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Tories’ true F-bomb still to come

So the truth comes out, in one big F.U. to T.O.

Someone should be asking for federal infrastructure minister John Baird’s resignation after Monday’s now infamous flock off to Toronto’s request for cash for new streetcars.

Had Baird been in any other government under any other leader, he would be gone by now. His snarling “they should fuck off” is the kind of remark parties in power usually can’t afford. It’s crass and sends the wrong message to voters that the government couldn’t care less.

That Baird hasn’t been forced to step down or make a public apology – he’s offered a private apology to the mayor – illustrates just how deep the Tories’ hate-on is for T.O.

It clear, too, that Baird’s sentiment is shared by the man at the top, the PM, an avid practitioner of the divide and conquer rules of politicking.

The Tories have made their political calculations and they don’t include T.O. – or Vancouver, or Montreal, for that matter. They don’t have to necessarily, to win re-election, if not a majority, as long as there are enough rural voters in Ontario and nationalists in Quebec to vote Tory.

The Tories don’t have to do Toronto any favours and certainly won’t. They have no intention of funding Transit City. So much for all that talk about the need to create jobs in the current economic malaise. Any money for transit will go to pump their political prospects in the 905, as they always do.

Just watch.

That infrastructure money that’s taking so long to get where it’s needed will start flowing soon, just in time for an election, goodies to entice votes for the Tories. What’s the point of spending all those billions in areas like Toronto where the Tories don’t stand a chance?

Mayor David Miller’s saying all the right things, taking the high road and trying to turn Baird’s gaffe into his political advantage in the court of public opinion.

But this crew in Ottawa is not one to succumb to subtle political pressure. They only know one way to do politics and that’s to coddle their base and blow off everyone else who happens not to agree with them.

One political scientist suggested in the Star this morning that ignoring the biggest city in the country, the supposed economic engine of the nation, would not be good optics for the Tories.

Wishful thinking, like so much talk these days about a turnaround in the economy. Most pundits just can’t fathom how low the Tories are willing to go, believing the checks and balances in our parliamentary system will keep them in check.

Unfortunately, Harper’s minority is running the show from Ottawa like a dictatorship, not a democracy. The old rules don’t apply.

See his dismissal of the other controversy in the Tory camp this week over natural resources minister Lisa Raitt’s musings on tape about the isotope’s shortage for cancer treatments being a “sexy” issue for the Tories. It’s got cancer. It’s got death etc… Has everyone forgotten the Tories axed the bureaucrat who blew the whistle on the isotope shortage months ago?

Both the Baird and Raitt controversies suggest that the Tories’ hold on power is fraying around the edges, that there’s frustration in the cabinet inner circle.

Raitt’s rant in particular reflects not only her personal ambitions but suggests a party listing in the political waves, desperate to score any points where they can get them. They’ve been in retrench mode for weeks now. Stay tuned for the big attack.

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