Why #VoteON Isn't Over Yet

 

 

I've said it before and I'll say it again: the word Liberal is not just letters on a lawn sign.  It is the generosity of spirit that defines us at our best.  And so do you.

 

 

The results are coming in as I write this and it's looking like another Liberal government.  That being the case, Tim Hudak's political career will come to an end and Andrea Horwath might be existing the stage as well.

 

For a moment, all the hard-working Liberal candidates, volunteers and paid staff deserve to high-five each other, do toasts and the like.  Frankly, for the blood, sweat, tears, dollars and conviction all people who've helped on this campaign have put in, they all deserve some appreciation.

 

Don't think for a second, however, that a Liberal win is a cleansing of past concerns or a complete repudiation of the PCs or NDP or even the Greens. 

 

When the dust settles, it'll become clear that far fewer voters engaged than could have.  Divisions between Parties will largely exist along geographic lines, with urban centres divides from rural ones and the North.

 

There will be a lot of hard feelings, ill will on one side and on the other, a nearly irresistible urge to gloat and get cocky.

 

This would be a mistake.

 

Ontario is increasingly a fractured, disenfranchised place.  People are tuning in to what matters to them, not the whole picture; patience for shared solutions is weak.  Increasingly, they're not voting - especially young Ontarians, who could very well stay non-voters moving forward.  It's not a good picture.

 

Now comes Kathleen Wynne's true test of leadership.

 

Her job now is to do what she has always done best - to engage, to listen and to build common ground.  Nowhere will this be more important than within her own Party.

 

It's time for the Ontario Liberal Party to really dig deep and reconnect themselves with what liberalism really means to them.

 

Is it just about being better than the other guys?  Or is it more than that?

 

I believe it's still about moving forward together - which is equally about leaving no one behind.

 

Four years is a lot of time to get things done.  Starting off with some policy pieces that really unite the Parties and the province would set the right tone for the term to come.

 

It's time for Liberals to be at their best - not for their benefit, but for all of Ontario's.