Liberals is that they have held on to most, if not all, of the seats they had previously. Unfortunately, it seems that the ‘faith-based funding’ issue was truly the “Pandora’s Box” issue in Ontario. Regardless of all of the other issues on the table Ontarians have chosen to stick with what they currently have. Ontarians are simply not ready to deal with the funding issue in education at this time. Ontarians are also quite comfortable; however it will be interesting to see how the Liberals govern for the next 4 years. It also seems that John Tory may have actually lost his own seat in Don Valley West (not all of the votes are in yet). I still believe he is the best leader for the PC Party at this time (no one waiting in the wings to replace him); however I am not sure how he will be able to hold leadership of the party. With the Liberals clearly as the winner, who was the loser? Well, in my estimation it is MMP. This may change, however based on the numbers at the moment it is unlikely. At the present moment it looks like MMP will not pass. People simply did not have enough information about MMP to make an informed decision. Albeit, to no fault of their own. MMP was left off of the radar until the final few days of the election. Green Party support has risen, however in order for them ever to see a seat in the House of Commons a lot of ground work will need to be done. The lesson learned in this election is to stay away from controversial issues, no matter how much it may be the right thing to do. Ontarians will only tackle the issue when they are actually ready to. Congratulations to all of candidates during this election and best of luck in the legislature to all of the winners.

By: Andy MJ
a.k.a “The GTA Patriot”
Toronto, Ontario

Unless he fails in DonValley West Progressive Conservatives must to stick with John Tory

Unless he fails in Don Valley West Progressive Conservatives, in Ontario, must stick with John Tory, like glue, no matter what happens in this election. John Tory has a personality, great intellect and an eagerness to think out of the box. His business savvy has made him an important asset to the PC Party. Unfortunately the religious schools issue, albeit an honourable endeavour to fix an issue that Dalton Mcguinty was unwilling or unable to handle, cost him a substantial amount of votes in this election. He remains everything that Ontarians want all politicians to be. John Tory is a rarity, and he almost seems “too good” for politics. Maybe Ontarians were just shocked to see a politician that was actually honest? It was just not normal, which also explains his popularity. It seems unlikely that John Tory will be Premier; however I would not count him out yet. I will wait until October 11 for the final tally. We should remember that Dalton McGuinty did not win in 1999, but he became premier in 2003. Bob Rae lost elections before he finally took power in Ontario. Most importantly, among many voters, he came across as an honest man that people actually liked. The polls also suggest that Tory himself is more popular than his party and Dalton McGuinty. This says a lot about the character of John Tory. He obviously left a lasting impression on the voting public. Even if the Tories were to lose, they would be fools to put all the blame on John Tory. I would say that all of the right-wing conservatives who are opting not to vote in protest of John Tory and soft Liberals, who want to vote for Tory but won’t are to blame. Being from the Don Valley West riding myself, it shows a lot of courage for him to actually run in a riding, not considered a “safe seat”. If John Tory wins his riding of Don Valley West, he deserves another try. If Dalton McGuinty becomes Premier, and we go through another 4 years of “fiberal” politics, I am certain he will be the premier the next time around.

By: Andy MJ
a.k.a “The GTA Patriot”
Toronto, Ontario

October 9, 2007 – Did Dalton McGuinty just get a free ride or a free advertisement on CFRB this past hour?

The ‘Dalton McGuinty Show’ just aired on CFRB, between noon and 1PM. In an effort to be totally unbiased on this issue, I did listen to all of the leadership candidates and in general they all did a great job. Albeit I did not think that the Green Party leader, Frank De Jong, needed to have someone from New Zealand? But that is beside the point. What was particularly disturbing is the free ride or shall I say “free advertisement” Dalton McGuinty just received via CFRB. We have not had an opportunity to see Dalton McGuinty truly answer questions, which may not necessarily be easy to answer, from the electorate. All events have been choreographed and staged extremely well. When pressed by reporters to answer difficult questions, Mr. McGuinty, ever so skillfully and tactfully, avoids the question. What is more upsetting is the fact that he essentially got 1 hour of “free” radio time to promote his agenda. I am not sure but I almost felt like I was in a trace or radio mind meld, so maybe he is Vulcan? It actually at one point sounded like a ‘Liberal Love-in’ at one point. I wish more stringent guidelines were placed on all of the leadership candidates, for their respective shows. Maybe next time producers of the show will be more careful to ensure that each leadership candidate answers questions from the electorate, and not avoid and ignore us completely. With one day left before the election, Dalton McGuinty successfully used CFRB, to his and the Liberals advantage, as a tool for his inauguration.

By: Andy MJ
a.k.a “The GTA Patriot”
Toronto, Ontario