Showing posts with label doug ford. Show all posts
Showing posts with label doug ford. Show all posts

Tuesday, November 29, 2022

On Being Slyly Subversive

When a democratically elected government becomes dishonest and dictatorial, any legal action to hold it to account is welcome. Ontario, groaning under the yoke of the Ford government, may find this young lady's suggestion useful:

You want stop Doug Ford from “getting it done” and privatizing our healthcare and education and destroying Greenbelts. This young lady has a solution!!! 👇👇👇👇#onpoli #dougford #healthcare #educatorsjobs #Greenbelt

#onted #cupe

H/t 
Bev
@Garnet_2203



Click here for the PC Party Site.

Sunday, October 23, 2022

From The Land Of Make Believe


That would be Ontario, though I suppose, in truth, it is far more widespread: a rising number of deaths from Covid (this week was the worst since last May, despite three days missing from the weekly data) in the province. Nevertheless, our political overlords and their minions continue to do little to dispel the delusion that the pandemic is over. 

That, presumably, would be bad for business.

True, Ontario's medical officer of health, Kieran Moore, has made some mewling sounds about mask-wearing and booster shots, chiding us for the low rate of -fourth-booster uptake among those 70 and up (a mere 16% , which he deemed "not acceptable"). Yet he seems strangely reluctant to really address the issue:

While a return to mandatory masking is not yet being recommended, Moore called on people to consider [italics mine] wearing masks indoors as cases rise and said he would not hesitate to recommend a stronger measure if necessary.

“If there is any significant impact on our health system where we can’t care for Ontarians appropriately, I will absolutely have the conversation with government (around) whether we have to mandate masking for a set period of time,” Moore told Global News.

Huh? Hasn't he heard about the current crises of overcapacity and staff burnout in our hospitals?

Perhaps his pusillanimous response is the inevitable outcome of working for the Ford government. The message seems to be: normalcy no matter what the cost. 

And the cost could be substantial. New immunity-evading variants are of growing concern.

The increasing concern around these emerging variants has earned them unofficial Twitter hashtags that spare users from constantly typing awkward combinations of letters and numbers. BQ.1.1 is known as #Cerberus; its parent BQ.1 is known as #Typhon; BA.2.75.2 is being called #Chiron; and XBB has earned the moniker #Gryphon.

Whether or not these new immune-evading variants will lead to worse health outcomes than previous variants is the key question.

Dr. Peter Juni, former head of the Ontario Science Table, says thanks to vaccines and previous infection, the new kids on the block may not be as deadly as previous iterations. However, he admits of the possibility

that a variant that is both very good at evading the immune system — and also more virulent than existing strains — could one day arise. 

Of course, the chances of new and deadlier variants increase with each new infection. Undeniably, vaccines are of tremendous importance in preventing serious illness and death, but so is masking. While neither confers absolute protection, statistics show significant reductions in infections and thus significant reductions in the chance for endless mutations to arise when both are embraced.

So why the increasing stigma and public repudiation of masking? I suppose some see the mask as a very visible constraint on what they regard as their freedom, binary thinking being very popular amongst the simple-minded. And, of course, as alluded to earlier, government sees it as a reminder that the pandemic isn't over, and that is surely viewed as an impediment to the economic imperatives that drive government.

It has been said that we get the government we deserve. Perhaps that observation needs to be updated to include the diseases that can decimate us.



Tuesday, May 24, 2022

Me, Me, And Me

 

Here in Ontario, the 2022 June election will likely see another Doug Ford majority, in part achieved by cynically buying the electorate with cash gifts that I have written about in previous posts. People will use their own inflation-induced economic hardships to justify supporting Doug Ford. Isn't he, after all, the man who has already rebated and ended licence-sticker fees, promised a six-month reduction of gas taxes post-election, etc.?

What is a voter to do other than revert to an 'it's all about me" approach to the world? Voting with principle and integrity seems not within the cribbed philosophy of many. At the very least, they should have the courage to admit their selfish shortsightedness.

The following letter, taken from the print edition of today's Toronto Star, neatly encapsulates the political prostitution a sizable segment of the electorate is willing to engage in:

Ontarians should be ashamed if Ford is re-elected

If Doug Ford is re-elected, it will prove Ontarians do not care about the environment.


