Dear Premier Ford:
Greetings from Muskoka, a bright jewel in Ontario’s crown!
I did not vote for you in the leadership race of a few years ago when you became leader of the Ontario Progressive Conservative Party. I voted for Christine Elliott.
I did vote for you in the subsequent provincial election, not with huge enthusiasm but because frankly, for me, there was no other choice. And so, over the past three years, I have watched with a somewhat jaundiced eye, hopeful for the sake of our province for your success, but certainly not one of your bootlickers.
I have to say now that, in my view, you have become a pretty good premier. Yes, there have been some rookie mistakes. Buck-a-beer wasn’t really a winner and didn’t start you off on a great foot. Pushing one of your buddies for OPP commissioner and supporting another who wanted to have his private educational institution accredited as a university when it discriminated against people with a certain sexual orientation were really dumb moves.
But on balance, if one were to ask the standard polling question ‘is Ontario in a better place today than it was three years ago’, I would say yes. This is especially so when you have had to deal with the game-changing COVID-19 pandemic, protect our economy under difficult circumstances, and also deal with a largely hostile mainstream media.
We will get to what I believe to be some of your accomplishments in a moment, but first I want to deal with the main reason I am writing to you and that is your apparent unwillingness to recognise the need to really clamp down on people who are anti-vaxxers or pandemic deniers.
While I note that in recent days your government has indicated that frontline workers in hospitals and long- term health facilities must be fully vaccinated, you were slow to do so. To the best of my knowledge, teachers, who will be facing classrooms of young students in just a few weeks, have not been told they must be fully vaccinated. They need to be.
Premier, you are well aware that we are on the cusp of a fourth wave of the COVID pandemic. Infections in Ontario have quadrupled in the last week or so and will inevitably climb higher as children get back to school. Surely the fact that more than 90 per cent of folks now infected with COVID-19 or its variants are those who are not vaccinated should be a real eye-opener.
In my view, Premier, you have done a really good job in rolling out the availability of COVID vaccines in Ontario. The feds of course want to take credit for this and much of the media is happy to help them do so.
The facts, however, are that the federal government was slow off the mark in making vaccines available to the provinces, but once they were, Ontario, not withstanding a few slipups, led Canada and indeed the United States on a per capita basis in getting needles into people’s arms.
You have also worked hard to balance the reality of the COVID-19 pandemic with the need to allow businesses and individuals to survive, and you have worked to ameliorate the effect that the pandemic has had on the mental health of a number of people.
As well, those that actually read your full plan for the reopening of our schools will see that is as thorough as can be expected under current circumstances, with the exception of requiring full vaccination for education employees.
You have also demonstrated empathy with the struggles many people in this province have endured during the pandemic and you have been accessible. I know of few politicians who actually pick up the phone and get back to their constituents and stakeholders when they call to the extent that you do.
All of this is well and good, Premier, but my message to you today is please don’t stop short of the finish line.
COVID-19 and its variants will not go away while a significant sector of our population remains unvaccinated. It needs to be beaten to the ground and, therefore, there is not a more important time than now, when tough leadership is needed to finish this race.
We need a vaccine mandate that requires double doses for all frontline workers in areas of health and education, and arguably in the entire public sector. We need anti-vaxxers to recognize that while they have the right to refuse vaccinations, they have no right to infect others and therefore would be ineligible for participation in public events or public transportation.
We need business and other entities in this province to know from you that it is okay to refuse entry to those who will not demonstrate that they are vaccinated or that they cannot be vaccinated. And we need mask mandates in indoor public places enforced.
Many places in the province are already taking that leadership, including universities like Ontario Tech University, Queen’s, Western, Guelph, and the University of Toronto. You should clap them on the back for that.
That of course means people need something to prove they have been vaccinated. I get your point, Premier, about vaccine passports. That seems a little over the top. But simple vaccination cards that can be carried in their purse or wallet along with their driver’s licence, which they also have to show from time to time, seems like a really good idea for the foreseeable future.
Premier, I know there are some people in your base of supporters that believe individual rights trump public safety. They are wrong and you know they are wrong. Of course, individual rights are important, but they do not trump collective rights when it comes to the spreading of a virulent disease. You will not lose their votes for standing up for that. They have nowhere else to go!
As I write this letter to you, Prime Minister Trudeau is asking the governor general to issue a writ of election, an election we do not need and that the vast majority of Canadians do not want. Simultaneously, payments in the amount of $500 from the Trudeau Government are gratuitously arriving in many seniors’ bank accounts while one of their Ministers is all over social media telling them how grateful they should be. Seems pretty close to the line to me, but the Liberals may just find out that old folks in Canada are not quite as gullible as they may think
Your favourite (just kidding) newspaper, theToronto Star, in its Friday front-page editorial in which they acknowledge that most Canadians don’t want an election, said this.
