In a lot of ways the Ontario Progressive Party leadership race was a "Hindenburg-like" disaster.
In fact, I'm certain throughout its duration many PC members, who helplessly watched the fiery crash unfold before their eyes, had to stifle the urge to scream out, "Oh the humanity!"
And, of course, the whole crazy ordeal ended on a stunning and dramatic note, when a triumphant Doug Ford emerged from the flames of the party's wreckage like some kind of unstoppable populist terminator.
Ford's victory, needless to say, only guarantees the craziness in Ontario politics will continue.
So if nothing else, the PC party's version of a Gotterdammerung has seemingly done the impossible — it's made Ontario politics less dull.
Indeed, I'm sure raw excitement is already surging through the veins of Canada's media and punditry classes as they ponder the implications of the upcoming Ontario election, an election that will pit an unpopular but tough Premier, against a Trump-style populist, upstart.
Some of these media voices, I'm certain, will view Ford's takeover of the PC party with uncomprehending horror.
They will write column after column expressing their fear that Ford, exploiting the emotional power of populism, will mobilize the teeming hordes of Fordnation rabble into a powerful political force capable of sweeping into power.
And for lots of Ontarian "elites", (including some of the PC party elites) that's a terrifying prospect.
Picture orcs swarming over Middle Earth or the barbaric Goths looting Rome and you'll get a sense of the imagery that's currently dominating their horrified elitist minds.
On the other hand, many in the mainstream media will welcome Ford's challenge, as this will give Canada's "Establishment" party, i.e. the Liberals, an opportunity to crush "Trumpian" populism, before it has a chance to establish a beachhead in this country.
They'll confidently argue that an untested bumpkin like Ford will be no match for Premier Kathleen Wynne and her battle-hardened Liberal legions.
So yeah, my point is over the next few months we can expect the media to churn lots of dramatic warnings about an impending apocalyptic doom and lots of commentary peppered with cool military metaphors.
And that's got to be good, right?
I mean, for far too long Ontario politics has been a snooze fest.
Whereas British Columbians will periodically elect oddball political parties to power (anybody remember Social Credit?) and Western provinces will be won over by parties imbued with fiery prairie-populism and Quebec will sometimes flirt with separatist governments, Ontario is usually content to stick with political leaders who promise nothing than peace, order and good government.
If Ontario had a political motto it would probably be: "We go along, to get along."
In other words, historically-speaking, Ontario's political eco-system is not a place where new ideas and new approaches to government can take root and thrive.
Recall how the old federal Reform Party, with its exotic prairie style notions about "direct democracy", consistently failed to breach Ontario's western border.
Indeed, about the only time in recent memory when Ontarians did take an ideological and political chance came in 1990 when, maybe by happenstance, they elected Bob Rae and his NDP gang of socialists into power.
It was a move Ontario voters almost instantly regretted.
Interestingly, Mike Harris and his PC party swept the NDP out of power in 1995 by promising wary Ontarians a revolution that was based on "common sense."
At any rate, Ontario voters banished the NDP, with its scary socialist message, to the political wilderness, where it remains to this very day.
But now perhaps the mood is changing in Ontario.
Maybe the sense of anger and frustration and anxiety that's seemingly motivating voters around the world is slowly seeping into the political consciousness of staid, boring old Ontario.
Certainly, it's evidence of some sort of mood shift if even the tradition-bound, status-quo friendly, stuffy Progressive Party of Ontario can adopt an anti-establishment, populist veneer.
Will this mood shift be enough to overcome Ontario's traditional aversion to risk?
Who knows?
All we do know right now is that Ontario and the country is about to witness a true clash of personalities and a true clash of ideologies.
So get some popcorn, it should be a fun show.
Photo Credit: Global News
