A random walk through politics as summer begins

1. Most interesting politician to watch over the next year - Premier Danny Williams of Newfoundland. His deep and intense dislike of Stephen Harper will play a role in the next federal election. It says here he will be very effective in skewering the Alliance.

2. Most under rated politician federally - Elizabeth May. She will play a pivotal role in the upcoming election. If she supports Dion's environmental program the dynamics of the campaign could be tilted quickly in the Liberal's favor.

3. Most over rated politician federally - Stephen Harper. Vindictive, petty, and as venal as any Liberal ever thought of being, he is revealed as the wolf in wolf's clothing voters were afraid he was. The high road is gone; there is no sense of purpose, no vision of what this country is about or could be or should aspire to be. As Chantel Hebert said on The National, he has had two years of the weakest opposition in living memory and he has not advanced his party one inch in that time.

4. Most over rated politician federally #2 - Jack Layton. Has there ever been, besides Harper, a leader who fell further and faster than Layton? Smug, sanctimonious and plainly out of touch, Layton suffers hugely with any comparison to Elizabeth May as a true environmentalist and generator of new approaches to difficult questions. Polls show he has dropped significantly - and he deserves to.

5. Most embarrassing politician federally - Vic Toews with his ignorant, embarrassing comments about Louise Arbour, just the latest in a long list of Toews idotic statements. It's one thing to pose as a red neck, horse's ass with shit for brains - it's another thing entirely to be a red neck, horse's ass with shit for brains. Toews is and the sooner he's off the stage the better for all Canadians.

6. Most over rated politician in Ontario - by a country mile it has to be John Tory. Never was a province more ready to consider a change and never was a leader given a more welcome podium than towns and cities all across Ontario gave John Tory. But his ill conceived, badly thought out funding for religious schools put paid to his political chances in 2007. Will he live to fight another day? The jury's still out and so is John, out of the Legislature with no prospects on the horizons of a seat coming vacant.

7. Leader who has to win or else - Stephen Dion. If he loses the next election there will be a federal Liberal Leadership race faster than you can say Ignatieff Rae.

8. Luckiest leader in Canada - Premier Brad Wall who led his Saskatchewan Party to victory in that province last fall, just in time to reap the benefits of an explosive growth in government revenues and job creation as natural resources powers the province to the top of the heap. Most impressive statistic? Benefit payments to the unemployed have fallen 16% this year. Think about that for a moment and what it does for a government budget.

9. Leader who won't be missed - Howard Hampton. The Ontario NDP leader is shrill, angry and blusters far too much for people to feel easy and comfortable with him. A captive of language 25 years out of date and economic ideas 50 years behind the times, Hampton was always hot when cool was required. Frances Lankin lost the leadership to Hampton because the Party didn't have the guts to live up to its own rhetoric. So much for equal opportunity, equality of men and women etc. The NDP got what it deserved and now it has to find a different pygmy to lead the lackluster band at Queen's Park.

10. Potential irony of the year - the NDP, which was afraid to elect Frances Lankin as leader, may now turn to Cheri DeNovo. Once again the NDP gets it wrong and is a day late and a dollar short.

11. Two women to watch in Parliament/Queen's Park - Elizabeth May. The leader of the Green Party hasn't done much to build the party but she is respected and liked by most Canadians, partly because she eschews partisan bullshit for thoughtful comments on political issues. A woman of considerable substance, she has no grandiose ideas of her place under the sun or of her own worth versus that of others, and the respect she is given by the public is a reflection of the huge difference between her and other party leaders and MPs.
Kathleen Wynne - Ontario's Minister of Education has been underrated by her own Party since she ran and won a seat two elections ago. She beat John Tory last fall by 5,000 votes - some party back roomers now say her victory was expected but it was anything but - in reality, the Party wrote her seat off months before the election but Wynne paid no attention and just kept working hard and talking to voters. That's one of the reasons for her huge plurality - Wynne is a straight talker with the public, the teachers unions and idiotic trustees filled with their own sense of self importance. Like the Green Party leader, she focuses on issues and leaves the political bullshit to others, a trait more and more appreciated by voters.

12. The last laugh and true vindication - for Jean Chretien when the appeal court quashed retired Judge John Gomery's findings that he and Gerard Pelletier bore responsibility for the sponsorship scandal. The court severely criticized Gomery for his behaviour, his blatantly biased comments and his prejudging of the issues before the case was closed. Gomery has been exposed as a gas bag and publicity seeking, preening peacock we saw night after night on news reports. And by the way Paul Martin, what do you think of your appointment of Gomery now?