Wednesday November 28, 2018
Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Wednesday November 28, 2018
Doug Ford is becoming a liability for Andrew Scheer
Ever since he took office, Premier Doug Ford has gone out of his way to cast himself in the role of federal kingmaker.
From day one he has made no secret of the fact that he is making it a priority to see Justin Trudeau voted out of government next fall.
But as Ford is currently learning at his own expense, the undeniable national influence that attends the role of Ontario premier cuts both ways.
His ambition to play kingmaker in next fall’s federal vote is really the first casualty of his mishandling of the Franco-Ontarian file.
Notwithstanding the premier’s damage-control efforts, the dust is unlikely to settle on the backlash he has engineered when he reneged on his promise to Ontario’s francophone community to pursue the project of a French-language university.
The decision to eliminate the post of commissioner of French-language services — a move devoid of a fiscal rationale as the money saved, if any, amounts to a drop in an ocean of spending — only added insult to injury.
Late Friday, Ford’s office announced it was restoring a full-fledged portfolio for francophone affairs within the cabinet and adding a senior adviser on Franco-Ontarian affairs to the premier’s staff.
But it will take more than the closing of the barn door after the horse has bolted to turn Ford’s status back from liability to his federal cousins to major asset in next fall’s campaign. (Continued: Hamilton Spectator)
It’s a Letters-to-editor hat-trick pic.twitter.com/s0IC3IJEo2
— Graeme MacKay (@mackaycartoons) November 30, 2018