If Ford is re-elected, it will prove Ontarians do not care about our seniors.


If Ford is re-elected, it will prove Ontarians do not care about nurses.


If Ford is re-elected, it will prove Ontarians do not care about the young.


So what will Ford’s re-election show that Ontarians do care about?


This election is about “affordability,” so in effect, if Ford is re-elected, it will prove Ontarians do care about their own bottom line — they are selfish. To be fair, a majority will probably disagree, but a sizable enough plurality will have shown we’re not “in this together” but, in fact, we’re each in it for No. 1. 


Ernest Tucker Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ont.

Thursday, November 25, 2021

A Peek Inside The House Of Ford

Although the newspapers are apparently shying away from this, there is strong evidence of a breach in the dyke of official solidarity in Doug Ford's family. And that breach is his daughter Krysta, who, it seems, is unhappy with current societal regulations regarding Covid-19.

Ontario Premier Doug Ford's eldest daughter Krista has a bit of a history with anti-vax rants, voicing her vaccine skepticismlove of poppies over masksdislike of vaccine passports, and steadfast support for fringe conspiracy theories.

The former football-playing 30-year-old — whose private Instagram profile refers to her as a 'police wife' — got heated on social media in both the figurative and literal sense this week, going on a sweaty cardio rant after her Toronto cop/bodybuilder husband was sent home on unpaid leave for failing to comply with the police service's vaccination mandate.

Sergeant Dave 'Juggernaut' Haynes (really, that's his actual nickname) of 31 Division has served on the force for 20 years, and wife Krista is furious about his suspension, a move which applies to all Toronto Police Service employees who refuse to get vaccinated or disclose their status.

Her fury is being vented via social media: 

H/t Caryma Sa'd

But wait! Justice is coming:


One ardently hopes that given all her furious spinning, some much-needed oxygen will make its way to her brain.



Monday, October 25, 2021

Another Reminder About A Multi-Tasking Premier

As the reinvention of the Ontario Progressive Conservatives continues as we move closer to next June's election, yet another reminder about the man behind the curtain.

H/t Graeme MacKay

Saturday, October 23, 2021

Just A Reminder

With an election in Ontario next June, Doug Ford has been trying to rebrand himself, somewhat unsuccessfully given his unusual capacity for stepping in it. Nonetheless, a little reminder from Patrick Corrigan serves to highlight Dougie's true nature and the values he really embraces.





Saturday, July 31, 2021

The Writing Is On The Wall (And In The Newspapers)

 

H/t Patrick Corrigan

The is such a wealth of good letters to the editor today that I had a hard time choosing what to reproduce. 

They have one thing in common: the need for vaccine certificates is great, Doug Ford's refusal notwithstanding.

Re Vaccine passports should be on Ford’s list, July 28; Vaccine passports can prevent lockdowns, July 27 


Emma Teitel and Matt Elliott have each provided excellent arguments for the necessity and benefits of Ontario having vaccine passports.


I couldn’t agree more.


Let me remind the freedom-doubters there are numerous rights we all readily give up because they support order and public safety.


For example, you cannot legally drive your car out of your driveway without a valid driver’s license and car insurance.


Those who freely choose not to go by these conditions simply forfeit their right to drive on our public roads.


Similarly, those who freely choose not to get vaccinated, and thus obtain a vaccine passport, simply forfeit their right to mingle with the rest of us at a restaurant patio, a movie theatre, or a Blue Jay’s game.


And they certainly forfeit their right to work in our health-care settings or in our schools.


Ivan Brown, Toronto


I disagree strongly with the Ford government’s assertion that Ontario has no need for a vaccination passport.


People refuse to take a vaccine based on conspiracy theories that are unbelievable.


Those who refuse are putting the rest of us at risk, themselves at risk, their friends and family at risk, and most of all, they are going to clog up the healthcare system even more.


If it takes a passport to move some of these people off their unfounded theories, then that’s what we need.


Carl Irwin, Flesherton, Ont.


When most of the public overwhelmingly wants a vaccine passport in place, the premier of our province won’t step up to the plate.


He doesn’t want to offend a small segment of society by implementing the only way we will ultimately beat this virus.


While food service businesses, schools, long-term care, hospitals and scores of smaller service enterprises struggle to survive due to lax vaccine policies, the premier waffles as he refuses to do the right thing and make decisions that will save lives and jobs.


