Tag Archive for: Bob Rae

Bob Rae Down and Out

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Canadian Press is reporting that Stéphane Dion will resign as Liberal leader today. Finally.

And CP is also reporting that Ignatieff is expected to be installed as leader Wednesday by a vote of party MPs and senators. I doubt that Rae is happy with the news.

The Globe and Mail reported today that:

There is nervousness among Ontario Liberals… that Mr. Rae’s tenure as the province’s NDP premier during a difficult economic period would hurt the party now if he became leader.

Over the past couple of weeks there has been a real spike in people accessing this post from two years ago. And a few people posting new comments to that old post. 

There is good reason for people in Ontario to be nervous about Bob Rae. 

Rae Days

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I do not often post on political items however a recent Ekos Research Poll has Bob Rae as the number one choice of Canadians to lead the Liberal party.

Bob Rae’s track record in Ontario was simply bizarre. Let’s highlight some of the key achievements.

Ontario accumulated $20 billion in debt in the 40 years prior to Bob Rae’s government. The NDP administration took only four years to add up another $40 billion of debt. I cannot recall even one lasting investment that the NDP made during that time. Sorry. There was one. Their government did approve casino gambling for Ontario.

Bob Rae’s NDP government cut health care costs by reducing the number of doctors graduating from medical schools. The legacy of such a move? A severe shortage of physicians.

Anyone earning more than $67,000 a year was considered rich. And, under his government, those individuals had to endure the highest marginal tax rate in all of North America.

Remember the public auto insurance fiasco?

In looking at the devastation that the NDP had wrought to Ontario, record debt, record deficits and record job losses, Rae’s government hired over 100,000 more public servants and gave out large increases to most of the public sector. And then?

The NDP government ordered a wage freeze and told the public servants to stay home two weeks a year without pay.

Rae Days. Perhaps the most enduring legacy of Bob Rae’s handling of government.