Doug Ford

Saturday May 28, 2022

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Saturday May 28, 2022

Doug Ford and Ontario’s race for second

Doug Ford is heading toward a second majority at Queen’s Park — not that anyone is paying attention.

Young Doug Ford: The Series

In the unlikely scenario all the polls released in Ontario ahead of its June 2 election turn out to be wrong, or if tens of thousands of voters do indeed vote strategically to deny the premier his majority, I stand to be corrected.

Many observers, including yours truly, yearned for movement in the polling numbers — not for partisan purposes, but for the sake of storylines that might capture the attention of an electorate seemingly apathetic to the campaign: Will the Liberals get over 30 percent? Will the Ontario NDP — ONDP — go in the tank? Or will it regain second place to keep Liberals at bay? Alas, none of it was to be.

But if the writing is on the wall of this 2022 campaign, the race for official opposition could still be compelling.

The PC gained the reins of the Ontario Legislature in 2018 by winning 76 seats (out of 124) with 40.5 percent of the popular vote. The NDP climbed to official opposition with 40 seats (33.6 percent of the vote). The Liberals, after forming government for 15 straight years, collapsed to 7 seats and 19.6 percent of the vote.

In the campaign now underway, the Ontario Liberals and ONDP have attempted, repeatedly and unsuccessfully, to dent the PC armor: More money for public education and long-term care, less for new highways. Remember when Ford closed playgrounds during the pandemic? All legitimate points, but not enough to rattle his base.

April 21, 2021

Ford has been playing 1995 New Jersey Devils-style defensive trap, both soporific and highly effective. Add to the mix an electorate suffering from Covid fatigue, the long-awaited return of sunny patios, the NHL and NBA playoffs (although it went by fast in Ontario), and it is hardly surprising many voters do not feel engaged. Sometimes defense is the best offense.

As of Tuesday, the 338Canada Ontario model has the PC leading voting intentions with an average of 37 percent, a 9-point lead over the Ontario Liberal party, which is at 28 percent.

The ONDP takes third place with 23 percent.

The Green Party of Ontario, which had earned just under 5 percent in 2018, has climbed to an average of 7 percent.

With a little more than one week to go before ballots are counted, the OLP and ONDP stand in a statistical tie in terms of seats, as it appears the anti-Ford vote has yet to coalesce behind one single banner.

And that’s just fine for Doug Ford. (Politico) 

 

Saturday May 21, 2022

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Saturday May 21, 2022

Doug Ford nets another union endorsement, positions Ontario PCs as labour friendly

October 20, 2021

Doug Ford touted his union ties and tried to position his Progressive Conservatives as the labour-friendly option for voters on Tuesday, as his political rivals accused him of simply paying lip service to workers.

The Tories gained the endorsement of another construction workers’ union on the campaign trail, while the more traditionally union-friendly NDP secured the backing of the Ontario Public Service Employees Union (OPSEU), which represents 180,000 workers.

But Mr. Ford downplayed his tiffs with public sector workers, whose ire he’s drawn over a bill that capped wage increases at 1 per cent for three years, as he highlighted the endorsement from the International Union of Painters and Allied Trades (IUPAT).

“These are the people that are going to build Ontario, build Toronto, build the whole province. They’re out there slugging it out, day in and day out, no matter what type of weather it is. And we couldn’t run the province without ‘em,” Mr. Ford said at a morning press conference. “… I’ll always have their backs, always.”

February 28, 1996

He was speaking at IUPAT’s headquarters in Toronto’s north end, where he used a stencil and sprayer to paint his campaign slogan, “Get It Done” on a Progressive Conservative blue wall.

Mr. Ford, who’s seeking re-election in next month’s vote, kyboshed attempts to compare his Tories to a previous PC government in Ontario.

In the seven years Mike Harris led the province, he earned a reputation for being anti-union.

Mr. Ford said that’s not his position, nor was it the position of his late father, who served as a Progressive Conservative MPP under Mr. Harris for several years.

