Sandra Pupatello Pitch Speech

The inestimable Jeff Jedras (who is sitting next to me)  said Sandra Pupatello sounds a bit like the gal from Fargo, and there is some truth to that in her small-town accent.  "What you see is what you get" seems a key part of her message, and what you see is a big personality with big hair, a little corny at times but with a touch of the Iron Lady in her  as well.   "I will bring the opposition to their knees," is a paraphrase of one of her applause lines, and so far its the one this morning that made me laugh out loud, because it sounds like she's actually prepared to do it, with a baseball bat if necessary.

I think Sandra's speech was an explicit  attempt to contrast herself with Kathleen Wynne, though most of the differences between them are a matter of degree and tone.  Sandra gave a more full-throated defence of  OLP policy, though in fact she is proud of the same things, generally speaking, as Kathleen is.  She also projects as more of a warrior than Kathleen, though Sandra too has promised to  work with the opposition as far as possible.  And whereas Kathleen pushed her social justice credentials, Sandra struck with what I would call "meat and potato" issues.  No call out to First Nations; a bit more of a focus rhetorically on jobs jobs jobs.

Also, fellow progblogger Rachel DaCosta made a note of how she liked the pearl necklace Sandra was wearing, and indeed (at the risk of sounding a bit sexist) Sandra is a handsome woman who would look like a natural in any boardroom on Bay Street.  I spent some time picturing in my mind what she would look like on a debate stage next to Andrea Horwath and the squirrelly Tim Hudak.  In my mind I see Tim Hudak getting his ass handed to him.

To be Premier you have to win the next election, and of all the candidates so far, Sandra is the one that looks the most campaign ready which, when you think about, might be the thing most likely to scare the opposition out of provoking one.

PS.  I'm not going to blog the Eric Hoskins speech, but he is possibly hotter than Gerard Kennedy.

Pupatello And Wynne Support Offshore Wind

Offshore wind should be a slam-dunk.  After all its offshore, way out of sight of any protesting NIMBYs.  So it is good to know that the two front runners in the OLP leadership race have come out in support of the concept. From a North American Wind Power presser:

The good news is that Sandra Pupatello and Kathleen Wynne - two of the front-runners vying to lead Ontario's Liberal Party - both have expressed support for offshore wind. 

It is worth pointing out that these kinds of projects have even less environmental impact than the on-shore variety:

Siting the project further from the shoreline alleviates much of the avian impact, because 93% to 95% of such incidents happen within 1 km of the shore... 

And its also worth pointing out that the purpose, or at least one purpose, of the Green Energy Act was to get Ontario off coal.  If anyone remembers T.O. summers from the late 1980s, you might recall those smog clouds that would float in over the city and hang there for days, until your sweat tasted of chemicals. They're not so frequent anymore, and the McGuinty's government can take some credit for it.

OLP Candidates On Wind Turbines

Didn't like this bit:


Kathleen Wynne is uneasy about the quality of information fuelling the renewable energy debate.

“Where is the evidence and science in making these decisions?” asks Wynne. “I’m not sure there are conclusive arguments on either side of these issues—whether it’s health issues or environmental issues. I want to make sure we are operating on the best evidence possible.”

Actually, the evidence that wind turbines effect Ontario property values is crap; the evidence that their presence has a negative effect on the health of people living close by is crap; and the claim that they are endangering local/migratory bird populations is wildly overstated.

If the next premier wanted to make some possibly useful tweaks to the Green Energy Act, they might look at the advice of their own Environmental Commissioner.   But pandering to NIMBYs gets you 0.  They don't have a problem with the process; they have a problem with the product: wind turbines, spinning infernally, within sight of their retirement properties.

Of the three candidates who offered a response, Sandra Pupatello gave the most full-throated defense of the Green Energy Act which, incidentally, will get this province off coal--the dirtiest fossil fuel of all of them--by the end of 2013.  So good on her.

Dear Sandra Pupatello...

...your robocall seems a bit glitchy.  The soundtrack restarts at about the 7 second mark.   Please fix. Otherwise nice.  Glad to promote your website.

The Thing With Sandra Pupatello Is:

At this point, I like the plain-speaking Sandra Pupatello for the job, and I’m guessing she’s entering the race as the favourite. Should she win, she would, of course, make history as Ontario’s first female premier. I am somewhat perplexed, however, that Ms. Pupatello decided not to run for re-election last year, saying it was time for a change. Yet here she is competing for more of the same. Let’s hope this is not more of the usual Liberal duplicity or mendacity we’ve come to expect from this edition of the Ontario Grits.

Not necessarily a killer thing, and of course all the other potentials have their things too.  But this one is one of hers: opportunism would be the accusation, I suppose.

By the way, the link is to Russ Campbell, who is Tory but relatively sane.  And he isn't the only one pushing this line.  But what do I know anyway?  Apparently the Ontario Liberals need to promote somebody from outside of Toronto.  Why is that?  Why do people hate Toronto?  Is it because we are so beautiful?
At this point, I like the plain-speaking Sandra Pupatello for the job, and I’m guessing she’s entering the race as the favourite. Should she win, she would, of course, make history as Ontario’s first female premier. I am somewhat perplexed, however, that Ms. Pupatello decided not to run for re-election last year, saying it was time for a change. Yet here she is competing for more of the same. Let’s hope this is not more of the usual Liberal duplicity or mendacity we’ve come to expect from this edition of the Ontario Grits.

Liberal MPP Shows TO The Love

At a news conference promoting a cabinet shuffle yesterday morning, [Economic Development and Trade Minister Sandra] Pupatello, who hails from Windsor, was asked what she thinks about the reaction of Toronto resident to the city's strike.

When leaving the room, she said to one reporter, "bunch of babies."

Of course this begs the question: when Windsor's 11 week garbage strike comes to an end, will anyone notice?

Quite a comment outta someone from a city whose main economic claim to fame are a few casinos and their accompanying sex trade workers.

PS. Apparently, Pupatello is a LIBERAL MPP!!! OMG! This is appalling. Does no-one love Toronto? Its not like for we're Calgary, for chrissakes. We got an opera house! The streets go both ways!