Young Doug Ford

Friday January 31, 2020

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Friday January 31, 2020

Doug Ford and Stephen Lecce’s sad state of affairs

January 18, 2020

It was largely inevitable that there would be a conflict between Doug Ford’s Ontario government and the province’s teachers. It happened under former Tory Premier Mike Harris, and it’s happened with various right-wing administrations in other provinces. Put simply, teachers are not popular with conservatives, and their unions have been used as scapegoats by conservative governments for decades.

Teachers are considered liberal, and condemned for having long vacations and leaving work at 4 p.m.. The truth, of course, is profoundly different. Because they receive payment for the summer, teachers are paid less for the rest of the year; and their working days certainly do not begin when students arrive at school or end when they leave. Even so, the optics are perfect for the political right, and nobody plays optics and sound bites with such relish as Doug Ford.

Young Doug Ford: The Series

Public education is terribly under-funded, the Ford government appears to be far from committed to its long-term health, and this dispute is more about the future of schools than the salaries of teachers. As such, it’s particularly irksome that the government rejects the unions’ demand for more money to be invested into public education, but is willing to pay up to $48 million a day to compensate parents! That is money that could be invested directly into the education system.

The government wants to increase class sizes, wants children to take more online courses, and wants to introduce aspects of the private sector into that online teaching. And it is now willing to spend millions of dollars not to help parents but to try to defeat unions. That’s a deeply sad state of affairs.

The last place teachers wants to be in the middle of an Ontario winter, or any other time for that matter, is demonstrating outside of schools. It’s unlikely that this latest Doug Ford gimmick will be successful, but it goes to the heart of the problem, and no bribe can change that inescapable conclusion. Hey, Premier, leave those parents alone. (Michael Coren, Maclean’s) 



 

Thursday December 5, 2019

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Thursday December 5, 2019

Ford government’s climate change plan is not based on ‘sound evidence,’ auditor general says

Young Doug Ford: the mini-series

Premier Doug Ford’s plan to fight climate change is not based on “sound evidence” and will fall well short of Ontario’s 2030 greenhouse gas reduction targets, auditor general Bonnie Lysyk warns in a damning new annual report.

Despite repeated assurances from Ford as recently as Tuesday that the plan is on track, an internal analysis by the environment ministry acknowledges that proposed measures won’t do the job, the auditor revealed in her massive report released Wednesday.

“Ontario is warming faster than the global average,” Lysyk said in her three-volume, 1,176-page report, noting the Paris Agreement target is to reduce emissions 30 per cent below 2005 levels by 2030.

December 11, 2014

But the Progressive Conservative government’s calculations have been flawed on many levels, she said, such as the inclusion of impacts from renewable energy projects and the previous Liberal administration’s cap-and-trade program that were scrapped in the summer of 2018.

The environment ministry also projects sales of electric vehicles will rise to 1.3 million in 2030 from 41,000 this year but has “no policy mechanisms” to drive an increase after cancelling cash incentives for buyers and the installation of more charging stations more than a year ago, Lysyk found.

July 11, 2018

An end to cash incentives, which were bankrolled by the Liberal cap-and-trade program that generated $1.9 billion annually, has resulted in a drop of 53 per cent in the number of electric vehicles purchased or leased.

As well, “some emissions reductions were double counted and overstated” because they are targeted in more than one program, said the report.

The auditor general also found troubles in the health care system, court backlogs caused by a lack of modernization, higher rates of fatalities and injuries in commercial vehicle crashes and use food that is past its best-before date in nursing homes. (Hamilton Spectator)


 

Thursday October 23, 2019

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Thursday October 23, 2019

Canada election: Did Doug Ford laying low work for Andrew Scheer?

Young Doug Ford Series

A day after the federal election with the dust still settling, Ontario Premier Doug Ford resurfaced with an announcement of more money to fight crime across the province.

Ford made the announcement of $6 million over three years away from reporters and cameras.

“When we invest in our men and women in uniform, we get results,” Ford said in a statement.

The media have had limited access to the premier since the election campaign began. Ford was available twice to the Queenʼs Park press gallery over the past several weeks, and both times were a great distance from Queenʼs Park.

October 4, 2019

One appearance was in North Bay during the International Plowing Match and the second was last week in Kenora, located nearly 20 hours driving distance from the legislature.

The question political pundits and pollsters have been chewing over is whether or not Fordʼs noticeable absence had an impact on the campaign.

“I canʼt imagine that having the premier allegedly lay low for a couple of weeks had much of an impact one way or another,” Sean Simpson with IPSOS Canada said on Tuesday.

However, Simpson said a poll done for Global News on election day of 10,000 people showed a slim majority of Ontario residents said Ford as premier “had at least some impact on their vote.”

September 26, 2019

“Some of those are conservatives more likely to vote as a result of Doug Ford. Of course others are supporters of the Liberals and the NDP maybe voting against,” he said.

While most GTA ridings did not change parties, Milton did. Long-time conservative MP and former Harper cabinet Minister Lisa Raitt was unseated by the Liberal candidate and Olympian Adam van Koeverden.

When asked Monday night if she believed Fordʼs negative approval ratings had an impact, Raitt said she didnʼt know.

A spokesperson for Ford said he called Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau on Tuesday to offer congratulations on his re-election.

