Failing By Their Own Standards

When Doug Ford's government came to power, Martin Regg Cohn writes, it laid down three markers:  Law and order. Open for business. No profiting from power. But, less than a year into their mandate, they have failed, when judged by their own metrics:

Spoiled by power: In opposition, the Tories railed against the government “lining the pockets of their friends and Liberal insiders.” This week, Ford rewarded a failed PC candidate with a new $140,000 annual perk — dramatically upgrading the part-time chair’s job at EQAO which currently pays a mere $4,000 (a job held until last year not by a Liberal, but by ex-NDP education minister Dave Cooke). No sign of the Tories backing down, as they did after the uproar over Mississauga’s Hazel McCallion getting a $150,000 payday to advise the premier. Wait. Wasn’t Ford supposed to stop the gravy train, not fuel it up?

Optics for business: Ford profited handsomely from his Six Million Dollar Man motif, vowing to fire the overpaid CEO of Hydro One (and pretending the Tories wouldn’t have privatized it, despite trying to in the past). Setting off a chain reaction, he first cost Hydro One millions in pension payouts and other costs; then scuttled a planned takeover of U.S. utilities (American regulators cried foul over Ford’s political interference), triggering kill fees of more than $130 million; and finally a standoff this month with Ford’s newly appointed directors on the board who say they can’t find a qualified replacement CEO below market rates. An open and shut business case study in how not to carry out corporate governance.

Law and disorder: Upon becoming premier last July, Ford promised police unions he would “fix policing legislation.” This week, his government gutted the police complaints process across the province, rewriting the law so that rather than relying on outside probes, police can investigate themselves, internally. Imperfect accountability, but perfect for police unions.

Ford has been all about disruption and disorder. And the parade of both continues:

We saw it this month with the continuing investigation by the integrity commissioner into Ford’s egregious appointment of an underqualified crony (remember his rant against “friends and Liberal insiders”?), Ron Taverner as our new OPP chief.

We saw it last year with his confrontation over downsizing Toronto city council, when Ford’s government invoked the Constitution’s draconian “notwithstanding” clause to overrule a judge who had overruled the government’s overreach. While the premier disparaged judges as “unelected” and thus unqualified to judge him, Attorney General Caroline Mulroney did his bidding.

We saw it again when Ford broke an explicit campaign promise to maintain a minimum income pilot program (supported by many Tories, Liberals and New Democrats) terminating it early — and betraying the needy people who had signed up in good faith. The government’s contempt for the data-gathering process is reminiscent of the cynical sabotaging of the long-form census by the Stephen Harper government in Ottawa, which sold out Statistics Canada by depriving it of needed research data. This isn’t so much ideologically driven as antiempirical. Little wonder judges made a point of praising the people behind a court case for their “clear and cogent submissions” this month, while noting they couldn’t overrule a cabinet decision (however thoughtless and heartless). Emboldened by this dry run, encouraged by the judges’ supportive comments, a class-action lawsuit against the government is gaining momentum.

That's what happens when you elect a government of thugs. But you knew that. Didn't you?

Image: Macleans