It has been another good week for Premier Kathleen Wynne's Liberals, for all sorts of reasons:
• Andrea Horwath stood up and delivered her party’s support for the budget (proving my abstention prediction wrong).
• The Premier also stood up big-time in calling for new revenues to fund transit expansion. Talking about taxes is a rare move for any politician these days so it’s a gutsy move by Wynne, who says she will consult widely about the revenue options recommended by Metrolinx.
How these consultations occur will be critical. Recent experiments with deliberative, evidence-informed citizen engagement offer some useful models. New consultation approaches piloted by the ministry of consumer services deserve a look. The review of the Condominium Act has included a large-scale effort in public engagement in a policy area that is both complicated and directly affects many people. It’s a good example of a process in which stakeholders formally both speak and listen to one another rather than simply speaking to government, with the goal of forging a basic consensus among disparate stakeholders about policy direction.
• Women’s Issues Minister Laurel Broten emerged from her recent trench war with teachers’ unions to deliver a well-received announcement on efforts to get more women into corporate boardrooms.
• And, strangely, Toronto Mayor Rob Ford has helped too. He has pushed the gas plant furor to the margins, given the provincial Tories an embarrassing bloody nose and, according to a <a href="http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2013/05/30/poll_ford_problems_help_ontario_liberals_hurt_pcs.html">recent Forum survey</a>, has given the Liberals a further bump in the polls.
• The Fords can switch easily between the roles of victims and bullies. But threats come very easily to them. Recall Mayor Ford warning former premier Dalton McGuinty that he would “unleash Ford Nation” if he he didn’t get what he wanted from the province. The Fords have continued to goad the province with street-corner threats and challenges.
To their credit, the leaders of the three major political parties have stayed out of the fray. But as premier, Wynne, the main target of Ford’s spite, has been the adult in the room, demonstrating both political and personal maturity and tact.
• Commenting today on the mayor’s meltdown at city hall, Wynne said she is monitoring the situation closely and considering her options in the event that provincial intervention is necessary. My guess is that she will not look forward to this, but will be unafraid to act if she has to.

And the week isn’t even over yet

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