Tories paying lip service to Toronto won't collect much on election day
September 4, 2008
Prime Minister Stephen Harper reacted with the greatest indignation yesterday, while announcing a grant for the auto industry in Windsor, to a suggestion that his government was throwing around money in preparation for an election. One might even say he vibrated with rectitude.
To prove the innocence of this unlikely largesse, he sent Public Safety Minister Stockwell Day to Toronto hours later to announce another grant to "reduce gang activity and reach out to youth at risk." Less than $5-million for a three-year program to treat the most acute social pathology of Canada's largest city is hardly throwing money around.
Let it not be said, therefore, that the Conservatives are abandoning their principles. Rather than being a crude attempt to buy votes, Mr. Day's announcement is better understood as a hollow gesture.
The Prime Minister laid down the real money - $80-million - to obtain a credible response to Premier Dalton McGuinty's incessant complaints that he ignores Ontario. Such gifts might even help the party win a seat or two south of Coboconk. But Mr. Day betrayed no such ambition on his trip, there being little chance of his party winning any seats in Toronto.
The purpose of his trip was to stand on a stage with Mayor David Miller against a postcard background of the city skyline - about as far from Jamestown or Malvern as a person can get, in mind or body - and make nice.
He did an excellent job, beginning with a commendation of city workers who dealt with "the very explosive incident" that recently occurred in Toronto. "We were monitoring and being available throughout that," Mr. Day reminded listeners. Standing on guard for thee.
And don't be misled by our rhetoric about punishment and retribution, he added. "That's the long arm of the law. We also believe in the open arms of the community." By working closely with local officials, he said, "we will see that youth have in fact been reached out to."
Who can hate that? Certainly not Mayor Miller, the country's most prominent left-wing office holder, who obliged his guest by assiduously avoiding any points of disagreement - about handguns, for instance.
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