“I’m not gonna judge any other any other party. I’ll tell you, our families, be it my dad or my brother Rob or [nephew] Michael, we’ve supported the hard working women and men in this province, the union members,” Mr. Ford said. “We always have. I love ‘em.”

But Mr. Ford hasn’t always had a friendly relationship with unions.

NDP Leader Andrea Horwath noted Mr. Ford has been at loggerheads with unions representing public employees over legislation passed in 2019 that caps pay raises in the public sector at 1 per cent or less.

August 29, 2019

He declined Tuesday to commit to repealing the bill – something several unions have been requesting since the legislation passed – saying instead that he’d “treat them fairly” when the three-year raise freeze is over.

Mr. Ford has also feuded with teachers’ unions, first during lengthy contract negotiations and later over his policies for reopening schools during the pandemic.

Ms. Horwath, whose New Democrats have historically been the party most closely aligned with unions, said workers should pay attention to the changes in Mr. Ford’s tune.

“I don’t change my mind about my support for unions and working people,” Ms. Horwath said at a campaign stop on Tuesday. “We’ve seen Mr. Ford attack unions, we’ve seen him attack working people, many, many times. The Conservatives always do that. (The Globe & Mail) 

 

Thursday May 12, 2022

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Thursday May 12, 2022

Use Highway 407 to ease GTA traffic woes

Premier Doug Ford raised some eyebrows last week when he talked about highways, and actually made a lot of sense.

December 11, 2018

That’s not what we’ve become accustomed to hearing from the premier in this area. He seems bound and determined to build new highways wherever he can, no matter the financial cost and environmental consequences.

But when it comes to Highway 407, the underused, mostly private toll route across the northern GTA, Ford hit the bullseye.

“I would never have sold it,” he said. “What did they sell it for, $3 billion? And it’s worth, what, $20 billion now? So I don’t believe in selling off toll roads.”

Two things on that. First, current estimates actually put the value of Highway 407 closer to $30 billion, making the sale back in 1999 look even more foolish. And second, it was a Progressive Conservative government, the one led by Mike Harris, that sold off the highway for what we can now see amounted to a handful of beans.

But never mind. Ford wasn’t part of that government and it’s a long time ago. The essential point is that even a PC premier can now see the folly of selling a valuable public asset for far below its long-term worth.

Tuesday May 10, 2022

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Tuesday May 10, 2022

Ontario Liberals pledge they would bring back Grade 13 on an optional basis

Young Doug Ford: The Series

The Ontario Liberals would reintroduce an optional Grade 13 to allow students to catch up on learning lost during the COVID-19 pandemic, leader Steven Del Duca said on the campaign trail Friday.

The measure that would be brought in if the Liberals were elected next month would not be a “victory lap,” the party leader said, and would be available for a minimum of four years.

“This is going to be a structured option for our kids,” Del Duca said in a park near a high school in Kitchener, Ont.

“Structured so that they can get more mental health supports, so that they can learn more about personal finances, so that they can learn more about civics and citizen engagement and all of the tools that they need to be able to catch up from the past couple of years.”

Wednesday May 4, 2022

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Wednesday May 4, 2022

Ontario Liberal leader says Ford was campaigning at announcement with Trudeau

September 5, 2020

Days before an anticipated provincial election call in Ontario, Liberal Leader Steven Del Duca is suggesting a joint announcement between Premier Doug Ford and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is more of a campaign stop than an act of governing.

On Monday, Trudeau and Ford shared the podium to announce a joint investment of more than $1 billion in electric vehicle manufacturing in Brampton and Windsor.

However, before the announcement took place, Del Duca suggested Ford’s motives were not genuine.

“I suggest that the Prime Minister is governing but Doug Ford is campaigning. Frankly, Doug Ford has been campaigning for well over a year now, instead of doing the heavy lifting that Ontarians have required him to do,” Del Duca said at an unrelated news conference on Monday.