Come on, come on, everyone. Doug Ford’s Sideshow is about to stage its next show.
Normally, Ontarians would be treated to a spectacular show of acrobatics, including gravity-defying flip-flops, in a low-vote decision temporarily supported by the Progressive Conservative government. But if you’re tired of seeing backflips on greenbelts, dissolving Peel Region, new license plates, canceling French university plans, funding autism, etc., Mr. Ford has something new for you. Offers. This is a nice diversionary move in the form of a new bill that would require future governments to hold a referendum before implementing new state carbon pricing programs.
free! We will take a break here for applause…
This section will be part of Mr. Ford’s Get It Done Act (no joke, that’s the actual name of the law), which will be announced next week. “I’ve always said the carbon tax is the worst tax ever,” Ford said in a news release. “The cost of everything goes up. We need to protect Ontario workers and their families from the high costs of a carbon tax, and we urge the federal government to do the same.” Ford said. He used the opportunity to position Ontario Liberal leader Bonnie Crombie as exactly the type of provincial leader his law protects. “If you look back when she was an Ottawa MP, she was the queen of the carbon tax,” Ford said at a news conference. “She was there rooting for a carbon tax. It would make things more unaffordable for people.”
This very serious bill is typical of Doug Ford. populist (according to a recent Abacus poll, a majority of Ontarians think a carbon tax is bad policy); (2018), and was easily reversed. The bill has the populist appeal of, say, a referendum on whether airlines should offer better in-flight meals or whether your mother-in-law should move into your spare bedroom. The chances of enforcement are about the same. . Indeed, if a future government simply repeals this bill, your wife will soon have a carpet sample to try in her bedroom.
Successive state leaders have recognized the galvanizing effect of promising policy referendums, even if they are ineffective. As part of a “common sense revolution,” Ontario Premier Mike Harris introduced the Taxpayer Protection and Balanced Budget Act in 1999, requiring future governments to put people to a referendum before raising or introducing new taxes. It has been made mandatory to implement it. Alberta Premier Jason Kenney has announced a campaign promise to remove parity from the constitution and put it to a referendum. These were noble efforts to energize supporters, but keen observers of history have noted that over the past 25 years, Ontario has been unable to make payments without taxpayers’ express permission to make one or two It will be noticed that taxes have been raised. And to the chagrin of some 62 per cent of Albertans who voted in the referendum, Canada’s constitution remains unchanged.
For Ford, it’s clear that enacting laws that are actually enforced is not the goal here. Rather, it is a return to old believers. It’s a classic, feel-good gimmick, in the same vein as the 2018 beer pledge or the anti-carbon tax stickers the government ordered to be placed on gas station pumps in 2019. (a directive deemed unconstitutional by an Ontario Superior Court judge).
In fact, the referendum policy is an attempt to recapture some of his old-school conservative authenticity, which he has built over the years as a weak-minded big spender. His just-announced plan to ban tolls on state highways other than the 407 (though he actually has no plans to introduce new tolls on state highways other than the 407), license plate renewals, etc. So is his pledge to automate. The government’s scrapping of plate stickers in 2022 has led to a sharp increase in expired plates, the Prime Minister said, adding that the Prime Minister will once again reverse planned inflation-linked increases in beer tax and LCBO prices. The decision (everyone needs a go, after all, to move).
By waving his arms, throwing his cape and shouting “Carbon tax referendum!” Mr. Ford has also created a useful distraction from some of the more fundamental issues his government wants Ontarians to ignore. There is. Among them: a bizarre exclusive source deal with Staples to house some of Service Ontario’s stores (the government will certainly provide a business case for this deal once beer stocks return); and sudden acquiescence to Bill 124. Wage caps for public sector workers, which the government has passionately defended for years, will now be abandoned following a ruling by the Ontario Court of Appeal.
So for Mr. Ford, this is simply a continuation of his favorite type of sideshow. It’s about creating something out of nothing, and all of that – hmmm! – It disappears when someone gets closer and takes a closer look. Meanwhile, Staples executives sneak off the stage amidst the smoke. Please clap.