Each week, the National Post will be checking in with Ontario voters
for their thoughts on the Ontario election campaign. Look for it on
Mondays

Mary Vallis, National Post

TORONTO - At first glance, one might expect the
group of new mothers at an outdoor fitness class to be ideal Liberal
voters. As they jog with strollers and heft their babies in unison, it
seems clear education, health and child care are all top of mind.

But
some of the mothers in this class are also contemplating Conservative
leader John Tory’s big point over the past two week: Dalton McGuinty
broke his promises.

"I’m definitely not going to vote Liberal,"
said Fiona Marshall, the leader of the outdoor fitness class for new
mothers, and a former teacher herself.

As her eight-month-old daughter Ailie plays on the grass, Ms.
Marshall explained that while she voted for the party in 2003, she
cannot do it again.

"This is a ‘mom’ thing to say, but we don’t lie in our house. You don’t make promises you can’t keep."

Ms.
Marshall said the Liberals’ problem clearly went beyond the financial
problems they inherited after taking office. Mr. McGuinty cannot lay
the blame there for the many promises he did not keep, she went on.

"Wherever
my politics lie, morally I can’t support a party that has done
basically nothing that it promised to do around education," Ms.
Marshall said.

"I’m normally left of Liberal. But for the first time in our house, we’re talking about voting right."

Other
women in the class echo Ms. Marshall’s sentiments. While most of the
new mothers were too busy with bath times and household routines to
follow the election campaign or watch the televised leaders’ debate,
Cheryl Hobbs caught "John Tory killing the Liberals," as she put it. It
was interesting to see Mr. Tory call Mr. McGuinty out on so many
issues, she said.

"It’s not all the time we hear about
everything," Ms. Hobbs said as she bounced her nine-week-old son, Noah,
after the class. "I’m still undecided … but probably going towards
Conservative."

One of the issues Melanie Laskey is following is
funding for children with autism. While her own son, Ryan, does not
have the brain development disorder, the child of a colleague does. Ms.
Laskey appreciates how much the cost of therapy can strain families.

But
while opposition leaders criticize Mr. McGuinty for not keeping an
election promise to immediately provide funding for autistic children
over the age of six, Ms. Laskey is still wary of the Conservatives’
plan. Back in February, Mr. Tory announced that his party, if elected,
will clear the wait list for children under the age of six and provide
flexible aut-ism programming.

"I’m more of a liberal-minded
person. And I don’t know whether the Tories would actually do anything
that would put me over the edge to vote for them," said Ms. Laskey, an
accountant. "I don’t trust politicians too much."

Indeed, many mothers in the group are disillusioned about any of the promises the politicians make.

"It’s
all the same, really," said Cindy Boudah, loading her son, Connor, into
his stroller. "They should stop making promises that can’t be kept."

Fiona Marshall, with daughter Ailie, says
broken promises by the Liberals will lead her to change her vote in the
coming election. Peter Redman, National Post