Friday, June 08, 2018

Doug Ford: When Bitter Reality Bites



It didn't take long for Doug Ford to show his total lack of class, and what kind of Premier he will be.

For only minutes after he was declared the winner, he burst onto the stage to soak up the sweaty cheers of his fanatical supporters, stick his orange face into the TV cameras.

And in the manner of some kind of Deep South Baptist preacher proclaim that the Cons had taken Ontario back. 



"Together we made history. We have taken back Ontario, we have delivered a government that is for the people."

"A new day has dawned in Ontario — a day of opportunity, a day of prosperity and a day of growth."


Without waiting for Andrea Horwath and Kathleen Wynne to address their supporters first, as is the tradition.

While the Ford Nation also showed us who they are by booing when Ford mentioned Wynne's name.



As well as what we can expect from them. i.e. nothing but rage and ignorance.

But here's the ironic part. It will be a wild ride.  

Mr. Ford’s plans are sketchy, his temperament volatile. He is the wildest of wild cards. When he was right-hand man to his brother at Toronto city hall, he often out-Robbed Rob in his blustering and bullying. Nothing in his shallow, sloganeering performance during this election campaign suggests he has changed. 

Now, he is about to become premier of the country’s most-populous province. Premier Doug Ford. Let those words sink in for a bit. This promises to be a crazy ride.

But the Ford Nation will be riding the rails with the rest of us...



And they stand to be among Dougie's first victims.

The little people who were looking forward to the minimum wage being raised to $15 an hour in January.

The sick people who didn't realize that Ford's plan to reform medicare, included making them pay for their hospital beds and their food.



For reality will bite quickly.

His “Plan for the People” is a paper-thin compendium of headline promises with no accounting of how they’ll be paid for or what trade-offs (i.e. cuts) will have to be made. That will only become apparent once the new Ford government gets to grips with the province’s finances and starts to put together its first budget.

And nobody should be surprised by what will almost certainly happen next.

We won’t be surprised if they pull the oldest trick in the book and declare that (surprise!) the financial situation is worse than they imagined and they can’t possibly do all the things they promised on the campaign trail. Nor will we be amazed if (or rather when) it turns out that Ford discovers that he must squeeze services and cut jobs to help pay for everything has promised.

So not only will his followers suffer like so many others, they will also be bitterly disappointed.

As for me, I made my feelings clear on Twitter last night...



Doug Ford is not, and will NEVER be my Premier.

And just like I fought his sinister puppeteer Stephen Harper every day for ten years.





I will join with others to fight Ford and his corrupt gang for as long as it takes to defeat them.

And the best news?

We are still more than them.

The PCs have won their majority with just over 40 per cent of the votes cast. That’s perfectly legitimate, and not even unusual, under our voting system. 

But it’s also true that some 58 per cent of voters chose more progressive options — NDP, Liberal and Green. There was no big swing to the right among Ontario voters, and the PCs will quickly go astray if they mistake their electoral victory for a mandate to make sweeping, ideologically motivated changes.

And all eight of the downtown ridings, the beating heart of Ontario where I live, went orange. 

So all you see here and more will remain a progressive bastion, with a proud slogan..



Never Ford.

Until the day he is defeated. 

Or sent to the place where he truly belongs...



36 comments:

  1. Anonymous9:37 AM

    This is completely like in the US presidential election. It seems the mainstream media's attacks on Ford and his actions just made him more popular to the electorate. Just like Donald Trump, it seems that voters want someone who acts new and not like typical politicians and thus contradicted the medias biases.

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    1. Anonymous11:51 AM

      I can appreciate that to an extent, but "change" just for the sake of change is meaningless if the change being brought is going to lead to public services we take for granted taking several steps backward. The Marxist-Leninist Party represents "change" for all that means!

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    2. Hi anon @9:37 AM...There are some similarities. Ford is a third rate Trump imitator, but the MSM in this country didn't attack him, they stroked him like a pet piglet. They didn't even bother to fact check his many lies, for if they had even the mouth breathers of the Ford Nation would have hesitated to vote for him. His whole campaign was fraudulent, and he will almost certainly end up in prison...

