Why Henry is Going to Vote for Mr. Taft

Well, it’s mostly about hockey rinks.

When I said why I wouldn’t be voting for Mr. Klein, I said it all comes down to a question of character and who you can trust. There are just too many issues for us to get our arms around. We have to rely on our instincts about a leader’s honesty and dedication to the job when we finally cast our vote.

Kevin Taft has never run a government before. His party has put forth an ambitious set of policies which will take years to implement. They will likely stumble along the way just as all governing parties do. What makes me think that Mr. Taft is right for the job?

Well, he is probably as well educated as he could be for the leadership of this province. He has his PhD in Business from the University of Warwick in England. But I’ve known lots of people with good education that I wouldn’t want as a leader. No - the thing that impresses me most about Kevin Taft, and the reason I will vote Liberal in this election, is that he knows how to make hockey rinks.

The Taft family live across the road from their neighbourhood rink at the local community league. For more than five years, Mr. Taft was the volunteer rink manager. That meant that during our long winter months he and his crew got the boards up, took care of the flooding, and made sure the rink got shoveled when it snowed. Something volunteers do all over this fair province of ours. They do it in freezing temperatures, in the dark, and often wondering why they are not at home watching TV. They know that someone has to do it, and they do it for the good of the community.

Now being a good community league rink manager doesn’t make a provincial leader. But it sure tells me a lot about a man’s character. In my mind the Liberals have put forth a viable, community minded set of policies and I know they have a community minded leader with the business smarts to implement them.

That’s why Henry will be voting for Mr. Taft and his Liberal party in this election.