The Poor Math of Doug Ford's Budget Cuts

It is relatively easy to ignore the buffoon to the south of us attempting to look like he has a clue about anything. After all - it is another country and all Canadians know that it could never happen to us. It is however, much harder to ignore the absurdities of what is happening just a few provinces east of me. Because if it can happen in the country's largest province, it can happen anywhere.

After five months in power, having been elected on the promise to maintain core services while cutting taxes and of course, to make beer available for a dollar a bottle, Doug Ford has made some truly unintelligent ( I am being polite) decisions. Doug Ford is a man with almost no political experience outside of being the second-in-command of a small town fiefdom nurtured by his late brother; his political roots while they may be deep in terms of a specific brand of conservatism - the kind that does not require either math skills or foresight, are limited in terms of connecting with the rest of the world, or of understanding the concepts sharing or cooperation. He is riding the wave shaped by the affluents' fear of change and by a surprising large number of Ontarians who, somewhat naively, could not conceive that anyone could be worse than the Liberals.

His latest promised cuts are an example of both his complete lack of understanding of how the world works, and the need for the government to provide leadership and supervision. By closing three offices - two of which report to the legislature - not the premier's office, Ford has left the environment and children in care unprotected. That means that there if there is an issue that needs to be raised such as an abuse of care or a decision that affects the environment (e.g. not imposing a carbon tax), the government will not be held accountable in the legislature. All of the cuts are under the guise of cutting government cost. In spite of the fact that the government had as much time as they needed to prepare for these announcements - they are apparently unable to even guesstimate the amount of money that will be saved. It is obvious that Ford is just "cherry picking" those that he is attacking - the most obvious criteria is to choose groups who he does not think can fight back.

In fact the Ford government already has a track record of attacking the poor or those who are too poorly organized to complain, the basic income project and the cancellation of additional funding to some universities are but two examples. His decision to cancel Labour Reform Act, which in part was designed to provide some protection to the thousands of part time workers and in almost the same breath insuring that the landlords of new apartments can charge whatever rents they wish to ,is a clear indication of where his political principles (or the lack thereof) lay. Another three years of this guy? Our despair may become as great as some of those to the south. Or even worse people may get use to it and ignore the pain of others. One has to wonder when people will realize that cutting small programs and giving large tax cuts - does not make a balanced budget.

I have a couple of suggestions for Doug Ford in terms of balancing the budget: stop hiring friends to provide consultation service at a cost of $350,000 per year (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doug_Ford), stop cancelling programs that would generate income (i.e. carbon tax, higher hourly wages etc.), stop lowering taxes for high income earners, stop travelling around the country wasting money to meet with other, equally as regressive, climate denier premiers and if you really wanted to help the province - resign.