On The Ledge - your Ontario politics podcast

The OTL gang is assembled! Sabrina Nanji from the Queen's Park Observer, Keith Leslie at CHCH-TV, John Wright SVP Maru Public Opinion and SSN Chief Executive Producer Dave Trafford are around the table.In this episode:MPP's barely got back to business at Queen's Park and the Ford government has adjourned the legislature until AFTER municipal elections on October 24th.The “More Beds, Better Care Act" is a complete misnomer and does nothing to solve the long term problems in long term care.Barrie Mayor, Jeff Lehman says he's considering a bid for the Ontario Liberal leadership (still a couple of years out).The "Strong Mayor" model is going put pressure on voters to really conser their choices come election day.And as promised, here is information on how you can support SSN's daily podcast - NOW and NEXT with Dave Trafford and Erin Trafford.Support Now and Next! Subscribe to our Exclusive Supercast feed for access to AMAs, our message board and early access to Now & Next episodes.nowandnext.supercast.comYou can watch OR listen to this episode on our YouTube Channel (Be sure to subscribe!)Follow Dave on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and XAnd you can leave us a voice comment here!For more information go to Dave's website.

Friday, September 9, 2022 is the first full day of the Caroline Era. King Charles lll arrived at Buckinham Palace midday, meeting and greeting some of the thousands of people who are holding vigil outside the palace to pay tribute to the new king and his mother, the late Queen Elizabeth ll.Charles delivered his first public speech as the monarch at 6pm in the UK. He acknowledged the sacrifice and service his mother offered during her reign and made the same commitment. While he admitted he would have to step away from his pet projects and causes, it was interesting to note that he charged the newly "created" Prince and Princess of Wales (William and Kate) with the responsibility to help those who live on the margins of society.There is plenty of commentary suggesting Elizabeth set a bar to high for Charles to match. But unlike his mother, Charles had the opportunity to learn how to be king from Great Britain's longest serving monarch.Perhaps we underestimate the new king.You can watch OR listen to this episode on our YouTube Channel (Be sure to subscribe!)Follow Dave on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and XAnd you can leave us a voice comment here!For more information go to Dave's website.

We've got a newish cabinet at Queen's Park. It's version 1.5 - not quite 2.0 considering how few changes we see around the table. One exception is the announcement of Michael Ford as Minister of Citizenship and Multiculturalism. The On The Ledge panel joins this edition of The Daily Brief to talk what's next and what to expect in the next Ford mandate.You can watch OR listen to this episode on our YouTube Channel (Be sure to subscribe!)Follow Dave on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and XAnd you can leave us a voice comment here!For more information go to Dave's website.

All this talk about a Liberal-NDP merger in Ontario is utter nonsense. Why would the NDP waste any energy or time "merging" with the leaderless Liberals, when they're well positioned to stage a hostile takeover.  A re-energized NDP could easily render the Liberals irrelevant before the 2026 campaign.  Sabrina Nanji at the Queen's Park Observer quotes a pair of party insiders on their thoughts about the party's future. " — JONATHAN SCOTT, longtime operative who ran runner-up MICHAEL COTEAU’s 2020 leadership bid: “[2022] could be an extinction-level event for the party, if the party doesn’t learn the lessons voters are telling us. It’s time to modernize, throw the doors wide open and build a new party from the ground up. It’s time to be respectful and not talk down to people, especially in rural Ontario, and drop any attitude that we know best.” — KELLY FOOTE, veteran organizer and community activist: “The party’s problems can’t be fixed by the same people who presided over them.” Both great points. And both bits of advice should have been acted on 4 years ago.   You can watch OR listen to this episode on our YouTube Channel (Be sure to subscribe!)Follow Dave on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and XAnd you can leave us a voice comment here!For more information go to Dave's website.

The sleepiest of campaigns turned out to be one for the history books on a number of counts.  First Doug Ford won a second majority in Ontario. Second, he won more seats in this election than he did in 2018. Third, he won more of the popular vote this time around than he did in 2018. Fourth, both main Opposition leaders called it quits after the results were obvious. Fifth, the Liberals failed, for the second time in a row, to gain official party status.You can watch OR listen to this episode on our YouTube Channel (Be sure to subscribe!)Follow Dave on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and XAnd you can leave us a voice comment here!For more information go to Dave's website.

Bob Reid at Broadway Strategy and Communications spent time advising Mike Harris when he sat in the Premier's chair in Ontario. What's it like for the leaders and the staffers on Election Day. The campaign is over. It's up to us to mark our ballots.You can watch OR listen to this episode on our YouTube Channel (Be sure to subscribe!)Follow Dave on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and XAnd you can leave us a voice comment here!For more information go to Dave's website.

The Toronto Star says Doug Ford broke their Fact Checker because, for the most part the far and few between statements he made between May 25 and May 29 stated uncheckable facts. To me, that means he's spent the bulk of what little time he's spent speaking publicly uttering meaningless slogans. On average, he's spending 5 minutes a day speaking publicly in the final stretch of the campaign.  On the other hand, a guy like Mark Towhey hosts Ontario VOTES and talks campaign stuff for four hours a night! And even he makes it lively and interesting!You can watch OR listen to this episode on our YouTube Channel (Be sure to subscribe!)Follow Dave on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and XAnd you can leave us a voice comment here!For more information go to Dave's website.

Sabrina Nanji just gets on a roll over Steven Del Duca's prospects of winning his seat in Vaughan-Woodbridge when she falls off the internet! No injuries reported. But it speaks to the shift in media coverage at Queen's Park and on the campaign away from in-person scrums in favour of remote video links and a one-question-one-followup format.You can watch OR listen to this episode on our YouTube Channel (Be sure to subscribe!)Follow Dave on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and XAnd you can leave us a voice comment here!For more information go to Dave's website.

You can watch OR listen to this episode on our YouTube Channel (Be sure to subscribe!)Follow Dave on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and XAnd you can leave us a voice comment here!For more information go to Dave's website.

Before we get to the poll, we begin this edition of the Writ Race with a Friday FART JOKE! That's what the Ontario election campaign has come to with less than a week to go before Election Day on June 2.  The Toronto Star's got its hands on ANOTHER set of leaked polling numbers - this time from the NDP. Surprise, surprise! The NDP's confidential, internal memo says they've got the "wind at their back"! More likely that leader Horwath has figurative knives at her back. And the latest from Angus Reid shows "NOT SURE" is running second to Doug Ford and the PCs on some key issues. Yes, NOT SURE polls ahead of Horwath, Del Duca and Schreiner when those surveyed are asked which party is best suited to create new jobs!You can watch OR listen to this episode on our YouTube Channel (Be sure to subscribe!)Follow Dave on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and XAnd you can leave us a voice comment here!For more information go to Dave's website.