“All governments should be consumed with containing the fourth wave and finally ending the pandemic. Anything less is a failure of leadership. Canadians deserve better.”
And so, Premier, while the feds are wrapped up for the next five weeks promoting their own self interests, it will be up to leaders like you to steer us through the latest challenges of this ongoing pandemic with tough but necessary, focused leadership.
I know you can do it. Please do not let us down.
Hugh Mackenzie has held elected office as a trustee on the Muskoka Board of Education, a Huntsville councillor, a District councillor, and mayor of Huntsville. He has also served as chairman of the District Muskoka and as chief of staff to former premier of Ontario, Frank Miller.
Hugh has served on a number of provincial, federal and local boards, including chair of the Ontario Health Disciplines Board, vice-chair of the Ontario Family Health Network, vice-chair of the Ontario Election Finance Commission, and board member of Roy Thomson Hall, the National Theatre School of Canada, and the Anglican Church of Canada. Locally, he has served as president of the Huntsville Rotary Club, chair of Huntsville District Memorial Hospital, chair of the Huntsville Hospital Foundation, president of Huntsville Festival of the Arts, and board member of Community Living Huntsville.
In business, Hugh Mackenzie has a background in radio and newspaper publishing. He was also a founding partner and CEO of Enterprise Canada, a national public affairs and strategic communications firm established in 1986.
Currently Hugh is president of C3 Digital Media Inc., the parent company of Doppler Online, and he enjoys writing commentary for Huntsville Doppler.
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Mr. Kuebler, Ms. Gingrich, Mr. Deaconshire, thank you for voicing your perspectives; I do not see you in an “ilk” category of rhetoric.
Ms. Humphreys; as the DF campaign included distain for “the elites” (well-educated, well-experienced), DF has been very slow to surround himself with “the best” choices in leadership with this pandemic in Ontario. His learning curve was great – but he certainly did not seek out “the best” and has come across with an attitude of “knowing better than”. From my perspective, he does not know himself, and he does not know what he does not know – a precarious place from which to operate.
Mr. Mackenzie, you encourage your favoured party novice Ontario Premier(pat on the head/back). He has not measured up in the travesty of LTC, home care – going again to investors with stockholder interests for upgrades of buildings. He has ignored collaborating with the Federal government in accessing grant money for LTC. Where is the needed updated legislation, including regulations to address the poor performance of for-profit LTC homes and the political will To Act? Instead, DF has bound Ontarians into contract debt for for-profit buildings. No review of better systems to deliver elder care.
Ironic the Federal Conservatives call for collaboration prior to election announcements when their Provincial counterparts have been unable to achieve the same for LTC in Ontario.
Thank you for opening the discussion.
My position is a mix of the above. Ford has made all local MPPs toothless wonders. If as an MPP you publicly object to his position, you are ejected from the party. Thus not only the local Muskoka MPP but my home MPP in Clarington on spout only the party line when you question them on a particular issue such as Highway 401 width from Lakeridge to Salem, or better deceleration and acceleration lanes on highway 11 near Huntsville.
Those who object to gas fired generation should ensure they use no electricity at night when the sun goes down and winds die off.
I certainly support either be vaccinated or take the consequences, limited access to public places, etc but again no real action by Ford in this area.
Some really stupid pandemic actions, like only 12 in a restaurant regardless of the size of the restaurant back in February.
No differentiation of the different health related measures in Simcoe-Musokaka or Parry Sound-North Bay health units and many many more.
I had expected much better from Ford.
Mr Kuebler, check your facts…Ontario is not dependent on natural gas for electricity generation by a long shot. The vast majority of our power comes from clean sources, hydro and nuclear. As for China, the only revolution they are leading is the building of new coal plants, however, I’m sure they are always happy to have party members further their agenda. Maybe we could trade you for one of the Michaels.
Mr. Keubler! Mr. Deaconshire! I am always fascinated by the angry opinions of people of your ilk. You seem as if you know exactly what needs to be done to steer the ship!
I will be watching carefully for your names on the ballot for the next election.
I genuinely feel sympathy for our politicians this past eighteen months. The leaders in particular are in a no win situation and must feel the weight of the world on their shoulders.
We, the armchair critics, would be better served to engage in our political system instead of sitting at home on our computer pontificating on our grievances.
We need to thank God we live in this wonderful country, flaws and all.
Hugh, for the most part, agreed.
Hugh,
Your observations are right on.
I am amazed that some of your respondents are so horrified that you would express your opinions on Doppler. Who, I wonder, do they imagine publishes this on-line publication ?
Certainly you do generally state a conservative point of view but certainly a very considered, centrist view point. You are fair and take information from an inclucive list of sources such as The Toronto Star. This is to your credit and seems to receive precious little consideration by your critics. What more do they expect?
As has been stated long ago, ownership has it’s perogatives. Why this offends readers so much baffles me. If folks dislike the opinions published by the sites they freely choose to read they have the option of tuning out and reading opinions they find less chalenging elsewhere.
