Les Liversidge

The Quiet Funeral of Electoral Consent Canadians believe the ballot they cast determines the government that governs them. Increasingly, that assumption may no longer be true. A reflection on floor-crossings, power, and the erosion of democratic consent.

@yonkojohn Libs will vote Liberal, especially with a new leader, who by then, will be proven. The PCs rely on the same voter pool that supports Poilievre. They won't be very forgiving, will likely park their vote, forcing the PCs to return to its roots after a cycle or two in opposition.

Doug Ford may have the feeling that Ontario voters are swooning over him and this kind of self assessment is usually fatal!

I have voted conservative - provincial and federal - all my life. The federal party, after a few missteps, now has principled conservative leadership. Ontario? Not so much. The PCPO must spend a cycle or two in opposition to rejuvenate and rediscover conservative values. Never thought I'd say this but better a real Liberal government than a fake conservative one. At least that way, a conservative voice survives. Today there's no conservative political viewpoint being expressed in Ontario.

@rich_toronto @OntarioPCParty Next election the Liberals will likely have a stronger candidate. If Ford has taken the Ontario Conservatives into becoming Liberals anyway, why not vote for the actual Liberal party? Bet many Conservatives will make this choice next election.

Doug Ford is so DONE. Next election, I’m out campaigning for ANYONE but the @OntarioPCParty And I know many others who feel the same way.

@ronmortgageguy Doug Ford is neither Liberal or Conservative, he's the quintessential retail politician - full of bombast, untethered by principle. Until now, it's worked. I suspect there must be conservatives in his caucus growing worried, and know they have alienated their conservative base.

Ford Drank Carney's Water Last Week & Went Full Carney Fart Catcher Doug Ford drank from Prime Minister Carney's Water Glass at the Housing Announcement last week & became a BIGGER Carney Ass Kisser than ever What magic exists in Carney's spit? Or was Doug always a Liberal?

@mario4thenorth Ford is a political chameleon – populist and unconstrained by principle. Not a conservative. Not a classical liberal. A retail politician first and foremost. And, until recently, it worked. It is Pierre Poilievre who stands out - grounded, consistent, and guided by principle.

@sunlorrie @TorontoStar Wonder what conservatives in his caucus are thinking. This one-man pro-Liberal/Carney positioning won’t hold with the PC base. Sooner or later someone will try to reclaim conservative ground but only after voters force a reset. PCs likely to sit-out a couple cycles in opposition.

@RightPulseNewss An easy 20! I’m not a “those were the days” guy – except in this case – they were. An analogue world had many benefits current generations will never know.

10 for me!!….I feel confident nobody Has all 20!! How many for you?

Apparently the water did turn Ford into a Liberal Doug Ford praises Mark Carney and appeals for a majority government ahead of byelections thestar.com/politics/provi… via @torontostar

Doug Ford is now openly campaigning for a Liberal majority. The “Conservative” Premier of Ontario is praising Mark Carney, standing beside him at press conferences, privately advising him to call an election to lock in a majority, and helping him spend $14 billion of your money in a single week. Conservative MP Jamil Jivani called Ford a “hype-man for the Liberal party” and “a problem for Ontario and for Canada.” He was right. Ford said “government has a spending problem.” Then he tabled the biggest budget in Ontario history. $244 billion. That’s a $13.8 billion deficit. With our debt Debt crossing $500 billion. He’s not opposing Liberal policies. He’s actually co-signing it. Three Conservative MPs crossed the floor to the Liberals. And Ford said nothing. Carney is two seats from a majority. Ford is helping him get there. If you voted Conservative in Ontario, ask yourself: what exactly did you vote for? I personally refused to vote and abstained. He’s a traitor. He’s not a Conservative.

@Sassygal1971 With respect to the current political climate – that’s easy: Embarrassing!

Toast

Agree with the points raised. A quick correction first: Stephen Lewis, Avi’s father, led the Ontario NDP. Avi’s grandfather, David Lewis, led the federal party and helped shape the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation’s (CCF) 1956 Winnipeg Declaration. The Winnipeg Declaration moderated the CCF’s earlier 1933 Regina Manifesto, which explicitly called for the eradication of capitalism. Avi Lewis’s positions - public ownership, anti-corporate framing, and his association with the Leap Manifesto - arguably sit closer to the spirit of Regina than Winnipeg. That’s a significant ideological shift. Under an Avi Lewis leadership is the NDP moving forward or back?

