FOR DOUG FORD, IT’S ALL ABOUT SEAT COUNT—IT REALLY IS
Kathleen Wynne
I think we are all pretty fed up with the tedium of our lives right now—except of course, for the people who are putting their lives at risk every day providing service to the rest of us. People on the front lines deserve a little tedium given the intensity of their lives for the last 12 months.
One of the things I have tried to do over the past year is to be judicious in my commentary on the provincial government whether in the Legislature, on social media, in speaking engagements with students or on email with constituents. I appreciate that the responsibilities of leadership have been onerous for the past year and there is no immediate relief in sight.
But this needs to be said.
We got to know Premier Doug Ford in the first two shambolic years of his term. His handlers began a reset before COVID to try to convince us all that this man is capable of leading a government. COVID gave him an opportunity to complete the reset.
But that does not change the fact that that many mistakes have been made and continue to be made. Premier Ford has refused to listen to front line teachers and support staff; he did not drive timely planning for lockdowns, testing, contact tracing or vaccine rollout and he has refused to invest in adequate staffing for schools and long-term care homes. The federal government has invested the vast majority of the money that has supported the people of Ontario through this crisis so Ontario’s response could have been so much better if the provincial government had stepped up to the plate.
These missteps have been litigated and re-litigated in the press for 12 months and will continue to be.
But while we remain justifiably preoccupied with all things COVID, there are other issues brewing. Doug Ford is showing his true colours once again.
And his true colours are about the game of politics.
On March 10th the Premier stood in the Legislature to answer a question from Gurratan Singh, MPP for Brampton East on the resources provided to Brampton during the pandemic. The Premier listed the investments and programs that have or will benefit Brampton, not surprisingly, not answering the question. But it was the way he ended the answer that really showed where his heart is. Ford summed up this way:
We have some great news coming to Brampton on a couple of fronts. I just can’t wait until the budget rolls out. And I look forward to taking over the three other seats in Brampton in the next election. (Hansard, March 10, 2021)
The exchange reminded me of the day, shortly after the 2018 election when Ford crossed the floor to shake my hand. As he headed back to his seat he paused to not-so-jovially threaten my colleague Mitzie Hunter that he was going to win her seat the next time around.
As I write this, the Ford government is in the throes of undermining years of environmental protection, issuing Ministerial Zoning Orders that bypass community process and undermine municipal councils in order to placate developers whose plans will pave over wetlands and irrevocably threaten ecosystems. These are developers who were very happy to see the Ford government elected because they saw a chance to bypass responsible environmental decision-making.
The government has already weakened Conservation Authorities so they can no longer intervene on behalf of the environment and communities but rather can now be forced by government to do its bidding.
Just a few months ago, the government rammed through legislation that will allow bigoted, homophobic Charles McVety to expand the mandate of his Canada Christian College to issue more degrees and spread his influence, all because McVety rallied social conservatives to Ford during his leadership bid.
On March 11th, the member for Kiiwetinoong, Sol Mamakwa asked the Premier a question about equitable access to vaccines for Indigenous people. The Premier responded with a shocking swipe at MPP Mamakwa, accusing him of jumping the queue to receive his vaccination when, in fact, Sol had been asked to help combat vaccine hesitancy by publicly getting his shot. Ford has now apologized but it is too late for anyone to doubt his disdain for Indigenous people in this country.
In every one of these cases, this Premier is either catering to people who are his friends or who have helped him in the past presumably in the hope that they will help him in the future, or he is dismissing those he does not value. Women, Indigenous people, the LGBTQ+ community will never help Doug Ford increase his seat count. He neither cares about them nor cares to learn what he does not know about them.
Developers, on the other hand, can make large financial contributions to a re-election campaign. And money can help increase a Party’s seat count.
These are Doug Ford’s true colours.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Kathleen Wynne - Kathleen Wynne was first elected to the Ontario legislature in 2003 as the MPP for Don Valley West. She was Ontario’s 25th Premier and leader of the Ontario Liberal Party from January 2013 to June 2018. Kathleen has dedicated her professional life to building a better province for the people of Ontario. She is guided by the values and principles that knit the province of Ontario together: fairness, diversity, collaboration and creativity.
The views and opinions expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the position of Air Quotes media. Read more opinion contributions via QUOTES from Air Quotes Media.