The craziest thing in Hudak’s platform? It’s not the math.

In one of the weirdest political endorsements in recent memory, the Globe and Mail noted this week that Tim Hudak heads “an untested Progressive Conservative Party that needs to moderate and mature. The only way it will do so is if it is given the chance to govern (italics added).”

The cure for immaturity, apparently, is a stint as premier.

This sort of softball treatment by the media has helped Hudak craft an image of himself as a friendly, plain-talking dad who is — at worst — a little goofy and bad at math.

Tim Hudak’s debate boycott disrespects democracy

THUNDER BAY, ONT.—So it has come to this. Again.

For the second election in a row, one of the big three party leaders will be missing in action during a major campaign debate.

Dalton McGuinty snubbed democracy with a telltale display of arrogance in the 2011 election. Now, following in the former premier’s footsteps — or more precisely, his empty chair — Progressive Conservative Leader Tim Hudak will be the nay saying no-show at Monday’s scheduled debate organized by northern municipalities.

Tim Hudak's bizarre plan to create jobs by cutting public services

How do you feel about seeing your neighbour lose her job? Would you vote to have 100,000 of your neighbours lose their jobs? That is what Tim Hudak and his Conservatives are asking Ontario voters to do in the provincial election June 12.

Hudak pledges to eliminate 100,000 public service jobs if he forms the next government. Vote for his party (or stay home) and that is what you provoke.

Right off, that number looks stupid: not even 100,000 people work directly for the Ontario government.

Ontario delivers education, health and municipal services. So what Hudak wants Ontarians to do is vote for less health care, education, amateur sports, cultural activities, parks and recreational services for citizens within the province.

A million jobs? Heck, why not a zillion?

One of my all-time favourite comments by an economist goes like this:

“If two people claim to have seen a UFO, with one person claiming that it was large and the other person claiming that it was small, should we assume that the UFO was medium-sized?”

This great comment — actually by two economists, Brian MacLean and Mark Setterfield — reminds us of a basic, often-neglected law of economics: The fact that people assert something to be true doesn’t mean that it is.

Tim Hudak compares equalization payments to welfare

Ontario Progressive Conservative Leader Tim Hudak says Ontario needs to get off the "welfare rolls" of equalization payments from the federal government.

In an interview on CBC Radio's The House, host Evan Solomon asked Hudak if he would stand up to Ottawa on transfer payments.

"I think we should get off the welfare rolls," Hudak said.

Tim Hudak would cut 100,000 public sector jobs if Tories win Ontario election

Ontario's Progressive Conservative leader drew swift condemnation from his opponents Friday as he announced a plan to slash the number of public sector workers in the province by 100,000 if he wins next month's election.

Tim Hudak said it would be a tough move, but one that would reap benefits in the future.

"I take no joy in this, but it has to be done if we want job creators to put more people on the payroll in our province," he said in Barrie, Ont.

Ontario Election 2014: Tim Hudak Expected To Reveal Details On Jobs Plan

TORONTO - Promises to create hundreds of thousands of jobs designed to lure Ontario voters dominated Thursday's election campaign as party leaders heckled one another's employment proposals and what it would mean for the province.

Both the Progressive Conservatives and New Democrats pushed job-creation plans as the Liberals and federal government traded barbs over support for the province.

Tim Hudak's job-creation vision -- or, how not to create a million jobs

It was almost too painful to watch: Tim Hudak and top Conservative luminaries kicked off their campaign for the 2014 Ontario election in a Toronto music recording studio. Problem: that studio (like others in the business) is supported in part by recording and production industry grants from the provincial government -- exactly the kind of "corporate welfare" that Hudak routinely rails against. Reporters asked about this seeming contradiction, and after a couple of kicks at the can Hudak abruptly walked off the stage -- leaving his confused host (studio owner and former rocker Gil Moore) standing alone at the mike like a deer in the headlights. Here's the link to Global's coverage of every awkward bit of it. Moore later told reporters (not surprisingly) that he fully supports the government's music industry subsidies (but endorses Hudak anyway -- aging rock stars are known for many things, but consistency is not one of them). Quite apart from the incredible contradictions of this botched photo-op, a separate claim that Hudak made during the episode is worthy of more serious consideration by Ontario voters -- and anyone else concerned with unemployment during this brutal, austere era. Hudak summed up his job-creation vision with this succinct quote:

"The biggest thing that we can do to actually create jobs in the province of Ontario is to balance the budget."

Hudak Stresses Job Creation, Reduced Spending

Ontario Progressive Conservative Leader Tim Hudak said it’s “understandable” federal Tories have attacked the policies of his Liberal rival — though he did not know the comments from Ottawa were coming.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Finance Minister Joe Oliver on Friday took aim at the Liberals’ plan for a made-in-Ontario pension, and the budget that triggered the election; a break with tradition that typically sees federal politicians stay out provincial campaigns

Economics, labour and the miseducation of Stephen Harper and Tim Hudak

Tim Hudak is a great example of the damage a good education can do. So is Stephen Harper. Both are products of university economics departments in the late 20th century. Each has a proud M.A. in the field. Like their American cognate -- Paul Ryan -- they've chosen to implement economic policy with no or little experience in the work world. Hudak worked briefly at a low level for Walmart; almost an internship. Since then -- all politics.

