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Old Posted Aug 26, 2011, 1:17 AM
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SteelTown SteelTown is offline
It's Hammer Time
 
Join Date: Mar 2004
Location: Hamilton
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Hudak appeals to our wallets

Here’s the thing about appealing to the lowest common denominator: It usually works. Provincial Conservative Leader Tim Hudak and his brain trust — some of the same political strategists who helped Mike Harris win two consecutive majority governments — know that, and they’re using that unflattering reality to good advantage.

Hudak and friends understand that Ontarians are feeling financially pinched — especially the middle class. Wages, at least in the private sector, are stagnant or restrained. The cost of living — food, gas, utilities and the like — are steadily increasing. People want and need a break, and they’re probably going to support a provincial leader who promises it. It’s that simple.

Hudak says he’ll take the provincial share of the HST off home heating costs and remove the Ontario Hydro debt retirement charge from power bills. That will save an average family $22 per month. That resonates. It’s true that a large part of the reason electricity rates have risen is that Ontario’s energy infrastructure is critically in need of upgrading and maintenance, and it’s also true that previous governments have ignored that for political reasons. Just as it’s true that it was the Harris Conservatives who drove electricity deregulation to begin with, and so created the original price spikes we’re all suffering through now.

Doesn’t matter. Hudak is offering to save money on the monthly utility bill, and that’s all many Ontarians need to hear.

Mike Harris knew this when he promised to reduce taxes by 30 per cent as part of the Common Sense Revolution. It later turned out Ontario paid for that promise in many ways tangible and intangible. But it worked, and there’s a growing chance it will work for Hudak, too.

http://www.thespec.com/opinion/edito...to-our-wallets
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