As Homer Simpson would say, you can’t make friends with salad. And in politics today, you can’t win an Ontario election being the bad guy.
Tim Hudak learned this the hard way. He may have been right about the need to reign in reckless Liberal spending, but the reality is most Ontarians don’t want to be told stuff is being taken away.
Canada may be running on all cylinders but few in this province feel like they are getting ahead. Are you?
The cost of living for every day taxpayers has skyrocketed. Hydro is unaffordable. Personal debts at an all-time high. Sick people are getting treated in hallways and permanent gridlock likely has you sitting in your car rather than hanging with your family.
Life is NOT getting easier in Ontario.
So what’s a guy like Progressive Conservative party leader Patrick Brown to do? Should he run a campaign promising deep cuts? Higher taxes? Overhaul hydro and cancel long-term energy contracts that would cost tens of billions of dollars? Or maybe he should raise rates and further suffocate families and businesses?
A small, but vocal group of Conservatives say, “Hell yeah.”
But, news flash — if you want another four years of Kathleen Wynne’s activist governing, you’ll get that running as the austerity guy.
With the surprise release of his platform, Brown has done a couple of things. He has signalled that he is closing the door to the common sense revolution in favour of former premier Bill Davis’s more centrist approach.
WATCH: Patrick Brown promises hydro bill reduction by additional 12%
He has offered policies that will have appeal across all party lines. Most notably, he has caught the Liberals flat-footed and forced them to criticize Brown’s accounting — even though it is based on their numbers.
Patrick Brown is calling their bluff.
The 2018 election is about a couple of things. Primarily, “who is going to make my life easier and what are you putting in my pocket”?
The Liberals’ “No plan Patrick” has officially given angry voters an alternative.
The question now can he sell it to the masses? Can he broaden his base to counter Wynne’s?
Union heavy support? Only time will tell. The Liberals may be running on empty, but we know they will do and say anything to win.
And they can win — no matter the collateral damage.
When it comes to shooting themselves in the foot, trust me, Conservatives bent on rigid ideology will find a way to shoot both the left and right.
READ MORE: Patrick Brown defends platform spending
No platform can possibly cater to your every need and belief. At least Brown’s People’s Guarantee offers Ontarians a change of course. A chance to start righting the fiscal ship. And maybe, just maybe – get ahead.
Brown has offered you a path to victory. It may not be exactly what you want, but if you choose not to walk it — you can count on a Wynne victory speech. And that is no stretch goal.
Alex Pierson is the host of ON Point with Alex Pierson on Global News Radio 640 Toronto and a former Ontario Progressive Conservative staffer.