April 17, 2019

“They discussed shared goals for the province and agreed to work collaboratively to move important projects forward,” Ivana Yelich, Fordʼs press secretary, said.

Ford later issued a statement and said the provincial and federal governments need to work with municipalities to build “hospital infrastructure, create long-term care beds for our aging population, address gridlock and congestion on our roads and to build affordable housing for young people and families.”

“The Premier thanked the Prime Minister for his support of the Ontario Line and his recognition of this important project that will help end gridlock and get people moving across the Greater Toronto Area.” (Global News) 

 

Tuesday September 24, 2019

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Tuesday September 24, 2019

Premier Doug Ford blasts Trudeau’s ‘unacceptable’ donning of racist blackface

Premier Doug Ford has strongly denounced Justin Trudeau’s penchant for donning blackface and charged there’s a “double standard” over how the Liberal leader’s past misdeeds are being reported.

September 20, 2019

“It was unacceptable back in 2001, it’s unacceptable now,” said the Progressive Conservative premier, who has emerged as a favourite target of the federal Liberals during this election.

“The people are going to decide. They’re going to have the opportunity to decide if they want the prime minister to continue being prime minister or they want a change,” he said Friday.

Last Wednesday, Time magazine published a 2001 photo of Trudeau dressed as Aladdin at a gala when he was a 29-year-old private school teacher at Vancouver’s West Point Grey Academy.

In the wake of that, other photos have surface of him in blackface and brown face.

February 22, 2018

While Trudeau has repeatedly apologized for his transgressions, on Sunday he ducked reporters’ questions when asked if he could recall the last time he wore racist makeup.

Ford took a swipe at the media, saying there’s a “double standard right across the board” in how the controversy is being covered.

“If it was a Conservative, I think it would have been a different story,” the premier told CTV.

In a separate interview with AM640’s Alex Pierson, Ford was asked if he had ever donned blackface.

“No. I wouldn’t be that stupid,” he said to Pierson.

July 10, 2018

Last Wednesday, Time magazine published a 2001 photo of Trudeau dressed as Aladdin at a gala when he was a 29-year-old private school teacher at Vancouver’s West Point Grey Academy.

In the wake of that, other photos have surface of him in blackface and brown face.

While Trudeau has repeatedly apologized for his transgressions, on Sunday he ducked reporters’ questions when asked if he could recall the last time he wore racist makeup.

Ford took a swipe at the media, saying there’s a “double standard right across the board” in how the controversy is being covered.

Series: Young Doug Ford

The premier has been a lightning rod in the Oct. 21 federal election campaign with the Liberals mocking his “for the people” slogan in their advertising and Grit candidates in Ontario attacking his government’s policies.

Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer refused to utter the name “Ford” even when campaigning 700 metres from his Etobicoke home last week.

A new batch of Tory ads tie Trudeau to former Liberal premier Kathleen Wynne, whom Ford’s Tories trounced in the 2018 provincial election, but they do not mention the current premier. (Hamilton Spectator) 

 

 

Thursday August 8, 2019

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Thursday August 8, 2019

Has Doug Ford finally put the cronyism scandal behind him?

It is the calm after the summer storm in Premier Doug Ford’s government.

June 27, 2018

Seven weeks ago, Ford shook up his cabinet in a bid to reboot an administration that polls suggest is struggling — only to be immediately rocked by a cronyism scandal.

Dean French, the premier’s chief of staff, quit on June 21, a Friday night resignation that swamped news coverage of the massive switch of a dozen ministers just one day earlier.

While seven French-linked appointees have also stepped down or been forced out in the wake of the controversy, the departure appears to have triggered the reset the cabinet shuffle was meant to signal.

Yes, staffers have left or are leaving shortly — some because they’re seen as too close to the hard-charging ex-chief; others because they had long been fed up working for him.

However, Ford’s dismal poll numbers are fuelling anxiety within his Conservative caucus, suggesting the party has not put its problems behind it.

April 9, 2019

Overall, though, a sense of quiet professionalism has descended upon the premier’s office thanks largely to interim chief Jamie Wallace, a former Queen’s Park press gallery president and Postmedia executive who ran the Sun tabloid chain.

“It’s palpable,” confided one senior Progressive Conservative, like others speaking on background in order to discuss the scene in the premier’s office.

“Jamie’s been around Queen’s Park forever. He understands the place, he treats (the political staff) well, and he’s respectful to (the public servants),” said the Tory insider.

“He knows what he doesn’t know and isn’t afraid to ask someone who does,” said a retired cabinet minister, who has advised Wallace.

March 22, 2019

“You’d be surprised how rare that is in any government,” said the former PC minister, who has worked with Tories and Liberals at Queen’s Park.

Another PC official said Wallace, who worked briefly in government when Ernie Eves was premier, is implementing processes and discipline that were sorely lacking in a freewheeling 14-month-old administration.

“He understands the need for a plan,” said the official, noting things were so chaotic and ad hoc in the government that it at times seemed as if “message planning” was being driven by what happened to be on CP24, the premier’s favourite cable news channel, at the time.

Now that the “French connections” scandal appears to be fading from the headlines, the premier insists “we’re moving forward as a government.” (Hamilton Spectator)