SooToday received the following letter comparing the governments in Ontario and the United States.
I do hope the Ontario voters can see through the suggested need stated by our current Ontario Premier Doug Ford. This is an unabashed deception to the voters in Ontario.
He has a complete majority in the Ontario legislature. There was no real need to call an election one year early at a cost to taxpayers of $175 million.
On top of this, Ford is suggesting that he needs this new mandate to oppose the threatened tariffs by the new bully U.S.President Donald Trump. This battle lies with our federal government, not provincial premiers.
It would appear to me that Trump and Ford have a lot in common. Neither believes in democratic rule. They both want to rule, making all the decisions without any opposition.
We have all watched the bullying dominance of Trump since his recent inauguration. We may have forgotten the same approach taken by Ford and the Ontario Conservative Party after winning his massive majority in June, 2022.
Ford has revealed his new majority government would include 43 parliamentary assistants, a role that comes with extra duties and a $16,600 annual salary bump. This move would cost Ontario taxpayers an additional $713,800 annually, but it would ensure the support of these elected MPPs for Ford’s policies.
Ford announced the list on Wednesday. The appointments mean that, in addition to Ford's 30-member cabinet, 73 out of 83 MPPs in the Progressive Conservative caucus have been given additional roles in the government and pay boosts to match.
The base salary for all MPPs in Ontario is $116,500, while cabinet ministers earn $165,850. Ford's last government had 25 parliamentary assistants.
Surely the needs and wishes of the voters who elected these new MPPs will not be primary to these new Conservatives after the premier has bought and paid for their support.
Ford shut down the fall sitting of the Ontario legislature a week early in December, 2024. His government had refused to address the failing government services because of funding reductions by the ruling Ontario Conservatives. The Health system in Ontario is a shambles. Five million Ontarians have no doctor. Do you realize how short of nurses we are in our hospitals? Since the Ford government passed bill 124 which restricted their wage increases to one per cent per year, many nurses have left the profession.
The education system has been denied funding and all classrooms are overloaded with too many students to be taught properly.
The people of Ontario have such a shortage of housing. But Ford has ignored the need and the acute rise of homelessness.
Ford attempted to open the previously established Greenbelt area in southern Ontario for his party supporters who wished to build new expensive homes in previously restricted development areas. The RCMP investigation of Ford’s hand in this reversal of government policy will soon be released. The public heard much about the lavish gifts provided by these developers to Ford’s daughter at a party for her upcoming wedding.
I don’t feel that Ford’s government has even considered the obvious needs in Ontario. Ford has his own agenda. The needs of the voters have no clout.
Democracy in Ontario is similar to democracy in the U.S under Trump. Both leaders ignore the wishes of the voters and prefer to be dictators.
Don Barill
Sault Ste. Marie