Dear Editor:
The Ontario election is in the history books. Pundits from all parties will spend many hours analyzing what went right and what went wrong. All parties will try to ascertain why turnout was so noticeably low, and how this may have affected the results.
Doug Ford came out as humbly as he could, knowing full well the massive landslide in his favour. As best as he could, he tried to be as humble as possible, deflect attention from himself and honour his workers, family and supporters.
Mike Schreiner emerged quite proud of himself as a party of one, ensuring that his entire party would continue to co-operate constructively to forward Green values. It fully sounded though, like he was simply reiterating his election speeches one more time. As all the other parties and yes, the entire world is becoming more and more aware of environmental issues, there seems to be an increasing overlap of policies, making this party of one almost redundant.
Perhaps the most touching speech was delivered by Steven Del Duca. Not only was he humble in accepting defeat, but he did so in a truly conciliatory tone. He left us with hope for Ontario, knowing that he personally would not be part of its political landscape. He undoubtedly was the most disappointed of all the leaders, where so much more was expected of the Liberal brand, and so little was achieved. Top marks for this man’s honour and integrity.
Andrea Horwath? She was so insulting and downright adversarial in tone, that it was difficult to maintain one’s own composure. “Nasty” would be my grandson’s contemporary term. She focused on every single negative in the world today, and seemed to imply every issue was singularly Ontario’s failure. Our current government got every single crisis wrong, despite the facts that prove otherwise. Her response was almost childlike, proclaiming, “We’ll get you next time.”
I don’t know if she has ever seen a Stanley Cup final, but the most touching scene of all is actually when play has ended. The two combative teams, to a man, line up and shake hands over a grueling and hard-fought often seven-game contest to win the most cherished trophy in all of sports history. No animosity, simply congratulations for the winning side, and a heartfelt appreciation for the efforts of the other team.
Andrea Horwath’s despicable and shameful outrage is not the way to bow out of any contest, whatever that contest may be!
Ron Johnson,
Mount Forest