It's all about Me

"It's all about me." - That's how I used to think. In the past. When I was young. And foolish.

I used to be selfish. I voted for Rob Ford because he promised low taxes and less waste. But the savings seemed to be on the backs of others (which I once was okay with). I used to think, let others fend for themselves. It's my money, I earned it.

Well, now, I think differently. I've come to realize how lucky I am. To have what I have and to live where I live. And, astonishingly enough, it had absolutely nothing to do with me. I just had the good fortune to be born here out of all the places in the world. A beautiful country with no internal strife, with universal healthcare... with basic equal rights and human rights.

I don't have to worry about bombs going off when I walk down the street. Or, if I get sick, I don't have to worry about ending up broke because of mounting hospital bills. Everyone gets basic education, not just boys. Men and women don't end up in jail because of who they love.

Many others around the world don't enjoy these freedoms. I can't say, close the borders to them, just because I am selfish. I'm glad our federal government is welcoming in thousands of Syrian refugees. I'm proud of Justin Trudeau and his Liberal government.

I'm proud of Kathleen Wynne and her provincial government. They're making college and university tuition free to low income families (who earn less than $50,000). I don't care if it costs me more in taxes. It's all about equality and fairness. It's time to break the cycle of poverty.

If I have to pay 4¢ more per litre in provincial carbon taxes for gasoline, so be it. It's not all about me any longer. It's about us. It's about our children and our children's children. It's about the future of the country and the planet we live in. Giving a little more to help everyone is not going to kill me (or, for that matter, you either).

Liberal Wynne

Not my photo.

Ontarians voted in their provincial election today. They spoke loud and clear giving Kathleen Wynne's previous minority government a majority with 59 seats at Queens Park. Tim Hudak's PCs lost seats ending up with 27 and Andrea Horwath's NDP party stayed the course with 21.

I believe you could count it less of a win for Wynne and more of a loss for Hudak. His idea of cutting 100,000 government jobs in order to create 1,000,000 others didn't resonate with voters. Either that or they didn't have faith in his logic and/or believe the numbers he was projecting.

Numerous unions and other groups showed their displeasure in him in their many attack ads. Wynne benefitted greatly from this without even having to lift a finger. In light of his party's stunning defeat Tim Hudak resigned as their leader.

Another group that miscalculated voters sentiments were the pollsters. For weeks they had the election neck in neck between Hudak and Wynne. Some even suggested the NDP were up there with them. It was "too close to call", they said. Well, they couldn't have been more wrong. The Liberals blew everyone else out of the water.

Voters were willing to give Wynne the benefit of the doubt regarding the past Liberal scandals. Both Hudak and Horwath tried to pin the blame on her, but she emerged unscathed from beneath the shadow of Dalton McGuinty.

So a new era begins. Ontario has voted in their first female premier. And I believe she's the first openly gay premier in Canada as well. I'm proud of the fact that we as a province are so open and inclusive. I wish Ms. Wynne all the best and hope she can deliver on her promises and continue to make this a great province to live in.