Liberals Ban Themselves From TIFF

The fear of being considered an 'elite' has hit epic proportions with the premier of Ontario deciding to skip his province's biggest bash.

The Ontario Liberals have explicitly forbid all of their MPPs, candidates, and even their staffers from accepting invitations to the Toronto International Film Festival once it opens on Sept. 8. An edict from the Premier Dalton McGuinty's chief of staff apparently went out to remind everyone not to accept invitations to attend one of the film world's premier events (not to mention a huge cash cow for the province) because being seen with celebrities and other such “elites” (our word, not theirs) might not reflect too well on them during the election campaign. Even McGuinty won't be making an appearance at the festival, which has grown from a regional player to one of the largest in the world during his consecutive terms. One wonders (and hopes) if this just means that Liberals can't accept invitations but can pay their own way.

We suppose that there is the risk that the more Philistine sections of the PC Party could make a whole lot of rabble if McGuinty is seen rubbing shoulders with Brad Pitt or whoever, but that just strikes as us a bit cowardly on the Liberals' part. (Plus, one would think a photo with George Clooney might be a bit of an electoral boon for the guy.) There's little difference, to us at least, between the premier of the Ontario skipping the province's biggest entertainment industry get-together and the mayor of Toronto skipping the Pride Parade. Don't be surprised to see PC Leader Tim Hudak dropping by for an appearance or two at the 10-day festival.