The province, and a return to tribal warfare.

I have achieved the age of 55 without incident. I am qualified for Freedom 55, but it has not been offered. Worse still, the premier wants me to have the right to work anywhere past the retirement age of 65 in the province of Ontario. This may sound humanitarian, but knowing what I know about myself, and knowing what I observe in Ernie, I am not sure it is a good idea.

I have been waiting for Ernie to call the election for weeks, but every week he just runs more ads about What his experience tells him to believe, which of course has to do with what his handlers tell him is a wedge issue.

What is going on?

What happened to "I am Dalton McGuinty's worst nightmare?" The premier has concluded, it would appear correctly, that there is no need for two Daltons.

That said, I liked the interim Ernie better.

I do not like the renewal of war with the teachers. This government has decimated the education system, and after acknowledging it needed fixing the government is going to take the easy way out. It is going to demonize its workers one more time to the delight of a majority of parents who are quite properly fed up with the chaos induced by both parties.

The strategies of divide and conquer will prevail. At a time when we need to reaffirm support for public institutions we are going to rip them apart again. We are going to relieve senior citizens from paying school taxes as if they did not have grandchildren, and the right and responsibility to support public education as do the rest of us. It is a cheap vote purchase plan, but it has huge future consequences for public education.

The Eves government (as opposed to the Ernie Eves who ran for leadership of the Tory party) supports tax breaks for people who can afford private schools. They are putting the nail in the coffin of public education in this province.

Next up we are going to force municipalities to have referendums to raise taxes. The cities are provincial creations. They have been dumped with a host of inappropriate responsibilities (like public housing) and not given the taxing power to do the job, which is not unlike the predicament of the boards of education. Our cities are starving for cash and now we will punish them for choking to death. The irony is that in a short election you can make it look like a brave thing to do.

It is not brave. It is the opposite.

The irony is that there is no chance the Tories can balance their own budget unless they sell considerable Crown assets. In business this is called a balance sheet item, not an operating item. Looked at personally it means that you cannot balance your personal books unless you sell your car, most of your furniture, and any surplus Game Boy cartridges before the end of the year to avoid going into debt. Of course, all of this will be discovered after the next election to the shock and amazement of everyone. It looks very much like Glen Clark's notorious NDP election budget in B.C. No wonder it was presented to the public in a car plant. It should have been presented in a tanning salon.

Through all this there has been some good news for Northern Ontario. The tax deferral plan, and the funding of the Northern Ontario Medical School stand out. Makes you think twice about how to vote. Just like homeowners who have been offered mortgage tax deductibility just when it is not needed, just like senior citizens. Divide and conquer. Brilliant.

The frustration is that this province is heading for big trouble. The car market is fading, tourism is a basket case, softwood lumber is crushing Northern Ontario, the rising dollar is clipping our price competitiveness, we are hugely dependent on export to the American market with borders harder to cross each day, and we are going to fall into deficit financing yet again.

And what are the issues of the day? Teachers, mortgage deduction and municipal tax referendums.

In political terms one has to admire the audacity. In real terms we are going to pay a huge price for ignoring what is important.

Michael Atkins is president of Northern Ontario Business Ltd. He can be reached by e-mail to [e-mail]