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    3. Hi anon@11:51 AM...Doug Ford does not represent change, he represents a giant step backwards. At a time when we face new and deadly challenges, he is peddling simple slogans, and making it up as he goes along. We do need intelligent change, but Ford is too dumb to be Premier, and must be forced from office as soon as possible...

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  2. Anonymous9:48 AM

    Geez I can barely take all this winning! A majority!

    Wowzer wowzer wowzer!

    And if you're a citizen of Ontario then Ford is indeed your Premier.

    Enjoy Ford Nation!

    Ontario is back!

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    1. Anonymous11:53 AM

      Yes, everybody remembers the Mike Harris years fondly. Amalgamation. Gutting education. Screwing over the poor with welfare "reform." And Walkerton!

      Enjoy your E. Coli outbreaks folks, they're comin' back!

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    2. hi anon@9:48 AM...I'm sure you're excited beyond the point of decency. Just remember to keep your pants on when you go out in the street. Ford will never be my premier, I intend to mock him and humiliate him in every way possible, until the police have enough evidence to force him out of office. But I want you to remember this even if you have to tattoo it on your neanderthal forehead: Doug Ford was made Premier to discredit the Cons for a generation. And he will help get Justin Trudeau get an even bigger majority in the next election....

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  3. Anonymous10:19 AM

    When faced with the prospect of another 4 years of Harper, Dippers like myself held their noses and voted strategically for JT. Ontario Liberals didn't return the favour. When faced with at least 4 years of an ignorant, loud-mouth former drug dealer as premier and the early concession of their own leader, Ontario Libs either backed their own or voted Con! My riding had an excellent NDP candidate who could have won had Lib supporters backed him. Instead, we elected a mouth-breathing religious fanatic. It's absolutely sickening!

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    1. Anonymous11:50 AM

      Ontario Liberals returned the favour EN MASSE. That Horwath could not rise above being the petty partisan hack that she is and reach out to the last of the hardcore Liberals after Wynne served it up on a platter is her own fault. Your party was literally dancing at finishing a distant second to a fascist.

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    2. Anonymous4:25 PM

      Bullshit! Druggie Dougie and his goons flipped 23 seats in the GTA from red to blue. Polls showed the NDP and the Cons in a dead heat right before voting day. But in the privacy of the voting station, Ontario Libs overwhelmingly voted for the fascist!

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    3. Anonymous9:24 PM

      Nope, looks like the ndp ground game was crap and dippers stayed home just like they did in BC for Dix. Horwath lost the most winnable election of all time.

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    4. Anonymous8:22 AM

      Still can't face the truth, eh? Highest voter turnout for a provincial election in years. NDP supporters highly motivated to go out and vote NDP. Libs lose official party status. That means two things happened: 1) NDP voters didn't vote strategically for the Libs like they did against Hudak, and 2) Aside from a handful of downtown TO ridings, Libs voted for Ford! Judging by your comments, you did too.

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    5. Hi everyone...I don't want to get dragged into this partisan battle, because I don't think or play that way. I'm not partisan, I support all progressive parties, and have always voted for the candidate in my riding best able to destroy the Con candidate. Which is what I did again, and will always do, until progressives finally get it into their heads and unite to exterminate the Con beasts...

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    6. Anonymous2:45 PM

      It's pretty hard to do this when twits like Anonymous are all bashing liberals the day after a hard right party is elected to power. That is the problem with the ndp, their whole strategy over the last 20 years is to "get the libs". The OLP is now reduced to a rump, people will die because of Ford's cuts and Andrea is dancing on stage and declaring victory while their partisans are online still bashing Kathleen Wynne. I'm sure this is a great strategy to bring Liberals over to your side the next time around.

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  4. I have a feeling that the area where I live might suffer that fate if the 450 (=905) and more remote regions go CAQ (= CACA = CRAP)and our central-eastish ridings remain Québec solidaire...

    At least there is a good chance he will self-destruct fairly soon.

    Enjoy the fresh local produce and go out for a romantic cycling day (or whatever) with Séb, perhaps with friends...

    Making patients pay for food and beds reminds me of hospital conditions in very poor countries, not one of the wealthiest places in the world...

