I’m going to be honest, Bonnie Crombie throwing her hat into the ring convinced me to sign up to vote against her. Ontario does not need a Blue Liberal NIMBY today.
Unless they commit (with teeth) to taking housing seriously and reforming the electoral system so this winner takes all bullshit never happens again (first past the post or whatever its called), a lot of people are going to have zero interest in anything they have left to say.
You might be interested in Nate Eskine-Smith.
https://www.meetnate.ca/policy/housing/
He did an AMA on Reddit 2 days ago, and discussed proportional voting among other things.
https://www.reddit.com/r/ontario/comments/16dq9tv/hi_im_nate_erskinesmith_and_im_running_to_be_the/
He is my MPP. I’ve been very impressed with him. I’ve emailed him a few times voicing concerns, and each time he (or somebody from his staff) has addresses my emails, point by point, and have been very open to discussions. While i haven’t agreed with his stance on all points, i have very much appreciated the two way dialog, and the time that was taken to craft the responses (they were not short replies).
Good find, I hope he’s able to rise up. Will be watching for sure, but I’m tempering my expectations :(
We’ll see soon enough if he signed up enough new Liberal party members before the deadline today to overcome Bonnie Crombie’s lead. I suspect not, which is a shame, he seemed like the most promising OLP leadership contenter. In that case, I doubt progressives will choose the OLP next election, and will see more promise in the ONDP.
so this winner takes all bullshit never happens again
Thing is, if the MPPs were doing their job properly, it wouldn’t really matter all that much who wins. They have to be reasonably capable people to be able to do the job, but if the most capable person loses to someone only slightly less capable, nothing changes.
It has become a problem, however, because MPPs are colluding to vote in unison, no matter what the people at the local level actually want. This means you are not being represented. No matter who wins in your riding, they are not representing you (except where by accident).
Different electoral systems can change the colluding patterns, which can help soften the blow, but why do we want that collusion in the first place?
Yes, but its such a huge issue inherent to the entire “representative model” in combination with partisan politics to the point that it really forestalls any notion of accountabillity to the localities at issue.
Politics is a sport now and people are not sufficiently educated (nor receptive to curing that) to the point where they will vote against their own local and personal interests if it gives a finger to the other side and their side consequently “wins”. Its on both sides, not just the right or left or whatever. But I don’t see a way out. Its at the point where I think people should be able to vote with their phones on each substantive issue to ensure adequate representation. Our model is so broken and they have 4 years to cash out in the event they are chosen despite their unworthiness.
I think the Swiss have a model where they can literally vote on such issues unmediated but I’m not super well-versed on competing models in line with such. We do need to move past this model of “winner takes all” and “I got 4 years to secure my future by selling you out, bitch”
But I don’t see a way out
The rise of movement that is quantifiably different would change things in a hurry.
What we have is far from perfect, but we’re lucky that everyone is on basically the same page. The differences we have are ultimately nitpicky.
Hopefully the new leader takes housing seriously.
It’s shaping up to be a two-horse race.
On the one hand you have Mississauga Mayor Bonnie Crombie, who is running as a “Blue Grit” and campaigning on regret over the leftward shift under Wynne. Under her watch in Mississauga the city has repeatedly missed their housing targets, and the municipal government has constantly campaigned against Ford’s efforts to make them greenlight more housing as anti-democratic overreach.
On the other hand we have Federal MP Nate Erskine-Smith. Erskine-Smith is a policy-wonk type. The guy has a podcast and a substack. He’s an unrepentant YIMBY. If you follow Housing Twitter, the “upzone all the things!” types like him.
https://beynate.substack.com/p/build-dont-block
I mean, I have my bias… but yeah, this dichotomy is why I got a membership. The old-guard Boomer “we’ll vote for whoever if we think they can win” wing of the party is coalescing around Crombie.
No kidding. And workers’ rights. Nate’s mentioned both in his trailer. We’ll see whether he gets the job or not and if he does, where his campaign goes by 2026. There’s too long till then. I’m hopeful that the ONDP might outpace the OLP by then anyways, but I’m not holding my breath.
Signed up 4 people. Ironically this election might be more impactful than the provincial election itself. Much fewer people will vote in it, with a ranked ballot. As a result, each vote is that much more significant. The choice of the leader to run in the provincial election automatically commands more or less votes as a feature of the parameters of the chosen leader. For example if an unelectable leader is chosen… they’re likely to command few votes in the provincial election. Or vice versa. In other words, the choice made here will be amplified in the provincial election. At the same time, nothing obliges us to vote for the OLP if we prefer the ONDP in 2026. So if there’s a face you prefer than another on this roster of … 2 … it might be a prudent idea to register by 6PM today and vote in November.
I’m very low-key excited that it might be possible for us to put a decent face on this damn party for the first time in so long.
This seems like an Ontario-only post.
