SooToday received the following Letter to the Editor from Laura Walton, President of the Ontario Federation of Labour, in regards to the upcoming election:
“Fool me once, shame on you,
Fool me twice, shame on me,
Fool me three times, shame on both of us”
With election day drawing even closer, these words, often shared by my grandmother, keep replaying in my mind.
In 2018, Doug Ford burst onto the provincial political arena, loaded with a litany of gripes against the previous government, some name recognition in the GTA, and the slogan “For the People”. Ontarians, desperate for change bought into his promises – A buck a beer, lower government expenses with no jobs, an end to hallway health care – in fact Ford himself said at the time he doesn’t make promises he can’t keep.
Within months of his first term, promises were broken, our electric bills were no lower, job losses were happening across the education sector and the Buck-a-beer gimmick was flat. What we did see was introduction of legislation like Bill 124, in which tens of thousands of public sector workers saw their wages capped – an issue that was never in Doug’s election platform.
Fool me once, shame on you, Doug Ford.
Fast forward to June 2022, a pandemic weary province faced another election, and apathy led the way, resulting in the lowest voter turnout in Ontario’s history.
Under the banner of “Working for Workers” and a promise to “Get It Done”, we were promised houses under $500,000 with paved driveways, hiring of more health-care workers and making life more affordable.
Within the first year of his second term, Ford brought the province to the brink of its first general strike by attacking the rights of workers. At the time of the writ being drawn up we have the lowest housing starts in Canada, our ERs and hospitals are closing because of lack of staff and life is more unaffordable.
We elected him, he fooled us twice – shame on us.
Now, we are almost to election day again and Ford wants you and I to trust him again. He has already begun with the catchy slogans and promises – only he can protect Ontario, everyone will have a doctor in next 4 years, tunnels under highways.
This time though there is a big issue that can’t be glossed over – Ford can’t be trusted. After 7 years and two election campaigns full of promises – all we have is RCMP investigations, hallway medicine like never before, an affordability crisis and tax dollars frivolously spent on bribes and projects we never needed or asked for.
Ontario doesn’t need catchy slogans and soundbites; we need solutions and sound leadership. We need a leader we can trust – we need a leader who looks for ways to bring us together, rather than divide us.
On Feb. 27, it’s time we remember what Doug Ford has done for the last 7 years – fooled us. When given the chance to choose the people of Ontario or his buddies, time and again he chose his buddies. I don’t trust him to do any different for the next 4 years – and neither should you.
Laura Walton
President, Ontario Federation of Labour (OFL)