Hugh Mackenzie
Huntsville Doppler
Not a Bad Start …
Ontario’s new government was sworn in this past Friday. Some people cheered while others did not. On Saturday, I read two opinion pieces about the ceremony at Queen’s Park. Both were written by people who were not Conservatives and were not supporters of Doug Ford. The articles could not have been more different from each other. It is hard to believe that they were both at the same event.
The first was a column in the Toronto Star written by Martin Regg Cohn. There was no way he was going to let Doug Ford have his hour in the sun. He dumped all over him. He called Ford’s inaugural speech to about 2000 people on the Grounds of Queens Park, “shameless self-promotion.” He said Ford offered conflicting messages. He criticized him for having only one visible minority in his Cabinet and for having only two Cabinet Ministers from the GTA. He accused Ford of falling in love with his own honeymoon and his own hyperbole. He defended the Liberals and of course, he cried crocodile tears because Ford did not hold the “traditional” news conference where a premier takes questions from the media including from naysayers like Martin Regg Cohn. I did not see a single positive note in his entire article. It was the most ungracious piece of journalism about a government that had barely been sworn into office, that I have ever encountered.
Contrast this with a commentary written by former Ontario Premier and former Federal Liberal Leader Bob Rae. I am not sure where he wrote it, but I retrieved it from TV Ontario.
When asked by TVO’s Steve Paikin why he was at the swearing-in ceremony Rae replied, “I came because I was invited.” He noted that there were many fine people in the PC Party of Ontario and that many had become good friends. He said he wanted to be at the ceremony to wish them well. It is also an important tradition to invite all former Premiers to be present for the peaceful transfer of power.
In commenting on Ford’s speech, Rae said it was, “in keeping with modern politics, more a celebratory incantation to his supporters, but it did make a point of using the language of inclusion and the need to reach out to those who had not voted for him.” He went on to say the character and competence of the Premier and his Ministers will be tested by challenges and events that they can scarcely contemplate today. As well, he was, as he should have been, gently critical of some parts of Ford’s address, but at all times, he remained gracious.
I for one, subscribe far more to the viewpoint and tenor expressed by Bob Rae than I do to that of Martin Regg Cohn, whose lack of civility and mean spirit, in my view, demeans the importance and the tradition of a peaceful transfer of power. For better or for worse, Doug Ford is the Premier of Ontario. Only time will tell if he will succeed. He has earned the right to try. We should respect that.
For me, the jury is still out on Doug Ford, but I must admit that what I have seen so far, appears to be promising. Yes, there was that uncomfortable Trump-like moment, when he declared in his inaugural speech that his is the very first “Government for the People.” Not true of course, but at least to date, we have not seen too much of that.
What we have seen however, is one of the strongest Cabinets that has sat on the Government’s front bench in the Ontario Legislature for many years. People like Christine Elliott, Caroline Mulroney, Rob Phillips, Peter Bethlenfalvy, Vic Fedeli and Lisa MacLeod, all of whom bring exceptional experience and competence to the table. As well, our own MPP, Norm Miller will be Parliamentary Assistant to the Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs, who happens to be the Premier. Miller’s appointment will have more significance than it would usually have because of the significant challenges Ontario faces in relation to the Trade War with the United States.
Furthermore, in terms of promises kept, so far so good. It is early days yet, but already strong signals have been sent. As promised, Ford has a significantly smaller Cabinet and also as promised, one of them is a farmer! He has put a halt to hiring new public employees except for essential services, he has temporarily frozen the salaries of the Public Service management and he has told them all that there are no more free lunches on the taxpayer’s dime. As well, Christine Elliott, as Minister of Health, has announced that children who are covered for prescriptions through their parent’s medical plans, (as are many who have private sector benefit plans or belong to a Union), will not have them paid by the taxpayer. It was a costly duplication. And finally, Doug Ford has said he will put partisanship aside and stand shoulder to shoulder with Prime Minister Trudeau when it comes to NAFTA and the Trade wars.
All in all, not too bad a start in my view.
Don’t miss out on Doppler! Sign up for our free newsletter here.
I stumbled upon this article today as Doug Dealer fires his cabinet and takes no blame himself. It makes for a very embarrassing read – for the author. Only uninformed thought this loser could govern.
Our province was saved from total disaster with the election of Doug Ford and his Conservative team. Horwath and her other Socialists,
with their kind of naive fantasy-thinking that makes the NDP so wasteful of taxpayer dollars and so harmful to the economy whenever they are in power, would have taken a province already on its last legs and dealt the final killing blow.
Ontario taxpayers – would have been left out in the cold. Healthcare waits would have got even longer, schools would have got even more crowded, deficits and debt would have surged leading to even further credit rating downgrades, and the entire economy would have been further weakened.
A province-wide declaration of “sanctuary province” status dictated by the provincial government was an unconscionable decision for Horwath to even contemplate and it’s another reason why the NDP can’t be trusted to run Ontario. As we can see, only the PCs have offered change that’s realistic and respects taxpayers, and only they can avert the disaster that would be Horwath’s “sanctuary province” scheme.
Erin-Perfectly stated! Doug Ford has taken on a huge assignment after years of Liberal self serving cronyism and corruption but this man is committed to the people of Ontario, has chosen an exemplary cabinet, and under his proactive leadership our province now has hope of recovering from the socialistic, disastrous decisions of Liberals and NDP which resulted in Ontario becoming the most indebted sub sovereign borrower in the developed world. Straight off the mark Doug actively began proceeding with implementing productive strategies that he had outlined in his campaign. I see him as a premier with sound fiscal sense who will run the Ontario Government in the manner of a successful business. Huge congratulations, Doug Ford!
Norm Miller, as a Parliamentary Assistant to a Cabinet Minister, is not what I would consider a “position in cabinet.” He is the Parliamentary Assistant to the Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs, a position that seems to reflect the contribution that he has made to date – which is not much.
Erin, why do you always have to lump the NDP in with the Grits? At least, you didn’t extrapolate with your usual NDP = Communist = mass murder diatribe. I do, however, resent your allusion that intelligent people wouldn’t vote NDP; because they would be worse than the Liberals.
.
I consider myself to be intelligent, and I will continue to vote NDP until the Greens become a realistic alternative, with at least a chance to become the opposition. With our beautiful country and its attendant strong enviromental movement, I don’t understand why our Green movement lags so far behind Europe’s.
.
But their day will come; if not in my lifetime, then certainly in yours.
A balanced commentary, Hughie. All of us, ‘the people’, are hopeful of a term for Premier Ford with the same balanced leadership. And good luck to Muskoka’s own Norm Miller who has deservedly earned his position in cabinet with hard and steady work, high visibility and good cheer.
Richard Corcelli
Gravenhurst, ON
No, Johnny Langille, the reason(s) why the Conservatives were elected was the hope that a Conservative government and Premier would reign in the obscene amount of Liberal spending on nonsense. NO ONE was interested in another Liberal government, and most intelligent people understood that an NDP government would have been worse than another Liberal government.
Malarkey. The only reason he won is because of that Trump yahoo, whose accepted nonsense paved the way for him!
I hope for once that this Conservative governnment acts like a Conservative government and uses its mandate to do conservative things.