Right wing populist? Andrea Horwath?

Andrea Horwath is running to the right of the Liberals? Well if you believe the Liberals, the Toronto Star and some of my bestest lefty friends, this happened. Say it isn't so...

It isn't so...

First there was the minimum wage spat. The labour movement and poverty activists had been running a campaign to raise the wage to $14 per hour. A lofty and worthwhile goal. Wynne couldn't decide how to raise the minimum wage so she appointed a panel (She does this a lot). The panel suggested raising the wage and then indexing it to inflation. 

Yet it seems some people were none too happy that Horwath didn't lead the fight to raise the wage. It was after all a classic NDP position. Horwath knows most Ontarians thought the $11 wage was all that could be afforded. She also knows that $11 is too low. So being the right wing populist she is, she said make it $12 and index it. And then Horwath added a small tax cut for small business. That's a buck an hour more than Wynne yet Horwath has forgotten her roots. 

Before all that happened, there was Bill 115. The 'Take All the Teachers Rights Away' bill introduced by the Liberals and supported by Tim Hudak. The bill was a desperate attempt to appeal to voters in a secretly planned by-election for Kitchener Waterloo, a long time conservative strong hold. The stakes were high, the Liberals would gain a seat, thus hold a razor thin majority. To win however they figured they had to out 'Hudak', Hudak, and they did!

Again, that right wing populist Andrea Horwath and the NDP stood up and surprised everyone by voting against Bill 115.

The NDP demanded that the Liberals tax high income earners and not cut corporate taxes two budgets ago. This was to help fund a job creation program for youth. That kind of populism is so not of the left. 

More coming...