But of course the left can’t abide opinions at varriance with their own. Their inclination is to shut down debate and stiffle ideas other than their own.
To your point, Ford should introduce an Ontario statement of vacination card. It should be a legal instrument of photo identification and be scanable and updatable. Perhaps a new style of “Health Card”. Certain government functions should require it and private businesses should be able to demand it as a condition of entry and service.
Opting out of public certification has consequences which is as it should be.
Keep up the good work Hugh.
Hugh. I agree that Premier Ford has (with a few slip-ups that he quickly acknowleged) done reasonably well at balancing health interests with economic interests, and not falling for the extreme-right line of western conservatives. But fair is fair and the same must be said about the federal government.
Considering that Canada was caught with NO VACCINE MANUFACTURING CAPACITY, the Feds did a remarkable job of procuring enough vaccines to enable Canada to become the vaccination leader among the world’s largest G7 economies. Without that, Ford and the other premiers could not have done what they did. Ironically, your policy on mandatory vaccination and masking is actually more in line with Trudeau than with O’Toole.
On other very important matters, Paul Kuebler makes some very good points.
Thank you Paul Kuebler! Finally someone who recognizes much of what’s wrong with the Ontario government. At a time when the West of Canada and the north west of Ontario are on fire, we have a Premier who cares nothing for the environment. As long as the corporations are rolling in dough, our forests, our wildlife, our sanctuaries mean nothing. This is the man who brought back the Spring Bear Hunt which is causing our rehab centres to overflow with cubs who have lost their mothers, to say nothing of the forests of Temagami which are still exploited. Climate change is very real and it’s pitiful when a handful of teenagers with conscience stand between the environment and Armageddon. When the environment is destroyed where will the naysayers go to spend their money which won’t matter anymore?
Well said Hugh!
Dear Hugh,
Why the DOPPLER allows you to be a regular columnist I will never understand. Columnist’s to my mind are to offer general views without spouting off your opinion on politics or religion. From most of your columns I felt you may have been a conservative, but it was subtle. But now it is clear. You are basically a cog in the wheel of the PC Party machine.
How you can say Ontario is better off, is also beyond me.
– 728 Green Energy projects cancelled, keeping us dependent on natural gas for electricity generation. Projects that cost taxpayer millions of untold (hidden) dollars in Lawyer fees, to defend the cancellations. Not to mention the LOST opportunity to join in the “Green Energy Industrial Revolution”. A revolution that China currently leads.
– Followed by millions of taxpayer dollars fighting the Carbon Tax.
– Giving developers a free hand at turning Green Spaces into parking lots and highways.
– Eliminating Environmental Protections including the Environmental Commissioners position, all to clear the way for Ford’s buddy developers.
– Being an adversary to Educators, rather than a partner.
Hugh, if you think this is better for Ontario, then I am guessing a scorched earth is your idea of utopia.
Paul Kuebler
Thank you John. How refreshing to have a different view presented than that of Hugh’s unapologetic conservatism. Even the title of his commentary is offensive: “Listen Up!”is a forceful imperative, not one that invites considerstion. Neil Postman, a propaganda theorist, argues that propaganda says, essentially, “Believe this!” An opinion piece should instead say,”Consider this.” To give a prominent platform week in, week out, to a conservative point of view is, in the words of another propaganda theorist, Jacques Ellul, “integration propaganda,” the kind that normalizes that perspective. Some balance would be very much appreciated.
Well said Hugh. Common Sense goes a long way .
Hugh, wow! What a lame attempt to promote this horrible premier all because of your sad American voting attitude. What a farce! This premier is an absolute joke and to say otherwise is foolish and blind. This is a premier that caters to the fringe right wing, this is a premier put in place by a party that was afraid that Patrick Brown would reveal them for what they are; the power hungry beat the liberals at all cost and stuff our pockets with tax payers remittance party. The party that allows Mike Harris to make millions on the backs of our elders.
You have definitely out done yourself this time, supporting an uneducated baffoon, another member of the lucky sperm club who inherits daddy’s business (see every insurance agency in Huntsville), an absolute liar commensurate with the Donald himself.
Wake up Hugh, for the new generation is ready to vote your old party out of power, say adios to Mr. Miller as he follows in Tony Clements exit path….. There’s a new dawn coming, and that of voting for your daddy’s party is soon to be forgotten!
#anyonebutDoug
Well stated Hugh. Well done. Firm but polite. Calmly reasonable. Love your style.
Thanks Hugh for saying what many of us are thinking.
We know the Prime Minister has nothing on his mind besides trying to grab ultimate power with no regard to what Canadians need( nothing new there). I certainly hope the Premier of Ontario will take time to reflect on your sage advice. We certainly need a leader who won’t just throw money at every problem , without even knowing where the money is going.