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    1. hi lagatta...I suppose anything is possible, and the CACA party is capable of anything. But Quebecers are not as easy influenced by Trumpling ideology, as are English-speaking Canadians. There is a nasty streak of xenophobia and racism in the province, La Meute and other fascist groups are on the rise, but I doubt they'll ever pose more than a terrorist threat.
      But yes, these days I spend any time I can biking and sailing, the local asparagus crop is in and absolutely heavenly, and in a few weeks time I'll be in Scotland, so I'm not complaining... ;)

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  5. Jackie Blue12:00 PM

    I notice that the last letter of that Ford Nazionalist's sign is folded over.

    One can easily fill in the blanks and surmise that it might as well say, "HELL is on the way."

    But, on a brighter note: the Senate passed the marijuana bill last night, and if Doobie Dotard gets caught dipping in the coffers and slinging hash from the back room like Trump wheeling-and-dealing to line his own pockets, he'll be out on his fat orange ass faster than you can say "Take off, eh!"

    I predict a run on the inventory of those nondescript brown-paper packages at the LCBO. Gawd knows Ontarians are gonna need it.

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    1. Hi Jackie...when I first say that poster those Ford Nation fanatics were carrying I thought they did read "Hell is on the way." But it won't be long before that becomes true for them, and they are sizzling on the griddle. Ford may be a threat to everything decent, but he has feet of clay, and in just a few months he's going to look like a Mexican piñata, if he's not already in prison. I am really looking forward to seeing him go down just like his brother...

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  6. Anonymous12:01 PM

    From the files of you cant fix stupid: The sheeple have spoken. They will get what they deserve while the deserving will have to wait 4 years to exorcize what will become the worst government in history.
    Congratulations to all the meatheads on their decisive albeit divisive victory.
    The silver lining in all of this is that it's all downhill now for the Conservative brand.
    JD

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    1. e.a.f.1:56 AM

      Canadians are tough. B.C. survived 16 years of corruption with the b.C. Lieberals (cons) and now that we have an ndp GOVERNMENT life is improving.

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    2. Hi JD...yes, who knew there were so many dumb sheeple in Ontario. The white trash is bad enough, but you'd think all those New Canadians would know better. Harper brought in boatloads of the wrong kind of immigrants, by favouring the greediest rather than the neediest, and now we're paying the price. But as you point out, so will the Cons. For you can count on Dougie to turn the already tainted Con brand into a steaming heap of shit from which the Cons will never recover...

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  7. Anybody old enough to remember the Fun Boy Three? All I can think about is their song, "The Lunatics Have Taken Over the Asylum"

    Catchy tune. Take care all Ontarians. Fight any and all rottenness these lunatics try to foist upon you. Québec is here for you.

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    1. Hi Scott... I have to admit I have never heard of the Fun Boy Three, but if a great musical blogger like you recommend them I will definitely look them up. ;) On the other hand the title of that song might be too much for me to bear these days so I'll just leave it here for others to enjoy:

      https://youtu.be/POzSXzwbwIc

      And thank you for your good wishes. We are going to fight Ford and his thugs all the way to their total destruction. And thank goodness I still have a place to crash in Montreal...

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  8. Anonymous4:39 PM

    Woo hoo! Now it's almost time for the CAQ to win in Quebec and Kenney in Alberta.

    The sweetest victory of all will be when Trudeau is finally sent packing.

    Make Canada White Again!

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    1. If you are supporting a racist fascist bigot's agenda, why not simply move to Alabama, rather than try to bring your un-Canadian values here?

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    2. Canada is a country where diversity is a good thing. I may get hammered for this but the people who have immigrated to Canada all have sterling credentials. The refugees who have come to Canada where helped to achieve their best. Thats why we do not have the problems that they have in other G7 Nations.

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    3. Anonymous10:10 PM

      Hi 4:39

      With an ageing population and a birth rate significantly below replacement it is very unlikely Canada will ever be "white" again. Perhaps the Cons can recreate the bare foot and pregnant effect or it might be more practical to face reality and downsize by hiving off one of the provinces. Like a seed vault PEI would be a good choice as its easy to isolate in order to protect our precious genetic material.
      RT

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    4. Who on earth cares what colour people are nowadays? Even the House of Windsor now counts a biracial member.

