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What’s with the license plates?

April 18, 2019   ·   0 Comments

By Laura Campbell

In an economy like ours (dearth of jobs, debt through the roof) it’s beyond sinister when governments successfully sell austerity measures as “taking care of the people.” The thing with Margaret Thatcher was that she never tried to pretend she was anything other than an ‘iron lady,’ and despite the long-term economic, political, and cultural consequences of the Thatcher/Reagan era, on paper many of her policies were successful in the immediate term. But we know that the success of an economy, at the very least since the mid-1800’s, depends not just on what national or sub-national (read: provincial) governments do, but also very much on what’s happening in the wider global economy. This is a complicated, harsh reality. But it doesn’t meanour government can’t do things to manage global trends and how they play out in our daily lives. 

The thing is, since 2008, scholars from every major academic discipline analyzing society and economy, have shown that the consequences of harsh austerity measures are destabilizing and actually damaging to economic productivity overall. The International Monetary Fund, historically a quite conservative (neo-liberal) institution, has even admitted as much. We have the benefit of hindsight now. We know this doesn’t work. Slashing the social safety net and money for education, is the very last thing we should be doing. But that’s exactly the twisted logic behind Ontario’s ‘open-for-business’ budget. I would ask,  why does California have Silicon Valley? Part of the reason is that they have some of the best-funded public schools in the Western world.

Ford’s first budget, announced last week, was harsh (especially if you’re an indigenous person and/or concerned about the environment, and/or a student in our public school system, and/or a senior, or a child). But let’s talk about the debt first: When the Green Party created a budget prior to the last provincial election, as it tried to  show honestly how to achieve fiscal balance in the Province, it also admitted that it would take 5+ years to do so. There would be NO way to balance the budget in under four years without major cuts. As someone deeply concerned about Ontario’s massive debt, I do not fault the Ford government for admitting that it will take longer than a single term to balance the budget. 

That being said, there were some crucial mistakes made, directly out of the gate, by this government that are hard to understand if you’re concerned about both debt AND helping the people of Ontario. 1) Cutting the lucrative cap and trade program, whose revenues could have been redirected to deficit reduction (and would have prevented the federal carbon tax backstop from kicking in here in Ontario). 2) Spending $30 million of public money on a lawsuit with the federal government to fight said carbon tax. 3) Cancelling renewable energy contracts and construction, which were employing people and raising additional revenue in and for the province. 

These very first steps signalled to me that the government, indeed, was NOT open to the business of the 21st century. What businesses would Doug Ford like to attract to Ontario? Could he provide some examples? Could anyone in his government? 

I agree that we need to attract business to Ontario. One of the fastest growing sectors in our global economy is clean technology. That’s not just about energy… it’s everything from appliances, to cars, to building materials etc etc. A modern economy doesn’t turn its back on such an exciting opportunity to make investments in a growing industry. Doug Ford needs to be bold, smart and inventive. Those are the hallmarks of a leader concerned about the economy. 

Aside from the economic concerns, let’s turn to the “Caring for the People of Ontario” aspect of this budget. Two things stand out that appear to show ‘care,’ but are purposely vague on details: 1) Dental care for low-income seniors. Dental care will be provided in public health units to those seniors who have no private insurance and can’t otherwise pay for it out of pocket. However, there are no details about how this policy will look in practice. Are we talking about just ‘dental check-ups’? Fillings? Extraction? What about more complicated surgeries? 2) Child-care spaces and support for low-income families. Again, no details given on how and where an extra 30,000 child-care spaces would be created. What about the funding? Tax rebates won’t work, since low-income families need the money up-front for child care. I asked our MPP’s office for clarification. If they want to design sound policy, they should listen to working class parents and what their needs are… not what looks good on paper, but in effect, does little to help. And remember: helping people, helps the economy. And a strong economy helps people. They are fundamentally connected. 

Now what about planning for climate change? CUTS, rather than increased funding, for flood response is what we got. Basically, the government has signalled that climate-change-related severe weather isn’t a problem. Good luck to municipalities who have flooding problems: London, Windsor, Grand Valley residents… I wonder if local residents along the Nottawasaga are implicated by these cuts as well.

What we did get was a PC vanity project. Super blue, shiny, new licence plates. This is a bizarre priority. Some justification has included the factour old licence plates are prone to “chipping.” Okay. But why then the re-design? Ah, why not! Only a few million for the agency to come up with a new logo, right? (No worry about public sector employees losing their jobs). 

All of this nonsense is happening because our electoral system produced a majority government that is accountable to no one. Working together in coalitions means MORE people get more of what they want. Negotiation produces balance. Perhaps Prince Edward Island will be the first province to show us the way. The Green Party is leading the polls there with an election coming up soon, and they want to change the electoral system to proportional representation. That’s the light at the end of my tunnel. Being neither a conservative or a liberal, or an NDP supporter, I’m rather someone who advocates for all parties working together to achieve the best outcomes for people and planet. 

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