It’s time for Doug Ford to be the responsible parent and do the right thing.


Marion Bartlett, Singhampton, Ont.


Re A big tent of COVID misinformation, July 24 


The best incentive for vaccinations is a person’s job and the capacity to participate in the daily life of one’s choosing — as prescribed elsewhere, where the leaders are actually informed and not like our poorly educated premier, lack of vaccination comes with a price, literally.


No entry to restaurants, concerts, anywhere that crowds gather; no return to working without proof of full vaccination … what kind of privacy or rights come with the risk of infecting others and endangering our city, our province, the world?


Maybe the premier is blind to the reality that we all live. Perhaps his business ties blind him to the world apart from profit and cronyism. Blindness is the theme. But blindness in this case can be cured.


Joel Greenberg, Studio 180 Theatre


Let’s take a critical look at the antivaxxers and anti-lockdown adherents to examine whose civil liberty they are actually protecting.


Putting others at risk of infection and sabotaging vaccine clinics interferes with the rights of others to be protected from COVID-19.


It also jeopardizes the goal of reaching herd immunity and the possibility of going back to some degree of normalcy.


Not only are these people interfering with the civil liberties of those who want protection from the virus, they are also shooting themselves in the foot by increasing the likelihood of more lockdowns.

If the anti-vaxxers adherents are so vehemently opposed to lockdowns, has it not occurred to them that, if they were to get vaccinated, it would be a great way to help prevent the closings?


But that won’t happen as logical thinking is clearly absent among these folk.


Catherine Helwig, Toronto

Thursday, May 6, 2021

An Assault On The Olfactory Cells

 


To paraphrase a character from the play Hamlet, something is rotten in the state of Ontario.

And one needn't be a master detective to trace its source. Indeed, it is perhaps to state the obvious to conclude that Doug Ford is in the thrall of, and debt to, the developers. 

Let's consider the evidence. First, of course, is the infamous video that emerged during Ontario's last election campaign.


Despite Ford's later walking back those comments somewhat, the image of an ideologue bent on development at all costs has stuck. And as I pointed out in a recent post, his appointment of Norm Sterling, the failed environment minister under Mike Harris, to head the Greenbelt Council solidified that image.

But there is much more to Ford's entanglement with those who would blithely pave over environmentally-sensitive areas of the province, and thanks to steadfast journalism, the arrows pointing to the premier's indebtedness to those interests (not to mention conflict of interest and possible corruption) are becoming increasingly obvious.

The Toronto Star has brought its usual investigative rigour to all of this, and I will excerpt just a small part to get to the pertinent elements. 

The RCMP is investigating a group that launched an ad campaign attacking Ontario teachers last year.

Vaughan Working Families took out full-page ads in the Star and other major newspapers in February 2020 in advance of province-wide teachers’ strikes.

The ads were an apparent contravention of the Election Finances Act, according to Elections Ontario, because Vaughan Working Families had failed to register as a third party.

Of particular note is the fact that these ads appeared while Ford's government was in contract talks, led by education minister Stephen Lecce, with Ontario teachers. And just who is associated with the group behind the ads?

Vaughan Working Families is associated with developer Michael DeGasperis, founder of Vaughan-based Arista Homes and CEO of TACC Construction.

That would be the same DeGasperis who owns land along the proposed corridor and stands to greatly benefit from the Highway 413 development, an environmental disaster-in-waiting that Ford and his cronies have been vigorously pushing.

If built, the road will raze 2,000 acres of farmland, cut across 85 waterways and pave nearly 400 acres of protected Greenbelt land in Vaughan. It would also disrupt 220 wetlands and the habitats of 10 species-at-risk, according to the Toronto and Region Conservation Authority.

The full extent of the government's ties with DeGasperis and others is probably not knowable at this point, but it is noteworthy that shortly after the 413 proposal was resurrected (the previous Liberal government had shelved it), 

DeGasperis hosted Ford and Lecce, before he was education minister, in a private luxury suite at an NHL game in Florida in Dec. 2018.

Spokespeople for Ford and Lecce have said both politicians paid for their own tickets to the game and no government business was discussed.

No word on who paid for the transportation to Florida. 

