When the esteemed Bill Davis stepped down as Ontario premier in 1985, he tossed a political hot potato to his Progressive Conservative successor, by announcing full funding for Ontario’s Catholic school system.
The policy was hugely controversial and many observers feel it was a contributing factor in the Tories losing power, after 42 years at the helm.
Fast forward to 2018 and again, Ontario Tories are faced with another internal political hand grenade, namely the proposed carbon tax in their election platform.
Former leader Patrick Brown included the carbon tax in his People’s Guarantee to show that Ontario Tories do care about the environment; but more importantly, carbon tax revenue would fund the many campaign promises in their platform.
Of course, Brown is gone and the three contenders for the leadership have all expressed opposition to the carbon tax because conservatives, by nature, don’t like the idea of introducing new taxes.
But if the new leader dumps the carbon tax, how do they fund their campaign promises, which include an income tax cut for the middle class?
More importantly, do they run the risk of being branded as the same old conservative party that doesn’t care about the environment and slashes social service and health-care funding to meet budgets?
It’s a tough call for the new leader.
We may be about to find out just how progressive the Progressive Conservatives really are.
Bill Kelly is the host of Bill Kelly Show on AM 900 CHML and a commentator for Global News