Thursday, August 2, 2018

Doug Ford has been a disappointment so far

It's been just over a month since Doug Ford was sworn in as Ontario's Premier and so far, I'm not impressed with what he's done. Yes, I understand that it's way too early to pass judgement on him and his government, but he's not earning any points with me so far.

Firstly, he scrapped the sex-ed curriculum that the Liberals introduced in 2015. He promised to do so during the election campaign. But he also promised to create a new curriculum based on consultation with parents. Until then, he's decided that Ontario's students will learn from the old sex-ed curriculum. A curriculum that's twenty years old, which doesn't talk about things like sexting, gender identity or other factors that play into sexual education that were not present when the 1998 curriculum was introduced. These are things that kids need to learn, regardless of what Ford's social conservative backers think. His government later changed its tune a bit and said that kids would still learn about things like social media in regards to sex-ed. So we have a lot of inconsistency here. No one seems to have concrete answers on just what kids will be learning when they go back to school this September. The better thing to do would have been to keep the curriculum that the Liberals introduced in 2015 until the government could create a new one. Okay, yes, maybe the curriculum that the previous Liberal government was controversial, but at least Ontario's youngsters would still learn about what is for all intensive purposes the world of sex and gender in the 21st century.

The new Ford government has also moved to scrap the cap-and-trade system that was introduced by the Liberals. I'm not a fan of carbon taxes of any kind and think it's just a simple cash grab. Nevertheless, climate change is a clear and present danger to the entire world's population. If Ford wants to scrap cap-and-trade, he should at least present an alternative plan to address environmental concerns. He cannot just ignore the problem. I should also mention that there are severe financial consequences to cancelling the cap-and-trade system. Contracts that were made between the Ontario government and other parties under this scheme will now have to be terminated, leading to possible lawsuits and perhaps billions of dollars in financial penalties from cancelling these contracts. Now of course, Ford and his entourage will try and blame the Liberals for any of the financial costs associated with cancelling the contracts. But blaming the previous government isn't going to plug the big financial hole that will be dug once cap-and-trade is done for. So how will Ford's government make up the shortfall? The answer is, surprise, surprise, deep cuts to things like health care and education. As always, the books will be balanced on the backs of those who cannot afford it.

Many of the cuts that will inevitably come from the Ford government will be felt in the province's capital, Toronto. And Ford has already taken a page out of former premier Mike Harris' book by shoving changes to the city's governmental structure down the throats of Torontonians. Just as folks in Toronto are about to vote in municipal elections, Ford has moved to cut the size of the city's council almost in half. That means less elected officials representing more people. It's already hard enough for Torontonians to reach their representatives at City Hall. Now Ford wants to make it even harder. And inasmuch as I would love to see many of Toronto's councillors lose their jobs, the size and structure of Toronto's city council should be decided by Torontonians, not by Queen's Park. If Ford wants to improve the way Toronto operates, he should start by giving the city's mayor stronger powers so that he's not just a eunuch who can't do much more than the members of council he presides over. I'm talking, of course, about a strong mayor system. The kind that big U.S. cities, like Chicago and New York have. Hell, Douggie himself said he supported such a system, yet he won't put his money where his mouth is. So Toronto's municipal government will continue to be disfunctional with different councillors peddling their own pet projects and agendas. They'll just have bigger fiefdoms this time.

Again, I can't pass judgement on this government as it's way too early to do so. But I'd say Ford and his posse are off to a pretty bad start.   

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