NOW and NEXT

The horrifying story that is the Mount Cashel Orphanage Scandal began nearly half a century ago when the first allegations of physical and sexual abuse were levelled at the Christian Brothers who ran the facility. This past weekend, the Archdiocese of St. John's in Newfoundland and Labrador closed bids on the sale of Church properties in 34 diocese across the province in an effort to raise the estimated $50 million dollars to cover compensation for the survivors. It means the parishioners in those small communities lose their churches - churches they helped pay for and build - in order for the Archdiocese to atone for its criminal behaviour. The more astounding part of the story is the Vatican refuses to step in and pay some of the reparations. So keep that in mind when, (if), Pope Francis ever arrives in Canada to face the people of our First Nations and indigenous communities who suffered and died in the Residential Schools. The universal church has already refused to take any measure of responsibility for the atrocities at Mount Cashel.  Beyond asking forgiveness, what makes you think there will be an appropriate penance to offset the years of institutionalized abuse, neglect and indignity suffered by hundreds of nameless kids disposed of in unmarked graves? What is the measure of accountability for the Church's ritual ignorance and legal obfuscation?

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If it were a country, cybercrime would be the third largest economy in the world behind the United States and China. Best estimates suggest cybercrime will cost $10.5 globally on an annual basis by the year 2025. AT&T says it represents the greatest transfer of economic wealth in history. Today on the Daily Brief we talk to Jeff Musson, Executive Director of Coding for Veterans, and Kym Geddes, host of a new Story Studio Network podcast series, 1 CLICK 2 CYBER CHAOS.

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More seats, more popular vote means four more years for Premier Doug Ford in Ontario. And he did it by staging near perfect campaign. He didn't engage the media. He didn't engage the Opposition, except on Debate Night. He barely spoke in public during the final ten days of the campaign and he came away with a resounding win. Of course, when one party wins 60% of the seat in the legislature, it means at least one opposition party had a very bad night. In this case, both the NDP and the Liberals are battered and bruised. And they're both looking for a new leader. The New Democrats will likely bounce back with fresh blood in the Leader's chair. Under new leadership, the NDP can take full advantage of being only one of two official parties in the legislature and make the Liberals completely irrelevant by 2026. Given the party's decision to choose Steven Del Duca as Kathleen Wynne's successor was a huge mistake. He was stuck with the baggage of the Wynne government AND HE GOT TROUNCED in his own riding in 2018. Add to that, the ridiculous decision to have Del Duca lead the party for two years without having a seat in the legislature and the game was all but over before the campaign even started. I'm not convinced the Liberal party gets up off the mat, let alone takes a standing 8 count. This is another four years of wandering in the wilderness. And this defeat is worse than the Wynne loss in 2018. The bar was so low, Del Duca should have been able to clear it without much difficulty. But he ran the campaign like it was a Limbo Challenge when it was Hurdles Race.  

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Bob Reid at Broadway Strategy and Communications spent time advising Mike Harris when he sat in the Premier's chair in Ontario. What's it like for the leaders and the staffers on Election Day. The campaign is over. It's up to us to mark our ballots.

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The Toronto Star says Doug Ford broke their Fact Checker because, for the most part the far and few between statements he made between May 25 and May 29 stated uncheckable facts. To me, that means he's spent the bulk of what little time he's spent speaking publicly uttering meaningless slogans. On average, he's spending 5 minutes a day speaking publicly in the final stretch of the campaign.  On the other hand, a guy like Mark Towhey hosts Ontario VOTES and talks campaign stuff for four hours a night! And even he makes it lively and interesting!

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In this episode of The Daily Brief: Sabrina Nanji just gets on a roll over Steven Del Duca's prospects of winning his seat in Vaughan-Woodbridge when she falls off the internet! No injuries reported. But it speaks to the shift in media coverage at Queen's Park and on the campaign away from in-person scrums in favour of remote video links and a one-question-one-followup format.

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Elections Ontario says more than a million voters cast ballots in the advance polls this month. That represents nearly 10% of all eligible voters. Those ballots were cast over 10 days. That compares to just under 700 thousand advanced ballots cast in 2018 BUT the advance polls were only opened for five days. What do all these numbers suggest? Best bet is most people just want this campaign to be OVER!

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That's what the Ontario election campaign has come to with less than a week to go before Election Day on June 2.  The Toronto Star's got its hands on ANOTHER set of leaked polling numbers - this time from the NDP. Surprise, surprise! The NDP's confidential, internal memo says they've got the "wind at their back"! More likely that leader Horwath has figurative knives at her back. And the latest from Angus Reid shows "NOT SURE" is running second to Doug Ford and the PCs on some key issues. Yes, NOT SURE polls ahead of Horwath, Del Duca and Schreiner when those surveyed are asked which party is best suited to create new jobs!

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We are a week away from counting the final ballot tally that will determine who will sit in the Premier's Office in Ontario.  And here's where we stand. Andrea Horwath is running to keep her job. Steven Del Duca is running to win his seat. And Doug Ford is sleep walking his way towards another majority. Will the final week make any difference in the campaign? Probably not. All but one number has stayed steady in most of the polling since the Leaders' Debate. The one that's shifted smartly is the number of voters who think Andrea Horwath would be the best choice as Premier of Ontario. According to the latest Nanos' numbers, the NDP leader has faded to 17.5%. Her numbers continue to dip as Del Duca and Ford make gains.

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