Yesterday I wrote that the GPO distinguishes itself from the other opposition parties by providing thoughtful opposition.  I cited the various opposition positions on HST as an example.  Today on his blog Steve highlights another great example of this.

Tension between Toronto and the rest of Ontario?  Easy just have Toronto succeed, or at least that's what one Conservative MPP suggests.  That tension is a real problem in Ontario but Murdoch's solution (which I do believe is titled Cutting Off Our Nose to Spite Our Face) is far from thoughtful.  The PC's simply do not provide a realistic alternative to the Liberals.

To be fair I don't think the ONDP does either.  I searched around their website (for the record putting sound on a website that auto-plays and I can't control is a big faux pas) and while I couldn't find a single example quite as nice as asking Toronto to leave, I think they are just as guilty as the PCs when it comes to not providing a realistic alternative vision to the Liberals'.  In fact it bugs me more because many Ontarians view them as the standard bearers for the left.

Progressives should be fiscally responsible.  Ensuring that government spending is under control and sustainable is the only way to make sure that social programs are funded in the long term.  By demanding money here, a pension bail-out there and then saying Ontarians are over taxed the ONDP have painted themselves into a corner.  Ontarians aren't going to be fooled into thinking we can run a deficit forever and they are smart enough to know that the longer we do the more painful the solutions will be.

I have no doubt that we face many serious problems (poverty, inaccessible education, the environment) as a province but we're going to need thoughtful solutions driven not simply by ideology but by creativity and critical thinking anchored in facts.