安省保守党党领竞选(III)

在刚刚结束的安省保守党党领竞选中，Patrick Brown力克Christine Elliott大获全胜。据Brown的华人组织委员会成立伊始就任其成员的Bob Mok，Brown 致力于与被保守党一直忽视的少数族裔选民建立联系。

Patrick Brown has soundly defeated Christine Elliott to win a landslide victory in PC leadership race. According to Bob Mok who had served on Brown’s Chinese Organizing Committee since its inception, Brown has focused on reaching out to the ethnic community that has been traditionally ignored by the PC party.


本文为该系列文章中的第三篇也是最后一篇文章，读者欲参照前文可点击：
This is the third and last article in this series. For the previous articles, see the link below:
http://chinesenewsgroup.com/news/44430
http://chinesenewsgroup.com/news/51851


在上一篇文章中，我们探讨了其他人对Patrick Brown的看法，并集中讨论了其所秉持的政策方向。但许多人可能都不知道Patrick Brown是安省保守党有史以来最年轻的党领。

Last time, we talked about the perception of Patrick Brown by others and focused on his known policies and directions. Many people may not realize that Patrick Brown is the youngest leader in the Ontario Progressive Conservative party's history.


在党领竞选期间，Christine Ell曾称Brown是一个在其九年联邦国会议员生涯中“没有任何实质性记录”的“职业政客”。此外，他们在是否支持安省省长韦恩的小学生新性教育大纲的问题上所持的立场也存在分歧。Brown呼吁对性教育大纲进行大幅改革，而Elliott则要求就此进行更多磋商。

During the leadership campaign, Christine Elliot has called Brown a “career politician” with “no substantive record” in his nine years as a federal legislator. There was also a clash on the direction of whether to support Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne’s new sex education curriculum for elementary students. Brown has called for significant changes to what is taught about sexual health in schools, while Elliott has asked for more consultation.


在党领竞选期间，这两位候选人都未作出太多政纲承诺。Elliott只承诺会在三年内将企业所得税从11.5%降至10%。Brown除了承诺会结束对工会的妖魔化，亦很少谈及如果其当选省长将会如何施政，而是一直都将重点放在与一向都被安省保守党忽视的族裔群体建立紧密联系上。

Both candidates did not offer too many platform promises during the leadership campaign. Elliott has promised to lower corporate income tax to 10 per cent from 11.5 per cent over three years. Brown has said little about how he would govern if elected premier other than to end the demonization of unions, instead focusing on reaching out to ethnic groups that have been traditionally overlooked by the provincial Progressive Conservative party.


在从现在到三年后的下届安省省选期间，Brown将面临一项艰巨任务。最新的民意调查结果显示，安省保守党目前的支持率排名第三，落后于执政的安省自由党以及安省新民主党。Brown需要重建保守党，而这意味着相关工作必须从党内开始——也就是实施他在竞选期间就宣布过的“整顿”策略。在此之后，保守党必需重塑其形象并使其再度迎合选民心意。Brown不仅需要争取党内的支持者，还需要吸引此前从未投票支持过保守党的选民。

Brown is now facing a daunting task between now and the next Ontario election in a little over three years. The latest polls indicated that the Ontario Progressive Conservatives are now in third place, after the ruling Liberals and NDP. Brown needs to rebuild the party. This means work has to start within the party – a “clean house” strategy announced by him throughout the campaign. After that, the party has to reinvent its image and make it palatable for voters again. Brown will need to reach beyond his supporters in the party, and then to voters who have never voted PC before.


一些不受欢迎的政策导致安省保守党在过去三届省选中均以惨败收场，也迫使Brown开始聚焦于一些基本问题。我们已经知道Brown担任党领后的首要任务就是解决安省的可负担能源问题。这也是自由党省府的绿色能源计划带来的大问题，该计划包括大张旗鼓地关闭安省所有燃煤发电厂，从而推高了安省电费。

Unpopular policies that destroyed the Ontario Progressive Conservative party’s last three Provincial election campaigns led Brown to focus on the basics. We understand that his first priority as leader will be to address energy affordability in Ontario. This is a major issue after the Liberals’ Green Energy Plan, which included the much publicized closing down of all coal plants in Ontario, drove up the provincial electricity rates.


而在保守党政府当选后，其将要面对的首要问题就是“安省债务和赤字”。目前，安省政府的债务利息支出已经超过其在环境、交通和基础设施方面的开支总和。此外，保守党是否能在不引发工会愤怒的情况下坚持冻结公务员工资？与此同时，“将出售的安省部分资产”的选择范围也是人人都关注的问题。

The number one priority facing any progressive Conservative government when elected is “the provincial debt and deficit”.  Ontarians pay more in interest than on the environment, transportation and infrastructure combined. Can the party hold the line on public sector salaries without drawing the unions’ wrath? Also, the selection and scope of “targeted assets sale” question is on everyone’s mind.


保守党必须应对的另一个问题，是重新沟通与在过去20年间日益疏离的城市选区。Brown必需关注公交、交通拥堵和高昂房价等问题，并提出引人注目的解决方案恢复选民对保守党的信心。

Another issue that has to be dealt with is a reconnection to urban ridings that slipped away over the last two decades. Brown must look into Transit, traffic congestions, and expensive housing and propose attractive solutions to regain voters’ interests.


此外，恢复安省的制造业也非常重要。由于汽车行业日渐萎缩和消失，目前迫切需要创造替代汽车业所失去的就业岗位。

The renewal of Ontario’s manufacturing sector is also very important. The automotive industry is shrinking and disappearing slowly. There is an urgent need to find a replacement for jobs lost in the automotive industry.


目前，Brown尚未就这些问题给出任何回答。预计在他的省级工作团队成立后，他将会公布一份与自由党以及新民主党不同的政纲。

He has not provided any answers to these issues at this moment. It is expected that he will divulge platforms that will distinguish his party from the Liberals and NDP once his provincial team is assembled.


Brown已在2015年5月13日正式辞去国会议员职务。因此其势必会尽快在安省议会寻求一席之地，以显示其在安省政坛影响力。

Brown formally resigned from the House of Commons on May 13, 2015. It will be inconceivable that he will not seek a seat in the provincial legislature at soon as feasible to make his presence felt in Ontario.


对于许多人来说，下届省选还很遥远。但是从政治角度而言并鉴于Brown所肩负的艰巨任务，迎接下一次选举胜利的倒计时钟早已开始滴答作响。

To many, the next provincial election is far away. In political terms and given the magnitude of Brown’s tasks, the countdown clock to a victory campaign is already ticking.