Ontario's Downward Spiral

A not so slow downward spiral from our hard won support services here in Ontario is happening under the Ford regime, almost daily we see reports of this or that being cut or 'reviewed' (Ford speak for I've already made the decision but will let the public let of steam for a bit before I make the cuts irregardless)

Lets look at just a few of the recent announcements, appointments and opposition commentary.....

Ontario is 'reviewing' 82 municipalities, a move that raises the possibility of amalgamations and comes not long after the Progressive Conservative government slashed the size of Toronto's city council nearly in half. The province said that it has tapped two experts to conduct the review of Halton, York, Durham, Waterloo, Niagara, Peel, Muskoka District, Oxford County, the County of Simcoe and their lower-tier municipalities.

https://toronto.ctvnews.ca/ontario-government-to-review-82-municipalities-with-cost-cutting-goal-1.4254557

Ontario's Environmental Bill of Rights, requires the government to begin a 45-day public consultation period as part of what it is calling its 10th-year review of the endangered species law. The review of the act comes a month after the Ford government axed its environment watchdog, and is part of a track record of anti-environment policy decisions, according to opposition MPPs and environment advocates. The government has also canceled the cap and trade program — a market-based system to reduce heat-trapping carbon pollution — and it has taken the federal government to court to oppose carbon pricing.

https://www.nationalobserver.com/2019/01/18/news/doug-ford-reviewing-endangered-species-act-find-efficiencies-businesses

The Ford government has decided to cut approximately $15 million from the Ontario Trillium Foundation's (OTF) 2018-19 budget.

The OTF is a provincial government agency that provides funding to not-for-profit organizations and charities in Ontario to help launch projects and cover costs for major renovations and upgrades.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/thunder-bay/ontario-trillium-foundation-cut-1.4980764

The Ford government passed legislation just before Christmas eliminating three independent officers of parliament. Claiming that they represented an "unnecessary cost," the role of Ontario's environmental commissioner will be transferred to the auditor general, while the functions of the child advocate and French language commissioner will be moved to the ombudsman. https://www.therecord.com/opinion-story/9121888-doug-ford-s-pre-christmas-attack-on-accountability/

The premier's new Council on Improving Health Care and Ending Hallway Medicine, a handpicked panel of 11 senior administrators says says the province "may not have the appropriate number of hospital or long-term care beds to meet the health needs of the population," The council is led by Dr. Rueben Devlin, the longtime CEO of Humber River Hospital, a former president of the Ontario Progressive Conservative Party and a Ford confidant. He was appointed to the post the day the Ford government took power last June but there is no conflict of interest here eh!.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/ontario-premier-doug-ford-health-care-rueben-devlin-1.4997601

Thats enough of that for now, its too depressing, but it should be noted that any 'consultations' promised will in all probability just be a rubber stamp from appointees hired by Ford and paid for with our dollars. The content of these changes along with the speed and volume of 'cuts' in the name of 'efficiencies' should be of great concern to all Ontario taxpayers. Beware what you wish for because the cowering Con back benchers sure wont stop his premiership, they will however be 'efficiently' silenced if they dare to disagree with his edicts.

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Leadership, Democracy & Twitter

Recently I read an opinion piece in The Hill Times decrying the 'Lack of Leadership' in both the U.S. and GB given the current Cluster Fk in both countries. It goes on to say 'The answer is fairly simply: lack of leadership.' and that 'Unbridled populism fails unless it is given direction, order and coherence from good leadership. Without such leadership, both our nations appear destined to continue their saunter towards this form of government by self-inflicted anarchy, a truly unfortunate state.
Whilst it is unclear exactly how this writer proposes to 'fix' this 'lack of leadership' I would suggest that leadership or the lack thereof is not the problem. In both countries you have strong leaders unable to proceed with their proposals due to equally strong opposition from other elected representatives both affiliated with their 'party' and not. The problem lies not so much with the leadership but their fixation on looking good in the public eye so that they not 'the other lot' will be elected to power the next time around, its not so much about good governance as maintaining power to move forward their particular agenda.

There is nothing new about that mindset by politicians of all stripes in all democracies what has changed is the interaction between those we elect and those who elect them. Back in the day, way back, the 'representative' had very little direct contact with his or her constituents, they got their information as to what was going on days or weeks later via a newsheet and writing a letter was perhaps the only way for the average citizen to contact him (and was always a him back then). Over the years that process has gradually evolved so that now such communications are instantaneous for those who who, like the twit in chief in the U.S., subscribe to such services, and certainly quite timely via on line news. Those few left without internet connections who rely upon printed materials delivered to their door are perhaps at a disadvantage in not knowing about the daily shenanigans issuing out political mouths (or perhaps that is a distinct advantage!) but will still get most important news, probably filtered by the authors point of view, within a couple of days.

Perhaps the point here is not so much the increased ability to communicate a point of view or intended decision but the instantaneous reaction and feedback from pundits and political junkies that are increasingly coloring the decisions made by those in power. The request from the press for a comment from this politician or the other on an item of news before the ink is dry, to use an old outdated phrase, hardly encourages thoughtful and meaningful responses either. We here in Canada are not yet governing by twitter bursts but you may be sure that as we approach the upcoming federal election day that such communication will have a disproportionate effect on both the perception and the results of said election. Much to our detriment IMHO!






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Our Fragile Democracy.

A new index released this week offers a sobering look at how democracy is faring in the United States.
According to the 2018 edition of The Economist Intelligence Unit's Democracy Index, the U.S. doesn't even make the list of top 20—its demonstrably "flawed democracy" notching it the 25th spot.
The ranking is based on 60 indicators spanning five interrelated categories: electoral process and pluralism; civil liberties; the functioning of government; political participation; and political culture. Each category gets a 0-10 score, with the final score being the average of those five.
Topping out the index are Norway, Iceland, Sweden, New Zealand, and Denmark.

Canada's rated a 9.15, which landed it the number 6 spot overall. Only twenty countries (12 percent) were designated as full democracies, 14 of which are located in Western Europe.

More at https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/01/11/united-states-doesnt-even-make-top-20-global-democracy-index

Meanwhile we have this headline 'Ontario courts urged to remind Doug Ford that Canadians ‘don’t elect dictatorships’ from the National Observer perhaps stretching it a bit but Ford has most certainly shown disdain for the normal democratic process and a certain segment of like minded politicians across the country seem to think that democratic process is more a hindrance than something to embrace and nurture.

Enough said, support democracy for it is a fragile thing.

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