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    5. hi anon@4:39 PM...I don't know how the Cons produce losers like you, but if I were you I wouldn't brag about it, it only makes you look pathetic and desperate. I mean how exactly are you going to make Canada white again? Do you have some special formula or is it just the booze talking? And BTW, don't hold your breath waiting for Trudeau to be defeated, because you might turn BLUE waiting...

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  9. Beware of Ford Nation. This is a movement of little people inexplicably in support of the 1% solution. Useful idiots is how they have been described in past populist movements. Is Ford Elmo-re Gantry or are the deep Data disciples
    printing victory? In many ways the Ford victory is worse than the Trump victory. Trump had helicopters and airplanes, Ford had a Caddilac SUV. Trump had on paper a fortune. Ford had something his daddy gave him that seemed to be run down. I could go on and on about how much better Trump is as a canditate than Ford. But the people of Ontario chose Trump the lesser to lead them.

    The big things they teach people now days is not be cynical and the voters are always right. Its a mantra from the Bilberg group for sure. Nevertheless
    40% of Ontario chose to drive a Ford. I can understand this. The liberals had 15 years and the rot was in the beams. Kathleen Wynee had a chance to to a full retrofit and she choose to go with the program. So the the choice was dippers or cons, and even though I voted Liberal, I can see where the dippers are riding unicorns.

    So now we have Doug who might be made of bombast or other eternal elements running the province. The only saving grace is that there are some really smart people who where elected that will make up his cabinet. The question is will they all want to rape and plunder or do they really seek to answer the question, what is good goverment?

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    1. Anonymous9:43 PM

      Ford will not do good government .... its not in his historical DNA. Also believe it will be interesting to see how normal conservatives such as Elliott, Mulroney and others cope. Will they develop a backbone and pull a John McCain on key issues or hop on board the chaos express?
      RT

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    2. e.a.f.1:59 AM

      it has been 16 years since the Cons were at the trough, my bet is they will plunder, just like the HarperCons. I don't mind people who steal with one hand, but two, really is too much and in time the Cons will steal with two hands. They just don't know any better. Just remember B.C. has a lot of jobs for tradespeople.

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    3. Hi Steve...I can understand why some people felt that change was needed, but Ford is not an instrument of real change, and it won't be long before those dummies understand that. Ford won them over by appealing to greed. Period. For unfortunately there are is a class of people who want first class services but don't want to pay for them. And I only hope that their $128 rebate is enough to pay for a hospital bed when they need one.
      Ignorance and greed are killing this country, and until the new generation takes total control I doubt anything will change....

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  10. it is ever so depressing to realize ford is now the premier of Ontario. On the other hand this is Canada and we have a Parliamentary system. if he gets too far out of hand, the party could have a leadership convention and depose him. Nice thought always. Of course I noticed a few names of those elected with him and thought they sounded somewhat familiar and not in a good way. Alas, such is life.

    We can wait until the crime begins because it will. It always does with guys like Ford and that could put him in jail. Now that is a happy thought. ''

    The changes Ford may want to make to how medical services are provided still have to meet the health act of Canada,. Many years ago when some right wing premier of B.C. decided people had to pay $10 to get in to the ER. Ottawa withheld millions until the premier of the time saw the "light".

    If all those care homes get even worse, there will be a revolt of sorts as the news media, always liking a blood and guts story start filming. We also might remember that Ford and his nation aren't overly welcoming of people of colour, yet he was able to recruit many to his party. that will not end well once the overt racism starts.

    On the down side Ford is Premier. On the upside we are still a country with laws and Human Rights Commissions and Simon, just think of all the material you'll have to work with.

    People voted for the idiot and now they can live with it. Those who didn't bother to vote, they'll live with it also. I'm just sorry for the children of the province who didn't get to decide what would happen to their lives. Oh, well there are still 9 other provinces and Quebec is just next door.

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  11. Hi e.a.f... well if you put it this way:

    On the down side Ford is Premier. On the upside we are still a country with laws and Human Rights Commissions and Simon, just think of all the material you'll have to work with.

    I might be persuaded that some good will come of this nightmare. And of course this is an even more comforting thought.

    Oh, well there are still 9 other provinces and Quebec is just next door.

    So let's see shall I have Kenney coming out of Ford's rear orifice or vice versa? ;)

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    1. Believe me now and I will tell you later, both Ford and Kenny see Premier as just a stepping stone to their true destiny.

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