Can We Make it Three More Years?

So Mike Roman was just indicted for his involvement in trying to overthrow the 2020 election in the US. What's that got to do with us? He worked directly with Stephen Harper as Assistant Chairman of the International Democratic Union. He also head up an intelligence gathering operation for the Koch brothers. I learned all that from a flippin' Tiktok (the amazing Frank Domenic)! Who needs a subscription to The Star anymore?? So now there's a pretty clear dotted line between at least one member of the conservative party in Canada and the January 6th uprising in the states.

And videos are circulating of Ford complaining in 2018 about the politicians making secret deals behind closed doors, and then we find out he's using his personal phone so messages can't be seen by a FOI. He had a stag and doe and got tons of cash from developers, which he insisted were his friends, only to jump up and down claiming they're not his friends now that they stand to make billions by being first in line to buy Greenbelt land, after he promised not to open up the Greenbelt (but only after getting caught promising TO open it up) years ago. And then, from Colin D'Mello, he said he didn't know about "the Greenbelt extraction land selection" until after "they were already picked by a political staffer," and of course there's proof that he absolutely did. The Narwhal has a detailed timeline of it all.

But remember in 2011 when Rob Ford had a BBQ for Harper, who talked about the political dynasty they have with the Fords, and said (h/t Cheryl), 

"We've started cleaning up the left-wing mess federally in the area. Rob's doing it municipally, and now we've got to complete the hat trick and do it provincially as well."

And, according to Mike J.

"Stephen Lecce started in PR (helped Harper spin the Mike Duffy affair). He wasn't hired because he is an expert in public education; he was hired to spin cuts to education as historic investments."

AND Doug Ford has some pretty close connections with the OPP.  

Of course they're all connected.

Starting to feel royally screwed, yet?

Margaret Shkimba also reminds us, in that excellent article in The Hamilton Spectator, the depressing reality that only 18% of the electorate voted Ford in. 

"We are exhausted defending our interests from government neglect. Families remain woefully underserved after how many hears of begging and pleading for relief? If they won't help children with special needs, what can anyone expect?"

It feels like everybody is so corrupt or corruptible or just plain incompetent and so much is a mess that people can't be bothered to figure out the least bad person so they just stay home. 

In a nutshell, Ford plans to pave over 5,000 acres of prime farmland, which could likely contaminate the watershed and harm wildlife, and build a highway cutting a 60 km through farmland as well. Cynthia Mulligan reports that, 

"Two recent studies conclude the premier can reach, even exceed his goal of building of 1.5 million homes by 2031 without touching the Greenbelt."  

And John Bowker wrote that,

"The same month the Ford government announced its Greenbelt removals, the Ontario NDP tabled a motion with detailed proposals to build housing without destroying farmland or the Greenbelt. The PCs used their majority to quash the motion without a debate."

Of course there's room for housing that won't infringe on farmland.  

John Ralston Saul said, "This may be the most corrupt government in the history of modern Canada," and Martin Regg Cohn, in The Star, says this might be the end for Ford. 

I'm not so sure. We have a strong NDP option at least this time around, but we still have almost three years to go. If Ford isn't made to step down for corruption (and he won't be - although Ryan Amato might go), nobody will remember this - not enough people out of the number that actually take the time to go to the polls on or before June 4, 2026. It's way too early in the election cycle to matter. 

Keep in mind it took the deaths at Walkerton and Ipperwash before Harris walked away from office. 

Covid deaths don't count because they're happening everywhere, with pretty much equally bad policies happening across the board. People have just gotten used to the repeated illnesses and lack of health care and rotating supply teachers and the rest of the mess. We're too adaptable to remember this in three years.

But maybe, at this point, I'm just really wary of getting my hopes up again. Team Marit, here we go! 

Some cartoons to lighten the mood: