Premier Doug Ford has been taking a beating from all sides of the establishment ever since he decided to run for the leadership of the PCs back in February. But even after winning a decisive majority, where many Ontarians chose him and his party to govern the province for the next four years, the bombardments have only intensified.
Ontario, it appears, has its own deep state that is hostile to outsiders looking to disrupt the status quo. Since Ford took office, the Laurentian elite have been doing everything in their power to undermine the premier's mandate.
Let's take a look at some of the players that make up the Leviathan currently impeding Ford from making many of the much needed cuts to out-of-control government spending.
First off, Ford inherited a party that former leader Patrick Brown had stacked with red tories and straight up Liberals. One of the reasons some are giving for former PC MPP Amanda Simard abandoning the party instead of reconciling after Ford walked back on his modest cuts to Ontario French language programs was that she was a Patrick Brown loyalist and more of a Liberal than a Tory to begin with. When the Toronto Star reports that as many as seven PC MPs are looking to defect to the Liberals — without any sources putting their names to their statements — it reveals that there's a wing within the PC government that is hostile to Ford's mandate and aligns itself more with the Liberals than the party they're supposed to represent. These would-be turncoats, already looking to cross the floor to join a party decimated for its fiscal mismanagement just months after they were voted in to clean up the mess, show that the attitude of many in power is that real financial restraint with the public purse is not a priority for them.
On top of the red tories and Liberal moles/rats within his own ranks, Ford decided to surround himself with establishment types, a necessary move for his own survival to be sure, but a move that means these individuals are tied to special interests not interested in the government tightening its belt.
Most paralyzing of all, however, is the media screaming bloody murder after every minor move the Ford government makes. This just this week, media outlets described a meeting between Ford's top political staff and industry stakeholders a "secretive meeting" despite a former top staffer in the previous government said this is common for governments to do. CBC, Toronto Star, TVO et al. continue to spin a narrative that Ford's government is beyond the pale when many of its behaviours are no different than the governments that preceded it. The latest news of patronage appointments by Premier Ford's government should perhaps raise some eyebrows, especially the appointment of his good friend Rob Taverner as the new OPP commissioner, shortly after the requirements were lowered to allow him to qualify. But to act as if this is subverting democracy, and as if Wynne wasn't just as guilty of gross nepotism (hers involving throwing billions of the public's money over to friends), reveals their disdain and bias against anyone who's a fiscal conservative. Perhaps that's why some unnamed sources within the party are currently trying to get Ford's friend and chief of staff Dean French guillotined.
But the left-wing press could be ignored except for their ability to cause even more dissent within Ford's ranks by striking fear of public backlash at the polls as they report phony push polls claiming the PCs are already facing a resurgent Liberals already back from the dead.
Ford has already greatly conceded defeat to this deep state. He's gone back on his promise to get the books in order in a timely manner and to work away at the structural deficit, telling Toronto Sun editor in chief Adrienne Batra his party won't balance the books until the year of the next election. The premier would do himself a great favour in remembering his late brother's most redeeming quality, his refusal to back down to the left. If he hadn't gotten sick, Rob would've had a real shot at winning re-election as mayor of Toronto in spite of the many scandals. If Doug takes a more conciliatory approach he will lose the energy from much of his base and will still not win over any of the red tories that will be all too eager to abandon him at the next election. He'll be much better off continuing to fight the Leviathan than trying to get on its good side because it will try to destroy him regardless.
Written by Graeme C. Gordon
