Toronto to play minor role
A memorable scene in the classic Dan Aykroyd comedy Trading Places had fallen market titan Aykroyd, penniless and drunk, screaming in agony as the street hustler who replaces him -- consummate outsider Eddie Murphy -- has a ballroom of heavyweights panting for his next stock tip.
Well, get used to that image Toronto because in the federal election launched today we are that sap in the Santa suit, stripped of our dignity and importance and forced to watch a slick upstart -- in this case Alberta -- steal our seat at the nation's table.
There may be plenty of gravity left in the old centre of the universe but its pull with the current Conservative government in Ottawa is weak and weakening.
That's because there isn't a single Tory blue dot on Toronto's electoral map to plead our case with Prime Minister Stephen Harper -- and the one nearby MP tapped to protect our interests in cabinet, Whitby-Oshawa bruiser Jim Flaherty, has such a dim view of the local economy he dubbed it the last place in Canada for new businesses to invest in.
The opposition Liberals own every seat in Toronto and its most densely populated neighbour Peel Region, apart from three New Democrats and the floor-crossing Wajid Khan in Streetsville.
Meanwhile, their Conservative counterparts from Wild Rose Country are crowding around the cabinet table, revelling in finally being able to call the shots after decades on the outside.
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