Doug Ford’s fear of scrutiny is creating chaos
November 14, 2024
I regularly use this column to speak about the meat-and-potatoes issues that affect people in Algoma-Manitoulin. Issues like the healthcare crisis, the need for better highway and road maintenance in the North, our crowded school system, or the lack of affordable housing in our province are what I hear about most from people I meet with day-to-day and are top of mind for me when I am in the legislature.
These issues are what people expect, or at least hope, politicians to be addressing in a meaningful way when they meet at Queen’s Park to discuss legislation. It is what I want to be talking about, and whenever I get the opportunity to speak in the legislature, I try to relate the realities of people in Northern Ontario to the subject matter before us.
This week, I am writing about an issue that may seem remote or dry to some readers who are not caught up in the “Queen’s Park Bubble,” but affects all of us deeply, whether we’re aware of it or not. That is this Progressive Conservative government’s disdain for the democratic process.
Some will recall that the Ford government decided to recess the legislature early last June and hold it in recess until late October. What this means is that for nearly 5 months, no legislation was passed, no debates were held, and MPPs could not question the government on its actions or bring forward their own pieces of legislation to highlight issues important to their constituents.
Upon the return of the legislature, the government decided to cut the debate short on five different pieces of legislation and not allow a full discussion in the legislature. They also drastically reduced the time that these bills can spend in committee, cutting the amount of public commentary that can be received.
These bills included the fast-tracking of massive highway projects by exempting them from environmental assessment, the government’s fall economic update, and an overhaul of Ontario’s energy system. All these pieces of legislation are extremely complex, and their effects will be far-reaching. Each of them will have consequences for Ontario that will outlive this government. Pushing them through the legislature with little debate or public input is not only undemocratic but also downright irresponsible.
This is part of a larger trend with this government, which has decided that because it controls a majority of seats, it does not need to be held to the rules and practices of our democratic system. We’ve seen this time and again where the government has cut debate short, changed the ‘Standing Orders’ (the rules of the legislature) to cut out and limit opposition tools to hold them accountable, and in the most serious cases, has passed pieces of legislation by enacting the “notwithstanding clause” of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms which suspends certain constitutional rights.
I understand that to many people, this seems like a somewhat obscure issue with little bearing on daily life. But that is not the case. Because a government that governs in an unaccountable manner creates chaos and dysfunction.
Take, for example, some of this government’s most publicized headaches since their election in 2018:
The government drastically interfered in the Toronto municipal election, cutting the number of councillors it would allow the city to have. Ford’s Conservative government passed Bill 124 to put a cap on public sector workers’ salaries, which they had spent millions defending in court before it was deemed to be unconstitutional. The use of the notwithstanding clause, which was created to force education workers back to work, had to be repealed a week later. Their Greenbelt legislation allowed developers close to the Premier to unfairly benefit from land speculation, which they were also forced to repeal.
These are just the most notable examples where the government blatantly circumvented the norms of our democratic process and rammed through legislation without reflection or public input. There are also many cases, such as the Greenbelt scandal, where the government did not even have its own internal process to come to its decisions before rushing them through the legislature.
Bringing up these examples is not just a way to bash this government but to point out that there is a reason behind the way our democracy works in Canada and in Ontario.
Allowing for a fulsome and thoughtful debate and using the committee process to get public and expert input on bills before we pass them is meant to be a way to make better decisions that will stand the test of time. When that process gets rushed, and the government is deaf to criticism or constructive feedback, they end up getting it wrong more often than they otherwise would.
I have to say that in my 13 years as an elected official, this government stands out as one that is so certain that it does not need to heed the opposition, its critics, or, in many cases, the public. They have changed the Standing Orders more times than any government before them, using their majority to keep scrutiny to a minimum. They are allergic to ideas that do not come from their own ranks and must be pulled back from their worst impulses, kicking and screaming by the public when they go too far.
We are worse off because of this as Ontarians.
I understand the desire to get things done quickly. Governments are only elected for a four-year mandate, and then they must go back to the people and ask for another. However, there is a line between being expeditious and being unaccountable that this government has crossed in its effort to control the legislature. As we’ve seen, when you play it fast-and-loose, you end up regretting it quickly.
There is a saying that goes, “Democracy is a slow process of stumbling to the right decision instead of going straight to the wrong one.” As the Premier continues to publicly mull an early election, continues to use his majority to push through legislation without debate and avoids public scrutiny wherever he can, I think he should reflect on those words.
Taking criticism is never enjoyable, but it is a necessary component of our democratic system that should not be taken for granted. At the end of the day, I believe that this government would make far fewer errors if they took the time to do things right instead of rushing into whatever they think is best.
As always, please feel free to contact my office about these issues or any other provincial matters. You can reach my constituency office by email at mmantha-co@ola.org or by phone Toll-free at 1-800-831-1899.
Michael Mantha MPP/député
Algoma-Manitoulin
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