On principle

The Star reports on another twist in the politics surrounding Ontario's MMP referendum this fall, as the Lib minister responsible for the file is stepping down based on Dalton McGuinty's politicization of the issue. But it remains to be seen what the move will mean for the referendum itself:

Sources say Democratic Renewal Minister Marie Bountrogianni is quitting politics in part because she is disillusioned with the way Premier Dalton McGuinty's officials are handling the referendum.

Bountrogianni (Hamilton Mountain) will stay on until the Oct. 10 election, but will not be running again...

One insider said last night that Bountrogianni, who has feuded with McGuinty's office over various policy matters since the Liberals took power in 2003, was displeased by the fact the government commissioned some polling about the referendum, which is to be held in conjunction with the election, on whether Ontario should adopt a form of proportional representation in the future.

The Liberals, who have so far remained non-committal on the referendum question, conducted polling on the extent to which Yes and No voters would be more or less likely to vote for the governing party in the election.

Bountrogianni, who has been careful to stay neutral throughout the democratic renewal process, was reportedly concerned the referendum vote was being politicized by such machinations.

Bountrogianni's concerns sound like fair ones from a personal standpoint, as there are certainly reasons for concern about McGuinty's apparent lack of any principle on the issue. But for those of us more interested in seeing MMP pass than in internal Lib machinations, I have to figure the polling itself will make for relatively good news.

As I'd noted earlier this week, all indications so far are that Ontario's Cons are holding their fire only until the Libs' wording is released, allowing them to campaign against the Libs directly on the issue rather than criticizing the findings of the citizens' assembly.

If the Cons do pursue that strategy, then there figures to be a strong overlap between "no" voters and anti-Lib voters - giving McGuinty every reason to be at least somewhat publicly supportive of the "yes" side. And with today's indication that McGuinty is indeed setting his position on MMP based on political convenience rather than any strong personal or party principles, that scenario is all the more likely to play out.

For once, cynical machinations among Ontario's most prominent politicians are apparently lining up in a way which could result in real positive change. The question now is whether the issue will play out as seems likely now - or whether there are surprises in store along the way.