Taking a ride with a Ford means rolling back two decades of social progress by supporting a leader who moved sharply to the right in his leadership campaign in a blatantly obvious – and successful – effort to gather second choice votes from supporters of anti-abortion activist Tanya Allen. It means putting at risk the advances that have been made with a woman’s right to choice and with respect for gays and acceptance of gay marriage. It means endangering a sex ed curriculum that was developed in consultation with parents and teachers to replace one introduced 20 years ago – before we faced issues such as sexting and cyber-bullying. They are a much greater threat to our children than having them learn about sex in an educational environment.
Taking a ride with a Ford means returning to right wing mantras that have been tried before and found wanting. It means attacking expertise and evidence-based decision making as elitism and therefore somehow suspect. It means preaching tax cuts as a means to economic growth, all past evidence to the contrary. It means resurrecting the old claim that untold billions can be saved by eliminating waste in government – the same tired, gravy train argument that was used by the other Ford in his run for mayor of Toronto. It got Rob Ford elected but his search for vast savings proved to be illusory.
Taking a ride with a Ford means taking a leap of faith that magically the provincial budget can be balanced and income taxes cut even without the $10 billion from the carbon tax that the Conservative Party had previously endorsed and now vigorously opposes. The only option for Ford will be even deeper cuts in government programs, services, and employees than he has already contemplated with his attack on government waste. The net result would almost certainly be the loss of 100,000 public service jobs – the same number that then Conservative leader Tim Hudak promised to cut in 2014 in his war on the deficit.
The Preferred Alternative
Going back to the future with a Ford is a dead end trip. Far better to go forward with the Liberals. They are taking a calculated risk in using the growing economy to expand programs and services rather than to pay down some of the substantial debt load. But these Liberal initiatives will help to protect those adversely affected by a rapidly changing economy, will offset inequalities and promote fairness, and will support education and entrepreneurship – key components of continued economic growth. That is a risk worth taking, when the alternative is substantial cuts in programs, services, and public sector jobs, as Ford attempts – unsuccessfully – to balance the budget even while providing tax cuts and forgoing substantial revenues from a carbon tax.