Obviously, there is much more to be uncovered, but for now, the stench from Queens Park is becoming intolerable. Unfortunately, the opportunity for a through airing-out has to wait until June of 2022, when Ontario's next election is scheduled.

Tuesday, May 4, 2021

Pensée Du Jour

Nothing profound, other than to say it is good to know that amongst the provinces, Ontario is not alone in its government's ineptitude.

H/t Theo Moudakis


Thursday, November 22, 2018

A Spark Of Integrity



If one follows politics closely, it is easy to become quite jaded. On almost daily display are scenes of arrogance, condescension and the corrupting influence of power. We are reminded of those sorry aspects of our species regularly by Ontario's Doug Ford government, one I hesitate to label by any other name, as it seems increasingly to be a one-man show.

However, once in awhile we are reminded that there are still those who place principle over ideology and demagoguery, who realize their larger obligation is to the public good, not their political masters.

This was made evident earlier this week in the tale of Doug Ford's chief of staff, Dean French, a name you may have heard recently as the one who arranged for the firing from OPG of Alykhan Velshi, whose 'crime' appears to be his status as the former chief of staff to Patrick Brown.

French's latest foray into crossing lines has become public knowledge because of some brave insiders who reported his transgression to The Toronto Star.
Premier Doug Ford’s chief of staff ordered senior political aides to direct police to raid outlaw cannabis stores the day marijuana became legal and to show “people in handcuffs,” the Star has learned.

The edict from Dean French — an unelected political aide — in two conference calls the morning of Oct. 17 met stiff resistance from staff in the community safety ministry and the attorney general’s office, said four Progressive Conservative sources familiar with the situation.

“We’re not a police state. We don’t have the right or the ability to direct police to do anything,” said one insider who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss internal matters.
Resistance, in any form it takes when dealing with overweening governments, is to be encouraged. The next ray of hope is reflected in Progressive Conservative MPP Amanda Simard, who has found the courage to criticize her own administration:
Last week, the Ford government announced it was breaking its election promise to build a French-language university, and axed the office of the French-language services commissioner. The government said the office’s responsibilities would be absorbed by the provincial ombudsman.

In a rare move, Progressive Conservative MPP Amanda Simard released a statement on her Facebook page saying she was disappointed by the cuts.

“You have an ally in me, and I will never let you down,” Simard said in a translated version of the post. She said the cuts “disappoint me greatly, and I share this disappointment and frustration today, having initially worked internally as much as possible to reverse these decisions.”
Simard is apparently one of the few truly bilingual members of the Ford government, and is also the parliamentary assistant to Ford lapdog and Francophone Affairs Minister Caroline Mulroney.

Why is this an example of the integrity and courage we all pine for in our politicians? Make no mistake about it: she will pay a heavy price for her independent thinking. People like Ford, often described as a bully during his one term on Toronto city council, expect unquestioning fealty from all their adherents. It is the way of the authoritarian, and examples must be set when people step out of line.

Expect a demotion for Simard in the near-future. But while she may lose influence, she has achieved something far more important. She has shown that resistance is never futile, that every defiant gesture is a refusal to submit to arbitrary authority. Such is the human spirit, not yet vanquished.

One hopes Simard's example and that of the insiders who refused to defer to Dean French may serve to inspire others in the time to come.

Thursday, November 15, 2018

A Cannabis Beacon



For those seeking to ingest 'the herb' legally and are looking forward to the opening of bricks and mortar stores in Ontario April 1st, Premier Doug Ford has taken all of the guesswork out of finding such emporiums. Conveniently, they will be be found within 150 metres of schools.

The real story for me, however, is the brazen contempt for truth and language that Doug and his enablers are indulging in as he betrays an election promise:
“I won’t put it besides schools like you did,” Ford said in a spring election debate to then-premier Kathleen Wynne. The Liberal government had planned to open its first state-run marijuana outlet 450 metres from Blantyre Public School in Scarborough."
That the Ford government is betraying basic safety measures to keep cannabis out of the hands of young people is not lost on some people:
“It’s troubling that Doug Ford’s latest back-door decision — this time to allow pot shops to move within a stone’s throw of kids’ schools — was done without any consultation with parents or communities,” said Deputy NDP Leader Sara Singh.
However, in the world we now inhabit, black is white and white is black. Consider the words of Attorney General Caroline Mulroney who, each time she speaks, seems to slide further and further into self-induced whoredom, as she
... insisted the guidelines, including the smaller distance buffer from schools, are in the best interest of the public.

