Raise the Hammer

Interesting. I took another look at the video, and he did not specify the target of the lynching. From the context of those and other remarks he has made I infer a target, but perhaps you are right.

The "Rob and Doug" show certainly made for bizarre municipal politics. Politics that have had lasting damage. For example, in December 2010, Rob and Doug Ford cancelled Transit City. Those seven (7) LRT lines would be all completed or nearing completion right now. But instead all Toronto has is endless debate and little action.

When I wrote about the published election manifesto of the PC party under its former leader, there were good things about it. And other things where I could write, "reasonable people disagree." And it was carefully thought out, with the proposed spending paid for with the proposed carbon tax.

But Doug Ford? He has promised $10 billion in income tax and HST cuts, no layoffs of government employees or cuts to government programs AND a balanced budget. He has also promised to mysteriously find $6 billion in "waste" that has somehow magically eluded the Auditor General.

It was possible to have a rational debate about Patrick Brown's election manifesto. But discussing Doug Ford's election promises is a discussion about "do you believe that 2 + 2 = 5."

It is not really possible to debate whether or not Doug Ford really can find $6 billion in "waste" that magically eluded the AG. From any rational viewpoint, the idea is absurdly preposterous. One has to have some sort of messianic faith that Mr. Ford can find $6 billion that a team of professional Accountants was unable to find.

With Mr. Ford and similar populist politicians, we have abandoned rational politics. We are being asked to join some sort of religious cult and to "just believe" that Ford can do things which logically cannot be done.

The problem is that reality has a way of biting back. Reality bit back hard in Toronto, where Ford's politics met their inevitable failure with lasting damage to that City. Let us work to make sure the same thing does not happen to all of Ontario.

Comment edited by KevinLove on 2018-04-26 06:54:41