Summertime

 

"Summertime, and the living is easy", or so goes the song. With the Ontario legislature rising for for an almost five-month recess after having sat for a gruelling 29 days this spring, this will surely be the case for our MPPs. For the rest of us, maybe not so much.

Clearly, Doug Ford's Progressive Conservatives prefer the natural heat of the summer to the sauna-like conditions provided by opposition parties at Queen's Park:

The 148-day recess — after MPPs sat just 30 days since an unusually long winter hiatus — has opposition parties accusing Ford of avoiding scrutiny over controversies like student loan cuts and his purchase of a $28.9-million jet dubbed the “gravy plane.”

“This government can’t get out of this place fast enough because we are calling them to account every day,” New Democrat Leader Marit Stiles said Tuesday after grilling Ford in question period over affordability issues, branding him “out of touch.” 

 Green Leader Mike Schreiner scoffed at that rationale to justify a five-month break.

“They directly interfered in Toronto elections back in 2018 so it’s BS,” Schreiner charged, referring to Ford’s move to cut the size of Toronto city council before that year’s municipal vote. 

“The only reason we’re not here is Doug Ford can’t take the heat,” said interim Liberal leader John Fraser, who trolled Ford over the jet in the legislature by handing the premier silver pilot wings to pin on his lapel.

My guess is that Ford thinks this long recess will heal all wounds, the kinds that he has inflicted by his dictatorial style of governance. And yet to anyone who cares about democracy and holding our representatives to account, this is a flagrant and deep insult, one many of us will not forget. 

We cannot forget, for example, being saddled with an inept and corrupt government, (will the RCMP investigation, which will reach its three-year mark in October, ever end?). 

We cannot forget that here is a man with such a parochial vision that he governs like the mayor of Toronto. Here are some of his 'achievements' :

• bike lane removals, 
• the pending expropriation of land for an expanded Billy Bishop Airport, 
• the removal of speed cameras in school zones, 
• the closing of the Ontario Science Centre, 
• the shady deal to get a luxury spa built on the waterfront

And as the premier, Ford has presided over 

• schools in crisis
• growing homelessness and addiction
• hallway medicine
• downloading that has left municipal taxpayers barely hanging on
• tunnel-under-highway schemes that would cost countless billions
• an expensive purchase of a jet, later rescinded after widespread outcries
• gutting the OSAP program, leaving many students in precarious positions
• etc. etc.etc.

The voting public has granted Ford considerable leeway, given his Captain Canada schtick, playing Mark Carney's pitbull against the deranged Donald Trump, but after a certain point, that persona grows old. 

One of my biggest beefs is the massive spending of taxpayers' dollars on how well Ontario is doing in protecting jobs, making life more affordable, etc. to the tune of at least $103 million in 2025. They are a regular feature of ads during newscasts and a multitude of other broadcasts. 

Marit Stiles, the provincial NDP leader, offers this withering assessment of the Ford regime and its sad record:

They say you can run but you cannot hide. One hopes that those who oppose this government will hold it to account, both within and without the legislature.