“The purpose of these regulations is to keep kids safe and to ensure all people operating in this tightly-regulated retail system behave with integrity, honesty, and in the public interest,” she said in a statement released over the supper hour.

The hours of opening “are consistent with on-site retail stores for alcohol and will provide retailers with the flexibility to respond to local market conditions and consumer demands,” the statement added, referring to LCBO agency stores that are part of convenience, hardware and other stores in rural and remote areas where there are no liquor stores nearby.
In the corrupted currents of this world, Mulroney's words no doubt will be lapped up by those insensate Ford supporters who, like their Trump counterparts in the United States, stand by their man and his underlings unconditionally. In their cult-like devotion, they can see only one 'truth', that which is pronounced by their dear leader.

It must be nice to live with such certitude. However, for those of us who retain some critical faculties, these are bleak days indeed.


Thursday, June 21, 2018

The Distemper Of Our Times



For one who naturally inclines toward dark brooding, these are not good times. But then, if people follow the news and keep themselves reasonably well-informed about our headlong plunge toward environmental and climate disaster, I cannot imagine too many being in a celebratory mood. Except perhaps in Ontario, where the populace turned its back on anything resembling responsible and mature government by electing Doug Ford and his 'Progressive' Conservatives.

Now they are starting to get what they paid for, although the long-term cost may ultimately lead them to buyer's regret. As Martin Regg Cohn reports,
The premier-in-waiting has declared an end to carbon pricing in Ontario — no cap and trade, no carbon tax, no fuss, no muss, no nothing. No matter.

Never mind Earth’s rising temperatures. Ontario’s gas prices are coming down, and that’s a Ford promise (forget rising world oil prices).

Ford vowed in the campaign that he is “for the people.” His victory surely proves his grasp of the political environment — if not the planetary one.
Populist that he is, he seems quite happy for citizens to pay upwards of $30 million in a Supreme Court battle against a federally-imposed carbon tax:
Win or lose, he triumphs either way. If the federal carbon tax is upheld and imposed in Ontario, Ford will earnestly claim that the devil (the Supreme Court) made him impose the carbon tax dreamed up by that other devil (Prime Minister Justin Trudeau). The Thirty Million Dollar Man will cast himself as the Thirty Million Dollar Martyr.
And what about the money from the cap-and-trade that was used to combat climate change? Gone.
The program’s website was been reduced to one page Tuesday. Under the headline “The following programs are closed,” the site now lists everything from residential solar, window and insulation rebates to smart thermostats and programs for businesses.
Also about to be terminated are the rebates for buying electric vehicles, which paid out as much as $14,000 to defray consumer costs and encourage non-polluting transportation.

Of course, some might argue that Ford Nation and the other quislings who voted for Dougie and his brood are simply taking their inspiration from the United States, which shows no signs of retreating from its own madness under Trump. The Hill reports the following:
President Trump is repealing a controversial executive order drafted by former President Obama that was meant to protect the Great Lakes and the oceans bordering the United States.

In his own executive order signed late Tuesday, Trump put a new emphasis on industries that use the oceans, particularly oil and natural gas drilling, while also mentioning environmental stewardship.

The order encourages more drilling and other industrial uses of the oceans and Great Lakes.

The order stands in contrast to Obama’s policy, which focused heavily on conservation and climate change. His policy was written in 2010, shortly after the deadly BP Deepwater Horizon offshore drilling explosion and 87-day oil spill.
As my literary hero Hamlet said, "The time is out of joint." Too bad so many are busy worshiping the golden calf to notice.

Friday, June 8, 2018

The Golem Of Ontario



I just finished reading a book by Jordan Tannahill, entitled Liminal. Here is an excerpt that, given the Ontario election results, seems an appropriate parable. I offer it without further commentary:
He mentioned being totally transfixed by an old Yiddish story about the Clay Boy, a variation of the golem, in which a lonely elderly couple made a little boy out of clay. Much to their delight, the clay boy came to life and the couple treated him as their real child. But the clay boy didn't stop growing. He ate all of their food, their animals, and eventually the elderly couple too, before rampaging through the village.
Thus endeth the lesson.

