This page was exported from The Auroran [ http://www.newspapers-online.com/auroran ] Export date:Fri Apr 26 10:25:06 2024 / +0000 GMT ___________________________________________________ Title: Ford “blowing up traditional norms” --------------------------------------------------- (Re: Brock's Banter, July 26) Remember when conservatives wanted to “conserve” things? And some of them were actually “progressive”? No more! Within 24 hours of Brock Weir's publication of his thoughtful meditation on decency, civility and resilience, Doug Ford dropped several bombs on good faith and good governance. Destructive, anti-democratic impulses are driving decision making from the American White House to Ontario's Pink Palace. Donald Trump and Doug Ford delight in “blowing up” traditional norms, venerable institutions, practical policies and fair procedures that actually serve the public good. Supported by just 40 per cent of the electorate, Premier Ford is trashing sex education in deference to religious extremists, cancelling the arbitration award that resolved last year's bitter college strike, doubling-down on Mike Harris' ill-conceived amalgamation by changing Toronto's election rules and empowering himself to do for Queen's Park what voters sensibly prevented him from doing as Mayor of Toronto, and robbing citizens of York Region of the right to elect our own chief executive officer, and much, much more. Soon he will surely rescind needed increases to the minimum wage and repeal the Fair Workplaces, Better Jobs Act that brought hope to precarious workers. Following the mass shooting in Toronto, he wants to expand police presence and electronic surveillance by defunding mental health programs. He has blundered into the immigration debate, cancelled important environmental programs, and is abandoning the lucrative marijuana industry to for-profit entrepreneurs regardless of public health and safety. Say what you like about these thoughtless initiatives, but let no one claim that they're progressive, conservative, or in the interest of “the people.” Howard A. Doughty Oak Ridges --------------------------------------------------- Images: --------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------- Post date: 2018-08-01 17:10:21 Post date GMT: 2018-08-01 21:10:21 Post modified date: 2018-08-01 17:10:21 Post modified date GMT: 2018-08-01 21:10:21 ____________________________________________________________________________________________ Export of Post and Page as text file has been powered by [ Universal Post Manager ] plugin from www.gconverters.com