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.

SKIP ADVERTISEMENT

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

Something To Savour

I generally don't like the heavy hand of authority, but I make an exception in this situation.

See what you think.

Putting The Fox In Charge Of The Henhouse

 .... is the metaphor NDP environment critic Sandy Shaw uses to describe Doug Ford's appointment of Norm Sterling to head the Greenbelt Council in Ontario. 

Sterling, whose reputation as environment under Mike Harris was anything but, would seem to be an odd choice to head the Council only if one were unaware of the contempt Ford has shown for any obstacles impeding the enrichment of his many developer friends.

Sterling replaces David Crombie, who resigned in November over the province’s controversial limiting of local conservation authorities’ ability to deny development permits for sensitive lands. Crombie called the moves by Premier Doug Ford’s Progressive Conservative government “high-level bombing” that “needs to be resisted.”

Sterling’s appointment set off a new wave of criticism for the Ford government, which has frequently used ministerial zoning orders to force particular development approvals and is pushing to build Highway 413 through parts of the Greenbelt, a band of protected farmland, forests, rivers and lakes.

The Opposition NDP noted Sterling voted in 2005 against the creation of the Greenbelt.

Sterling's pathetic record speaks for itself:

In 1995, Sterling faced criticism for slashing the Environment Ministry’s budget by 40 per cent while arguing that “implementing stronger environmental policies” would counter the funding loss.

Later, the Walkerton tainted water inquiry concluded that Harris-era cuts led to the end of lab testing for municipalities in 1996 and helped set the stage for the 2000 disaster that killed seven people and sickened thousands of others. 

As public attention remains fixed on the Covid crisis, it is likely the Ford braintrust believes now is the ideal time to slip one past us; however, people are paying attention. Says Toronto Councilor Gord Perks:

“I have no hesitation saying that I’ve been watching environment ministers going way back and will say without hesitation that Norm was the most anti-environmental of them all”.

“The step down from (former Toronto mayor) David Crombie to Norm Sterling is to step down from somebody who cares to somebody who will actively wreck things.”

But Sterling rejects such criticism with a "nothing-to-see-here" dismissal:

“My motives are to give future generations the freedom to make decisions about where our province is going with regard to resources,” Sterling said.

And with obvious contempt for the public's intelligence, he asserts that we can have our cake and eat it too:

In terms of his plans for protecting the Greenbelt, given the pressure from housing developers, Sterling said it’s a difficult problem, but he believes he’ll find solutions.

“We can do it … we can retain the best parts of our natural resources, but we also have to be concerned about how we’re going to provide people with places to live. We’re going to have to listen to a lot of people to advise us on how we might do this,” Sterling said. 

Given both Sterling's past record and the ideological bent of the current government, there is little doubt as to who he will be listening to most.

Ontario, as has become the norm under Doug Ford and the gang, continues to be in deep, deep trouble. 

But How Do They Feel About Eating Crow?

 I love it when there is even an iota of accountability at Fox.

If you would like to read further about this political madness, check out Edward Keenan, who also sets the record straight:

Joe Biden is not cancelling burgers. Or any other kind of meat. Despite what you may have heard, there’s no U.S. government plan to limit red meat consumption. There’s no reason to think Americans will be asked to carry a beef ration card in their wallet on future trips to the supermarket.

Perhaps to the surprise of no one, the American right, led by that red-meat party, the Republicans, has gone into a frenzy over a fabricated 'crisis.'

Colorado Congresswoman Lauren Boebert, Tweeted Saturday, “Joe Biden’s climate plan includes cutting 90 per cent of red meat from our diets by 2030. They want to limit us to about four pounds a year. Why doesn’t Joe stay out of my kitchen?” Fellow congressional Trump acolytes Madison Cawthorn and Marjorie Taylor Greene piled on. Fox News, the most-watched cable news network, did several segments over the weekend warning of the plan.

Facts don't seem to matter in this feeding frenzy, but here they are:

CNN fact-checker Daniel Dale did a good job of retracing how this fear campaign emerged: The British Daily Mail, reacting to Biden’s proposal to cut carbon emissions in half from 2005 levels by 2030, found an old, pre-Biden administration academic paper that suggested if people cut their red meat consumption by 90 per cent it would cut emissions from dietary sources by 50 per cent. As Dale points out, that paper didn’t suggest mandating this dietary change, and it didn’t mention Biden, and Biden’s plan doesn’t refer to — or have anything to do with — the paper. But the Daily Mail story was picked up by Fox News, which led to repetition by influential Republicans, and soon barbecues across the land were being fired up in protest.

As usual, the unhinged right has given its base something to chew on, while the  rest of us just sigh over the insanity to the south. 

 

We All Have Our Crosses To Bear

 And for the reasonably sane in Wisconsin, that cross would be Father James Altman.

