On 2 June, 2022 Ontarians voted in a provincial election to appoint the leader of our province for the next four years. This is a province that has the largest population in Canada, is the economic and financial engine of the country, whose output of goods and services exceeds many countries.
The incumbent premier, Doug Ford (I shudder to even mention his name) is a crude boor, a man who dropped out of a two-year course at a community college, and has no qualifications of any kind to run this province.
Yet we re-elected him.
He managed COVID in an abysmal fashion, even by his own low standards, and was forced to admit it publicly.
Yet we re-elected him.
Dearest to my heart are the interlinked issues of the environment and climate change.
Let me review - briefly - his dismal record, which has moved back the province's approach to climate change by a half century or more.
1. Dismantled the previous government's comprehensive climate change strategy.
2. Lost a battle on carbon pricing with the federal government before the Supreme Court of Canada.
3. Cancelled more than 700 renewable energy projects.
4. Rewrote planning rules to favour developers.
5. Pushed for new highways, further contributing to urban sprawl.
6. Tried to open parts of the Greenbelt to developers.
7. Knee-capped conservation authorities, inhibiting their ability to tackle flood plain issues.
8. Weakened protection for endangered species.
9. Repealed the province's toxic use reduction legislation
10. Dismantled the environmental assessment process.
In the process the Ford government has become increasingly authoritarian.
Yet we re-elected it. We will barely recognize our province after four more years of irresponsibility.
Over and over again, on every continent we select people who are antithetical to the stewardship of the planet.
No wonder the world is in such a mess.
