Doug Ford & Ontario - Scary Times Ahead??

If I had thought about it, when I was younger I would never have realized that the election of certain people would cause me to feel profound sadness. The elections of such people as Mike Harris in Ontario in the mid 1990s, Steven Harper as Prime Minister or Donald Trump in the US have developed within me with a sense of loss that has left me, for a brief time, feeling almost overwhelmingly helpless and sad. I am not too sure why - I know politics is a strange affair with frequent shifts in the public's perception of what is needed . I know that in reasonably stable countries such as Canada, the election of someone completely wrong will have limited long term impact upon the country. Except most of these individuals seem to get elected for at least two terms. and eight years is a long time - changes made during that length of time can affect the country. If programs or systems are changed or even destroyed, it frequently becomes impossible to build them back up again.

Last night as I was watching the results of the Ontario election, I had that feeling again. There was no doubt that Ontarians were ready for a change but the extraordinary shift to Doug Ford's PCs was just downright scary. It is quite clear that those who voted for Ford were the same sort of voters who chose Mike Harris. People living in reasonable affluence (in style if not in income) who want to/need to protect themselves against rising costs. Most of the people have reasonably well paying jobs, frequently shaped by union pressures, who more than anything need to believe that it is possible to lower taxes while insuring that services for them will still be available. People who on one hand want schools to provide more and more of the attention that young people need while at the same time demanding that specific groups of parents control the curriculum.People who want to be able to maintain their present lifestyle while not caring if others ever achieve that same state. People who are committed to the belief that as long as they are happy, there is no need to worry about theirs' or anyone else future.

The sad thing is that we all know how this story ends - the pundits to the right wlll be dancing in the streets, those in the middle will shake their heads and wonder how they can drag their parties to the right and the few remaining on the left will, if they are honest, just cry. Hang on to your hat - fellow Canadians in Ontario - and your wallets. You are about to be lead by someone who has little comprehension of how things work - in fact the only thing he may understand is how to promise things that can not be delivered on.

I am glad I am heading back to BC soon where I can watch the disaster evolve At a safe (at least for a while) distance.