roller coaster

Wednesday May 29, 2019

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Wednesday May 29, 2019

Doug Ford’s ‘government that listens’ is hearing the polls

Premier Doug Ford wants you to believe that his decision to postpone municipal budget cuts had absolutely nothing to do with successive polls showing a sharp drop in voter support for his party.

October 23, 2008

Ford insists he made his about-face because he heard loudly and clearly from mayors across the province

“They need more time,” he told a news conference Monday. “We’re a government that listens.”

There’s no doubt the mayors’ argument resonated at Queen’s Park, simply because it was rather reasonable: that it was completely unfair for the province to cut municipal funding for 2019 when cities were already part-way through their budgets for the year.

The sustained public-relations offensive from Toronto Mayor John Tory can’t help but have contributed to Ford’s polling numbers. The man who beat Ford in the 2014 mayoral race was also beating Ford in the realm of public opinion over budget 2019.

Tory’s tactics to keep the story alive included distributing leaflets to voters in PC-held ridings, gathering signatures on a petition and holding a news conference at a city-run daycare.

Tory’s conservative credentials as a former PC leader meant that Ford could not dismiss his critique as mere ideology. (CBC) 

Thursday October 23, 2008

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, Editorial Cartoonist, The Hamilton Spectator – Thursday October 23, 2008

Ontario to fall $500M in the red

Ontario will run a deficit of $500 million this year rather than make steep spending cuts to cope with an uncertain economic future, Finance Minister Dwight Duncan said Wednesday.

He also downgraded economic growth to 0.1 per cent instead of the projected 1.1 per cent for the fiscal year 2008-2009.

“We are in the midst of a global economic crisis not imagined a few short weeks ago. It is spilling over into the real economy impacting Ontario families and businesses,” Duncan said at the legislature while delivering his fall economic outlook.

“For that, the McGuinty government is equipped, prepared and determined to get through the challenging economic times.”

The Liberals decided to protect health care and education funding and chose to run a deficit, Duncan told the legislature, adding it was a balanced response to challenging economic times.

Duncan also said Wednesday that the hiring of some 9,000 new nurses and 50 family health teams pledged in the March budget would be delayed.

“The McGuinty government will continue to implement its agenda, in a responsible and prudent manner, given the challenging economic environment,” Duncan said. “A deficit, followed by a plan for its elimination, represents a balanced response to today’s global reality.” (Source: CBC News)