评论：丑闻缠身的保守党仍受华人社区青睐 6-1

 

安省省选格局出现巨大改变。虽然保守党在竞选初期呈稳定领先势头，新民主党却扶摇直上，在近期民调中其党领霍华兹支持率一马当先，而保守党却显阵地难保。安省选民的民意改变凸显出一个简单的现实，那就是选民们在甄别领袖人物的人品和作风，他们要选出一个有诚信的政府。

The Ontario provincial election experiences a dramatic shift. While the Ontario PC party started the election race with a large and stable lead, the NDP has surged in support – with Ms. Horwath being the front-runner in the latest opinion polls-- while the PC is losing its ground. The rapid change in voters’ choices has highlighted a simple fact – that Ontario voters care about the leader’s integrity and that they want to elect an honest government.

虽然新民主党领霍华兹看似缺乏那种一呼百应的号召力和人格魅力，但她却以从不弄虚作假的名声赢得了大家的信任，获得了从党员到其当地选区乃至安省选民们交口称赞。她从不会撒谎，且从未听说过她卷入过任何政治丑闻。当她的竞选平台出现14亿的失误，她立即承认问题并为此做出道歉。

While the NDP leader Andrea Horwath seems to lack a showman’s nature or physical charisma, she has a genuine and authentic personality that has earned her the trust from her party members and her local constituents, and a positive view from Ontario voters. She is not known to have been involved in any scandals and she is a person who cannot tell a lie. Once a $1.4-billion error was detected in her campaign platform, she immediately acknowledged the mistakes and apologized for it. 

两袖清风的霍华兹及其新民主党却与其竞选对手呈鲜明对比。几个星期前，安省保守党在民调中春风得意，大有组成多数政府之势。随着全球民粹主义浪潮席卷安省，保守党新领袖道格•福特乘选民对自由党政府痛恨之东风而欲一登安省省长宝座。他的竞选口号与那些要干掉“肥油列车”的选民们一拍即合，而他反对政府过度开支的竞选纲领深得移民社区的民心。

This honest leader and her scandal free party appears to stand in strong contrast to their opponents. A few weeks earlier, Ontario PC was poised to form a majority government. As a global populist wave spreads to Ontario, a campaign strategy by tapping into voter’s anger towards the liberal government seemed to have paved a winning path for the new leader Doug Ford. Ford hits home with an electorate that wants to end the gravy train. His attacks on excessive government spending resonated well with the immigrant community.

但保守党竞选欺诈丑闻却给选民们的热情狠狠浇上一盆冷水。在当地提名选举过程中，保守党爆出多项作乱，导致腐败指控，并令警方卷入刑事调查。《环邮》调查揭露一人数投，无资格投票者乱投票，以及虚假党员等种种丑闻。

But PC party’s voting scandals have prevented the voters’ love to reach its fever pitch. Some half-dozen controversies about local nomination process are exposed that have led to corruption and criminal probes. The Globe investigation has revealed electoral fraud that included ballot-box stuffing, ineligible voters and fake memberships.

而对道格•福特曾参与其中的指控加剧了选民们的不满之情。在他任党领后，一位保守党候选人因被控在他任职的公司有6万名客户个人信息被盗而不得不引咎辞职。一条录音证据显示福特曾为助其钟意候选人当选而拉假党员入党，其行为涉嫌违反保守党党纪。

Doug Ford’s alleged involvement in the scandal has only fueled voters’ frustrations. Under his watch, a PC candidate resigned after it was found that the personal data of 60,000 customers had been stolen by the company where he worked. A recording emerged has left Ford facing accusations of violating party’s rules by signing up bogus members to help a candidate of his choice.

但保守党的这一现状对华人社区来说都无关紧要，丑闻缠身的保守党却仍受华人社区之青睐，许多社区成员仍是福特群体的铁杆支持者。对那些受“钱高于一切”华人文化影响的人士们来说，一个无论其道德如何沦丧的政党，只要能给他们带来些许钱袋上的恩惠，就会成为他们的最钟意的首选。

But despite the shocking scandals, it seems that PC party hasn’t lost any ground in the Chinese community, with many remaining to be Ford’ Nations’ staunchest supporters. For those who are under a cultural influence that values materialism over moral, the party that promises to put more money in their pocket but is morally broken can still be their most favorite choice.