The fiery, unhinged priest, as you will see, is clearly giving my usual target, crazed evangelicals, a run for their money:

A local priest whose public condemnation of Democrats as “Godless hypocrites” sparked both outcry and defense last fall has now drawn new attention for his anti-vaccine rhetoric and largely maskless services.

Altman

A community member last week shared with the Tribune a photo from Easter Services at St. James the Less Catholic Church where Father James Altman presides, showing a crowded church, and a page from a church bulletin calling vaccines “an experimental use of a genetic altering substance that modifies your body — your temple of the Holy Spirit.”

The flyer, which was posted to the church’s website as of press time and reviewed by the Tribune, states it is “diabolical for anyone to virtue-signal/shame/compel you to take such an experimental drug, making you nothing other than a guinea pig,” and also says those recommending inoculation are “lying to your face.”

“God is still the best doctor and prayer is still the best medicine,” the missive closes.

During his Palm Sunday mass, which was apparently attended by a large number of parishioners in contravention of Covid regulations, Father Altman railed against the public health measures designed to protect the public:

“You’ve all heard the horror stories, all because godless vermin fed us fear and instituted godless, Nazi-esque controls on all of us and on those we love,” Altman said.

“Let us be clear, God damns every single one of those godless moves, whether it be in civil government or worse, in the complicity of many in the church. In fact, if hell itself has many levels,” Altman said. “The lowest, hottest levels are the final burning place for those shepherds who were complicit in the godless restrictions.”

Later in the sermon, Altman said, “The godlessness of what has happened over the past year, the godlessness of what Fauci is now promoting in double masking, is damnable in the hottest fires of hell, and I’m not joking.”

Altman condemns those in the church adhering to COVID-19 precautions, including leaders, calling it “damning,” and encourages the audience to “do all that we must” to make sure the government never “restricts our life of faith again.”

“Their authority ends at our door,” Altman said.

You can see the good father in full rhetorical high dudgeon in the following video. I suggest you only watch about four or five minutes of it. More than that may see you feeling the fires of hell licking at your soles and souls:

 

Ineptitude Writ Large

 H/t Patrick Corrigan

Sometimes I feel embarrassed to be living in a province as benighted as Ontario. But then I realize that it is neither me nor my fellow citizens (for the most part) who are the clueless and the incompetent. That distinction is one the Doug Ford-led provincial government has the dubious honour of bearing.

I have chosen but three of a wealth of letters in today's Star attesting to that fact:

I cannot tell you how safe I felt waking up to know that all those essential workers would not be able to take the day off and go to a golf course. How brilliant to close the courses!

Great job, Doug! You sure know how to hold your ground in the face of the hordes of doctors and scientists and experts who implored you to do the one thing you could to save this province: institute paid sick days. You sure know how to take a position and stick to it (beyond any reasonable amount of time).

And how to sort out the meaningless measures and make them look as though you are doing something. I mean, moving, initially, to close down those swamps of infection, children’s playgrounds.

A brilliant move! Imagine, we thought you weren’t up to the job!

Yes, I certainly feel safe.

Elizabeth Young, Georgetown

If warehouses and factories are the primary sources of COVID-19 transmissions, why were they not targeted initially to be closed for the next few weeks?

Why are all vaccines not being immediately redeployed to their essential workers?

Why has the provincial government not yet introduced paid sick leave benefits?

If playgrounds have been proven to not be a source of COVID-19 transmission, then why were children facing increased restrictions that would further jeopardize their mental health and well-being?

If Doug Ford is continually unwilling to follow the advice of health-care experts, then why will he not resign and let someone take over who is willing to make the choices that will best protect the health and safety of Ontarians?

David Tepper, Thornhill 

Once again, Premier Doug Ford and his cabinet have failed us. They, together with Ontario’s chief medical officer, have proven themselves to be incompetent and morally bankrupt in their handling of the pandemic.

Once again, despite receiving consistent and persuasive advice from clinicians, epidemiologists and their own medical-scientific advisory panels, and, in the face of an unprecedented, unsustainable and extremely dangerous health care crisis, they have once again failed to take the actions required.

Ford resorts to bluff and bluster while playing fast and loose with the facts and tries to deflect the blame to others. He and the cabinet have caused and continue to cause so much avoidable sickness, suffering and death.

Our health-care system and the people who work in it have been perilously damaged, while at the same time the business community also has been seriously damaged.

The government has consistently failed to grasp that, in this pandemic, trying to balance the economy and public health ends up damaging both, whereas a strong focus on public health minimizes damage to the economy.

I am angry, outraged and deeply saddened.

Terry Donaghue, Toronto 

There are times when ineptitude causes irritation or minor annoyance. Clearly, this is not one of those times.