Like Trump, Doug Ford Emulates Himself an Autocrat
Doug Ford recently criticized President Trump for “stabbing him in the back” with the hefty tariffs that were announced for Canadian products by the US President. It beggars belief that Ford wholeheartedly supported Trump this past election as he clearly stated at a campaign event, albeit on a hot mic. After all, Donald Trump had made it very clear that tariffs were in the cards for Canada during his campaign. What was it that made Ford so enamoured with Trump that it garnered such devotion? We ought to know before the election.
Donald Trump is, of course, a twice impeached, felon President. One who has been found to have sexually assaulted a woman (in a civil suit) and was responsible for an insurrection, attempting to overthrow a democratic election. He’s currently accused of staging a coup with Elon Musk. Musk has stopped funding numerous agencies, laid off and fired thousands of federal employees and appears to have accessed numerous sensitive computer systems with his team of young computer programmers who have questionable clearance credentials. The National Institute of Health and the Centres for Disease Control have been gutted at a time when a new pandemic threatens. Court challenges may resume funding to some agencies but the serious damage in employee attrition will have accomplished what Musk and Trump wanted.
Upon reflection, it’s plain to see that Ford emulates Trump’s style of autocratic governance. Like Trump, Ford sees his authority should supersede all others. He seemingly fails to grasp the concepts of public welfare, public health, or the purpose of ODSP (or he’s not interested). He’s resistant to improving ODSP benefits citing his belief that recipients should just buck up and go to work — Failing to accept the vast majority of recipients have severe and chronic disabilities that prevent them from returning to the workforce. The hurdles to obtain benefits are high indeed. Ford has a history of ignoring expert advisory groups convened by him, substituting his own opinions after their consensus building approaches. This was observed in 1) The dissolution of the COVID19 Advisory Science Table, 2) Failing to follow the advice of two commissioned reports on safe consumption sites that recommended keeping existing drug consumption sites open, increasing funding to stabilize staffing and hiring permanent security guards to improve safety, and 3) Ignoring a commissioned external energy report recommending natural gas be phased out to reach net zero emissions.
Ford has made sweeping structural changes without a mandate or prior discussion during campaigns. Moving alcohol sales into corner stores, eliminating safe injection sites, moving Ontario Service kiosks from Ontario business owners to an American conglomerate: “Staples”, building a traffic tunnel along the 401, the Therme Spa fiasco, the Greenbelt development, eliminating the Ontario Science Centre…well the list is long. The cost to Ontario taxpayers has been in the billions. Ontario’s deficit has soared under his governance.
While Ford has added medical school spots with the addition of a medical school, it’s a improvement that won’t be realized for at least six years. It’s not clear these additions will even match attrition of physicians retiring in the next decade. I have worked during many challenges over the past 30 years; the HIV epidemic, the cancer service shortage of the 90s and Bob Rae’s Social Contract (which froze government employee salaries including some physician and nurses salaries, and reduced physician trainees). The healthcare system is in the worst shape in 3 decades. Doug Ford has failed to maintain healthcare spending. In 2022, he failed to spend nearly a billion dollars in allocated healthcare funds. ER waits are often greater than 10 hours and Windsor-Essex has endured countless Code Blacks where ambulance services are not immediately available. Across the province ER waits are untenable, hospital services are rationed at times, and nearly 3 million Ontarians are without family physicians.
Like Trump, Ford’s hold on his party is significant. He campaigns with strings attached: None of the Ontario PC candidates are permitted to take part in debates, the cornerstone of democratic elections. How else can voters derive a good sense of what the candidates stand for if they fail to make one? Ford won’t take more than a few questions from reporters now that he is surrounded in controversy. The Musk Starlink deal which he rescinded, was restored less than 24 hours later. He hasn’t resumed the cancellation despite Trump instituting tariffs on steel and aluminum. Finally Ford is under RCMP investigation for the Greenbelt fiasco.
Doug Ford is touting his hardline against Trump tariffs as a reason to vote for the Ontario PC party. He likes to talk about no other issue. Has he been effective? If he vacillates over cancelling the Starlink deal, one has to wonder where his alliances lie? Is Ford a leader that deserves another four years? My advice, put Ontario first and choose someone else.