Here's what they learned from courses in post-Keynesian, Friedmanite economics. It's pure theory. It says the world works best when everyone comes to market, like a little piggy, with whatever they have: money, skills, needs. They dicker and set prices for each other's stuff and the best possible outcome results. Anything that interferes with these individual interactions is a Bad Thing.

Doug Ford No Longer Such An Exciting Candidate For Ontario PC Leader Tim Hudak

TORONTO - The ongoing controversy surrounding Toronto Mayor Rob Ford is apparently making his councillor brother Doug a less attractive potential candidate for Ontario's Progressive Conservatives.

Just two months ago, PC Leader Tim Hudak said he would love to welcome Doug Ford to the Tories' list of candidates in the next provincial election and said he was "excited" to have the councillor on board the Tory team.

Tim Hudak looks to import anti-union politics from south of the border

Tim Hudak recently turned to prominent Republican lobbying firm Greener and Hook for direction. It's a fitting move as the Progressive Conservatives most significant policy proposal comes straight out of the U.S. Right's empower big business and attack your opponents playbook.

Hudak has made it clear that if he wins the next provincial election he plans to make it illegal for employers and employees to agree to have union dues automatically deducted from every workers' paycheck. A Progressive Conservative policy paper released last summer says, "No clauses in any provincial legislation, regulation or collective agreement should require a worker to become a member of a union or pay union dues as a condition of employment."

Hudak calls for non-confidence vote over gas plants

Progressive Conservative leader Tim Hudak is calling for a vote of non-confidence in Premier Kathleen Wynne’s Liberal government over the cost of two gas plants cancelled by the Liberals during last year’s election.

The Tories introduced a non-confidence motion at Queen's Park on Monday, as Hudak accused the Liberal government of corruption, and said Ontarians should have no faith in Wynne's government because of the gas plants scandal.

Tim Hudak — the last Thatcherite

Tim Hudak wants Ontario voters to know he’s a changed man.

He’s strong now, not weak. He’s ready to fight, not compromise. He believes in hard-right politics, not the mushy middle.

In a revealing interview this week with Martin Regg Cohn, the Star’s provincial affairs columnist, Hudak portrayed himself as a protégé of Mike Harris, the former Conservative premier who is providing advice to the current Tory leader.

The new Tim Hudak heads back to the future, embracing his inner Harris

Meet the new Tim Hudak.

Never mind the Tory leader you saw in the last provincial election, when he blew a big lead and gave the Liberals another term in power. Next time — which could be any time if the minority government falls over its spring budget — Hudak vows to give voters a clearer choice.

But the new, improved Hudak will not try to pass himself off as a kinder, gentler, New Age Tory. Instead, he is going back to the future — to an era many Progressive Conservatives spent the past decade trying to distance themselves from: Welcome back to a more muscular, straight-shooting, no-nonsense tone perfected by one of his more successful political mentors.

Tim Hudak lays out his vision for Ontario at fundraiser

Tory Leader Tim Hudak says he has the right vision for Ontario.

He told his annual fundraising dinner it includes bringing unions to heel, getting rid of “expensive gold-standard” public pensions, new subways, introducing performance levels for bureaucrats, freezing public-sector wages for two years, and giving tax breaks for employers.

“We will modernize our labour laws so that no worker will be forced to join a union as a condition for taking a job. And no business will be forced to hire a company solely because it has a unionized workforce,” he said.

'Right to work' is a lie

The title might sound harsh, but there is no other way to say it. Creating legislation that takes away human rights in the workplace, and claiming that it is giving you rights, is deliberately dishonest. What it's really about is greed and low wages.

There has been much written and much hand wringing lately about social inequality and the ever growing gap between the haves and the have-nots. There is more wealth now than there has ever been. We don't have a deficit problem. We have a distribution of wealth problem. "Right to Work" legislation will make that gap much, much worse.

Hudak attacks unions and environmentalists

Unions and radical environmentalists are threatening Ontario’s economic progress, Tory Leader Tim Hudak says.

Hudak on Tuesday blamed unions — particularly public sector unions — for stalling Ontario’s economic recovery, and environmentalists for stalling development of the Ring of Fire, a vast northwestern Ontario mineral deposit.

“What the oilsands are to Alberta, what potash is to Saskatchewan, the Ring of Fire could be for the province of Ontario ... it’s too bad that the Liberals seem to be captured by radical environmental groups,” Hudak told reporters at Queen’s Park.

Tim Hudak’s plan to link student loans to grades is silly

American president Harry S. Truman once observed that “the C students run the world.” If Ontario Progressive Conservative leader Tim Hudak gets his way, they won’t even obtain a post-secondary education — at least one funded by government loans.

In his most preposterous policy position yet, Hudak says university and college students should receive loans only if they reach a certain — undefined — level of academic success.

Tim Hudak wants student loans tied to marks

Student loans should be tied to marks and more young adults should be steered toward applied learning programs at community colleges than universities to improve their prospects of getting jobs.

Those are among the recommendations of a new policy paper on improving higher education from Progressive Conservative Leader Tim Hudak as his party prepares for an election that could come later this year.