I often wonder how many Ontarians realize that we are led by a premier addicted ideologically to the private sector. A man hobbled by a limited education and intellectual breadth, Doug Ford's paltry vision is one that extols all things private at the literal expense of the public. The signs are many.
One need only look at the Greenbelt Scandal, that, before it was stopped, was designed to rob citizens of necessary and valuable green space, wetlands and nature in general so that Doug Ford's developer friends could benefit to the tune of many billions of dollars. There is also the 'redevelopment' of Ontario Place handed over to a German company, Therme, to build a spa for the minority of people who will be able to visit it. And nothing is too good for the private sector; in the case of Therme, they have been given not only a 95-year-lease (whose terms are being kept secret from the public), but also a wholly taxpayer-funded underground parking facility that will cost over $650 million, as well as other untold costs that will no doubt be uncovered in future Auditor-General reports,
I could go on, but the most recent proof of Ford's follies are reflected in his obsession with privatizing more alcohol sales, despite the billions in revenue the LCBO puts into public coffers. And now, as a result of his monomania, we have a strike at the LCBO, one I suspect will go on for some time. It is going all according to plan.
The longer the strike goes on, the more opportunities thirsty Ontarians will have to discover new, private sector sources to slake their collective thirst. And as resentment grows over the LCBO's monopoly on liquor, fewer people will be concerned about the concerns that led to the strike - the protection of union jobs paying between $17 and $30 per hour, although apparently only 30% of those jobs are permanent and have benefits. Yet even that modest remuneration seems too much for Doug, because it is not going to the private sector.
Robert Kahnert of Markham, Ontario, offers his thoughts on the damage Ford's approach to policy is doing to this province:
What happened to our once civil society? We now live in an Ontario no one recognizes. Everywhere you look there is a crisis — homelessness, affordability, health care, education, building and infrastructure decay.
How did things that were once so good get so bad.? The answer is right in front of us. Most of the public wealth was transferred to the wealthy. We have been fed a steady diet of tax cuts, deregulation, and the need for privatization to get the “innovation and private sector efficiencies” with promises like “all boats will be lifted by the rising economy.” As we have clearly seen, false promises. Not only has our civil society been severely damaged but so had trust in democracy .
In the last provincial election, only 17 per cent of the population voted for Premier Doug Ford. After slashing government funding to public services starving them into crisis just to pay for tax cuts to the wealthy and their corporations, they then present privatization as the solution to a problem they created. The only thing deregulation and privatization does is create more profit-making opportunities.
The gap between the haves and have-nots is huge and widening at an ever-increasing rate.
Small tax cuts to the general population have been used as a cover for massive tax cuts to the wealthy and their corporations.
Reversing tax cuts is not raising taxes, it is restoring revenue to rebuild our once civil society. Beware any politician promising tax cuts. We do not have a wealth creation problem. We do have a very serious distribution of wealth problem.
Where is the leadership? We have the power. Don’t leave, speak up and vote to stop this insanity.
Paul Kahnert, Markham
Worshipping at the altar of unrestricted free enterprise comes with great costs. It is time that more of us realize the extensive damage such fealty does to the things we hold in common, and act to stop any further erosion of our services, values and culture that seem so foreign only to those who 'serve' us.
UPDATE: If you're still with me, Brittlestar has an entertaining but accurate video about the importance of the LCBO to Ontario's development:
And all we have to do is talk the sociopathically greedy into reforming and giving it all up for the common good.
ReplyDeleteI cannot think of a single way that that is possible given the nature of humanity and dysfunctionality of our current "systems"
Buddhist non-violence towards earth and the earthlings (every living thing) , plus a status system based on potlatch and education that dispels the hereditary neuroses and returns some vision to decision.
Dreamer am I.
Always appreciate your blogging. Thanks Sir.
Thanks for your comments, lungta. I guess when all is said and done, we just have to keep fighting the good fight, even though we are clearly not in charge, and the chances of any real victory slim. To do otherwise would be to hand complete victory to those who are manifestly unworthy.
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