The Citizen, 2019-02-21, Page 15THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 21, 2019. PAGE 15.
THE EDITOR,
After reading Shawn Loughlin’s
column in the Feb. 14 issue of The
Citizen about fact-checking, I was
reminded of what a talking head said
some time ago… “Truth is what
people are willing to believe”.
What’s been going on in our own
province also necessitates some fact
checking and truth-seeking.
I think we sometimes feel
insulated from what’s going on at
Queen’s Park, but in a very real
sense we aren’t. Our form of
government in which we sometimes
participate – at election time, but not
much at other times – requires us to
be involved all the time.
I’ve learned from our cousins to
the south, that we cannot, nor should
we take for granted how we are
governed. For some time I’ve sat
back, watched, and read, about
what’s been happening in, and to,
our province. I must admit, I’ve been
waiting for others to take up this
conversation.
To be clear, I am no ideologue, I
vote on principle, and have voted for
all three major political parties
during my lifetime. I consider
myself an independent liberal-
conservative, who votes for
candidate first, then party, the one I
think best suited to deal with the
important issues facing our riding,
province and our country.
There’s no doubt that the June 6,
2018 provincial election was a vote
“against”, rather than a vote “for”.
No question, issues like hydro rates,
the Hydro One sell-off and the cost
of the gas co-generation plant move
from Oakville to Sarnia were all
contributors. I think that allowing
for the benefit of the doubt for a new
government allows time for
adjustment, despite the fact that the
Conservative Party’s election
platform lacked substance. There’s a
world of difference governing, than
being in opposition. But, times
change… facts are facts.
It began with Premier Doug Ford
withdrawing Ontario from the cap
and trade initiative (a campaign
promise), now estimated to cost
Ontario taxpayers approximately $3
billion in future provincial revenue.
This shortfall will have to be made
up, and added to the debt, over time.
But further, there’s the question of
what happens to the $2 billion
already collected? Does that have to
be returned to those companies
which participated in cap and trade
previously?
When the Premier irresponsibly
invoked the notwithstanding clause
of our Constitution to punish the
City of Toronto Council
complement, I finally had that sense
of foreboding you sometimes get.
And when he insisted he wouldn’t
“be shy” about invoking it again, I
sensed then, we may have made a
mistake.
In making Ontario “open for
business”, the government went
after labour reform… and
elimination of workers’ rights. Most
might agree that, while a well-
deserved minimum wage increase
was necessary for those workers, the
increase was too much, too soon for
most service industries to absorb,
but eliminating many of the other
common sense workers’ rights
demonstrated significant overreach,
including employer WSIB premium
reductions; delaying pay equity;
impacting collective bargaining for
unions will all have adverse effects
on workers, including those in the
public sector-municipalities, school
boards, hospitals, etc.
Then he went after sex education
in the school curriculum. The adage,
“if it ain’t broken, don’t fix it,”
applied here. The decision to repeal
without a viable replacement was
irresponsible. Even students in
Toronto protested that decision.
Minister of Education Lisa
Thompson recently announced that
after a series of telephone town hall
meetings, online survey, and open-
submission form, a replacement was
coming. Interestingly, the new sex-
ed curriculum change may take
student instruction and guidance
back to the 1990s. In this day of
social media, and its implications,
Ontario is going back to teaching
sex-ed that’s 20 years out of date.
And just recently, that same
Minister spoke to the issue of
potential class size increases in
elementary class rooms that will
impact children in a primary
learning environment, as well as
affect teacher complement.
In November, the Premier
determined to fire the overpaid CEO
of Ontario Hydro, who finally left of
his own accord. The timing of this
meddling by the Premier couldn’t
have been worse, in that Hydro One
was in negotiations to acquire U.S.
utility, Avista in a $6.7 billion deal.
The meddling “forced resignation”
caused Washington State regulators
to reject the deal and trigger a kill
fee of $150 million plus legal fees
that Ontario will end up paying. The
aggregated cost will be north of
$200 million.
Claiming the absolute right to
appoint whomever he wants, the
Premier appointed a close friend to
the position of OPP commissioner;
coincidentally, qualifications were
lowered to effect what Ford has
called a “political appointment”
which has since been delayed while
the province’s Integrity
Commissioner reviews the
circumstances surrounding the
appointment.
In the race for the Premier to meet
other election promises, and lower
revenue levels, bond agencies
lowered Ontario’s credit rating,
leading to higher borrowing costs
and higher interest payments,
already a key line-entry in the
provincial budget. The government
has, in fact, added more gasoline to a
fiscal fire, which again, will fall on
taxpayers, you and me.
Since the seven-seat Liberals no
longer have official party status, and
the Premier was concerned about
disaffected members of his own
caucus defecting, he raised the
threshold from eight seats to 12,
thereby stemming any losses to his
caucus- seemed a bit authoritarian to
me.
The government recently also
decided to loosen child care rules-
easing daycare ratios and loosening
restrictions that were put in place
after a number of tragedies. Parents
of children in daycare should find
this disturbing.
And it seems the government has
now created a new publicly-run, and
taxpayer-funded, website: Ontario
News Now, which from what I read,
merely creates a self-promotion
opportunity for the government.
Self-promotion could also morph
into something less desirable.
Then there’s the issue of a muted
cabinet. The Premier, it seems, calls
the shots. Sound familiar?
So… when you add it all up, I
admit to having buyer remorse. A
wise man once said, “If you expect
nothing, you’re never disappointed”.
Somehow, I had higher expectations
of better... not worse.
Greg Sarachman, Blyth.
THE EDITOR,
Premier Ford’s intentions to
diminish the power of the
Endangered Species Act is
despicable and completely short-
sighted.
His intentions are a most serious
threat to many of Ontario’s
endangered species. Once a species
is extinct it is lost to future
generations forever.
What right does one man have to
further diminish the fullness and the
beauty of the earth by allowing the
unnecessary destruction of natural
habitat; habitat which has nurtured
species for millennia?
Think again, Mr. Ford. Your
grandchildren and my grandchildren
will thank you if you do.
Jim Hollingworth MD
Goderich.
Blyth man critical of Ford government decisions
Endangered Species Act
crucial: Hollingworth
Letters to the Editor