Why would Ontario Liberals sabotage education? Distraction Politics and the Siege Mentality

Education Ontario's sacrifical lamb

SOUTH DUNDAS — Distraction has become the new norm in politics in Ontario. Stir the pot with some wedge issue in one direction, so that people don’t see other issues in that direction. While the pot stirs, problems are swept away.

Take the new Sex Education Curriculum, and all of the churn stirring in that particular pot. While social activists and parents face off about the curriculum changes, no one much notices that it is budget season in  Ontario, that the province is still in a massive deficit. No one is paying much attention to the whispers of a partial privatization of Ontario Power Generation. Nor are people paying attention to ongoing battles between the province and our doctors over funding. Nor are they paying attention to the cuts across the board, that are going to have to occur in order for Ontario not to become the Greece of Canada, a financial basket case. Instead people are paying attention to a social, wedge issue.

It’s happened before. During the 2014 Ontario election,  Tim Hudak was tarred and feathered over his 100,000 cuts plan, because the wedge became how those cuts would occur. No one believed him that it would be due to natural attrition or retirement. Instead the message, thanks to Hudak’s opponents, became that he was going to cut jobs, slash and burn. As a consequence, and lots of advertising funded by the third-party union groups, the Ontario Liberals won a majority.  (more...)

Distraction Politics and the Siege Mentality