New NDP leader Avi Lewis continuing family tradition of 'champagne socialism' Avi Lewis didn’t just inherit politics ... he inherited a family throne. His grandfather, David Lewis, led the Ontario NDP. His father, Stephen Lewis, took the federal party helm and later became Canada’s ambassador to the United Nations. And now Avi Lewis carries the torch, making it three generations in a row. Rare in any party, this succession looks less like democracy and more like royalty: an elite dynasty masquerading as populist socialism. Yet while the NDP claims to fight for the underprivileged, Avi Lewis’s upbringing tells a very different story. He spent his formative years at Upper Canada College, Toronto’s priciest private school and a grooming ground for Canada’s elite. In the 1990 essay collection Old Boys: The Powerful Legacy of Upper Canada College, Lewis reflects on those years ... not as a student of modest means, but as one among the privileged. He describes classmates who “would run this world in their purest state” and recounts escorting Prince Philip during the school’s sesquicentennial. Despite this, Lewis frames himself as a victim of wealth and privilege. He repeatedly emphasizes how “gifted” he was and how persecuted he felt, ignoring that he had access, opportunity and every material advantage imaginable. He paints the schoolyard as a microcosm of corporate ruthlessness, yet he personally benefited from the very elite networks he claims to disdain. This is the hallmark of the “champagne socialist”: lecturing the working class while living among the rich and insulated. The NDP under Lewis reflects the same contradictions. Once the party of farmers and union workers, it now prioritizes identity politics, equity initiatives, and “race cards” in party procedures, an Orwellian twist that rewards activism over merit or experience. Lewis himself advocates public ownership of the means of production while comfortably ensconced in wealth, married to activist Naomi Klein, and surrounded by lifelong left-wing elites. REPORT by @ezralevant:

Canada is officially the most embarrassing country on earth

So, does this mean that MP Ma won’t be sitting beside the PM in the House of Commons anymore?

Dominic LeBlanc says that Michael Ma’s comments do not represent the view of the Government of Canada. So is this an admission that Michael Ma is in fact denying forced labor in China? If so, regardless of his weak apology, why haven’t they got rid of him? Oh right, it’s more important to have that majority.

Canada was once self-described as a “consistently strong voice for the protection of human rights and the advancement of democratic values.” Recent Liberal convert Ma did not misspeak – he was expressing the (new) party line. This should concern all Canadians. international.gc.ca/world-monde/is…

EDITORIAL: The Carney doctrine on China is silence Prime Minister Mark Carney said Chinese President Xi Jinping told him, “don’t lecture me in public" and he's following those instructions to a T on the issue of forced labour by China, which is alarming. torontosun.com/opinion/editor…

@MarcNixon24 Avi Lewis is already trolling better than Mark Carney! Of course, no conservative, or right thinking Canadian, supports this boneheaded idea, but it's getting attention. The real target of course isn't Conservatives, it's recent Liberal converts - he's calling them home.

Avi Lewis says that conservatives across Canada are highly supportive of government run grocery stores

@BoswellDoug Pierre Poilievre won the CPC leadership with 70.1% of the votes, and 68.2% of the points. Now, THAT was decisive. Jean Charest came 2nd with 16% of the votes.

It is amazing, but not surprising how the media have a bias against Pierre P. Lewis "easily" wins NDP leadership with 56% Poilievre "survived" his leadership review with over 87% support.

@Roman_Baber @MarkJCarney @MPMichaelMa The silence speaks volumes.

Four days later not a word from Prime Minister @MarkJCarney. That's not leadership, that's cowardice. Here is the @MPMichaelMa exchange. Hope we can make this Liberal famous.

@MichaelChongMP This is no longer about what was said. It’s about what is tolerated by Liberal leadership. At some point silence stops being neutral.

1/ I hope Liberals sleep well after PM Carney’s $1,775-a-head fundraiser co-hosted by MP Michael Ma at Angus Glen Golf Club in Markham this Monday. #cdnpoli nytimes.com/interactive/20…

A decade ago, this would have been unthinkable. Canada has described itself as a “consistently strong voice for the protection of human rights and the advancement of democratic values.” international.gc.ca/world-monde/is… At committee, Liberal MP Michael Ma dismissed evidence of forced labour in China as “hearsay” and demanded eyewitness proof. That is not a minor misstep - it is a serious failure of judgment on a well-documented human rights issue. Canada has also been explicit in its position, speaking out “against human rights violations in Xinjiang, including… forced labour, torture and forced sterilization.” canada.ca/en/global-affa… This is not ambiguous. It is established Canadian policy. And this does not stop with one MP. Michael Ma crossed the floor with Mark Carney’s encouragement and sat beside him yesterday. That decision carries responsibility. This is now a leadership issue. If this conduct is tolerated, it will not be seen as isolated - it will be seen as accepted. If this is not addressed immediately and decisively, it will be seen as endorsed - and the responsibility will sit directly with Mark Carney.

Here is the full exchange between Liberal MP Michael Ma and Margaret McQuaig-Johnston at the industry committee where MP Ma sounds like he's running interference for the Chinese Communist Party in Beijing. The sound is out of sync from the original source in the House of Commons.