Monday, May 28, 2018

A Few Impressions



I realize that Ontario's pending provincial election is likely less than riveting for those living outside the province; however, the fact that a demagogue like PC leader Doug Ford has been leading in the polls until recently should concern all of us.

As Canadians, we like to feel smug vis-à-vis the United States, saddled as it is with its choice of an imbecile for president. However, that smugness needs to be tempered both by the election of populist crack user Rob Ford, who was the mayor of Toronto, and the realization that brother Doug's robotic presentation of himself as "for the people" has yielded him quite a following. To ignore those realities does no one any service.

Last night's debate, featuring the leaders of all three major parties, was a study in contrasts. Both the NDP's Andrea Horwath and (outgoing?) Premier Kathleen Wynne acquitted themselves quite well (although I thought Horwath interrupted too frequently), displaying a poise and a depth of knowledge that one would hope for in a leader. On the other hand, Doug Ford relied on boilerplate promises to lower taxes and find efficiencies, at the same time 'guaranteeing that no one would lose their jobs.

And it got even better, as he
promised a 20-per-cent cut to the second-lowest income-tax bracket, an end to the province’s cap-and-trade system, and a 10-cent-per-litre cut to the gasoline tax.
Welcome to Magical Thinking 101.

To compound his amateurish bluster, Ford warned of dire consequences should the NDP form government:
“I travel around, I’ve talked to hundreds and hundreds of companies — they are terrified of the NDP coming in,” Ford told viewers during the raucous 90-minute televised debate.

“They’ve told me personally, ‘We will pack up and we will go down south in half a second.’ God forbid the NDP ever get in, they will destroy our province,” he said, predicting Horwath “would annihilate the middle class” and “bankrupt this province.”
To the thick-headed, this strategy (Hyperbole/Fearmongering 101) would surely strike fear and loathing of those godless socialists. To drive home his point about the perils of an NDP government, repetition being his forte, Ford Added,
“They will destroy our province, destroy our economy. That’s a fact..."
This has been but a brief reflection by one who has followed politics for many, many years. As a student of human nature, I find all elections fascinating, offering as they do a kind of Rorschach test of one's fellow citizens.

Elections help determine the kind of society we live in. For those who feel strongly (and everyone should) about such matters, their responsibility to cast a vote is undeniable. Otherwise, of course, you are letting someone else impose their vision.

Ah yes, the beauty of democracy.

For those who didn't see the debate and might want to dip into it, here it is in its entirety:

Monday, May 21, 2018

Those Star Letter-Writers

They never disappoint. They can spot a shyster a mile away.


It’s sad that Doug Ford’s solution to the high cost of gas is to reduce the gas tax. A much better solution would be to incent people to not buy the largest, heaviest and most powerful SUV they can afford. When I switched from a turbo Volvo wagon to a Toyota hybrid, my gas bills dropped by 60 per cent. But what else could we expect from someone who bought his brother a Cadillac Escalade. It doesn’t get any less environmentally friendly than that.

Michael Yaffe, Toronto

Doug Ford’s policy on gasoline shows that he doesn’t care about the environment. Reducing the price of gasoline will only make air pollution worse, as people who are buying more gas-guzzling SUVs and pickup trucks will consume more fuel.

Rene Ebacher, Toronto

PC Leader Doug Ford claims to be upset with the excessive compensation being paid to board members and executives at Hydro One. However, he also vows to cut the corporate tax rate by 8.7 per cent. Who does he think will benefit from this corporate windfall? No doubt already highly paid corporate executives will receive a big slice of it. And who does he think will have to pay more to make up for the loss of tax revenue? No doubt many of the taxpayers he pretends to be looking out for. What a hypocrite.

Peter Bird, Toronto

... Contrary to Ms. Horwath’s posturing, the NDP and Liberals could, and should, find many points of agreement on a plan to govern if the opportunity presents itself. It is only being fair to the majority of Ontario voters to have confidence that such an outcome is indeed possible and would be chosen when and if the election results permit it.

Back in 1985, the Liberals and NDP agreed to a legislative accord when the Tories had the most seats but not a majority. Ontario was well served by this arrangement and it may well be needed again. The very notion and real possibility of a Doug Ford government should be sufficient reason for any progressive person to not pre-emptively and arbitrarily rule out this option.

Simon Rosenblum, Toronto