Dave Glover On Why Voting Is Important

Opinion: Dave Glover

As the Ontario election draws near, voters have been expressing their desire to vote for the incumbent government because they hate Trudeau and want to get him out.

While I don’t necessarily disagree that the Prime Minister has a lot to answer for the October election, the June 2 election is about Ontario and how it has been handling housing, healthcare and eduction. None of which are the purview of the federal government or Trudeau.

This election is about the past four years of the Ford government and its cuts to service. Cuts that have led to crisis’s in long term healthcare (LTC) for seniors, education and affordable housing.

A government that when the perils of Covid-19 came home to roost chose to write legislation that shielded it and long term care operators from liability due to negligence.

How many residents in LTC in Ontario died due to malnutrition and dehydration and not Covid-19? How many died because they were neglected by facilities that were simply understaffed?

We may never know, but we do know what that disaster looked like because the Canadian Forces were called up to staff some residences and the report they provided painted a very dark image.

Once volunteers were no longer able to access these facilities, the reality of under staffing became self-evident. LTC homes were no longer able to rely upon family members and other community volunteers to pick up the slack their understaffing caused.

People who didn’t have family in LTC or were unaware of these issues, simply didn’t understand how the crisis got so out of hand. But the people who experienced the problems first hand knew only too well.

Family members tried desperately to see their elders, to ensure they were receiving the care they needed, but were barred from access due to the restrictions brought in by the Ontario Government and the Chief Medical Officer of health for the province.

Many voters were confused about who brought in the mandates and believed, due to some sketchy media coverage, that the mandates were the result of federal government. However, in Canada, each provincial government is responsible for healthcare decisions, and so it was Doug Ford who brought in all mandates in Ontario. From masking and social distancing to the lock downs that disproportionately affected the working poor, disabled, elderly and yes, women.

The Ford Government’s willingness to put profits before the needs of Ontarians, led to an up and down cycle of infection that only made things worse, causing thousands to die needlessly.

From the moment the Ford government won the election in 2018, it has been at war with the province’s physicians and other healthcare service providers.

It’s important to remember that just before Covid-19 hit, the Ford government fired 1,600 nurses.

The Ford government’s cuts to education leading up to the pandemic, disproportionately affected women, the largest sector in education. Ford chose to increase class sizes against the advice of experts and when the pandemic struck decided not to protect teachers believing infection wasn’t an issue among children. They were encouraged not to mask up and if they did, they weren’t expected to wear KN85 masks as it was believed they would frighten students.

We know now hat the virus is airborne and that masking and proper ventilation are important safety measures especially in an indoor setting. School boards across the province spent upwards of $5 billion dollars (100% of Contingency funds) to make schools are as safe as they can be.

At the same time, the Ford government withheld vital funding the boards received from the federal government to make these spaces safer

I could go on, but you can probably figure out where such irresponsibility is taking us.

As for access to affordable housing, this government’s record is not good.

One of the first things this government did after promising it was not going to, was to do away with rent controls.

This one step made access to affordable housing an impossibility as landlords were no longer locked into the rents and the fees they can charge.

While rental increases remain capped at 1% per annum, other fees are fair game. A local example, is several building owners now charge new tenants for parking and utilities. These used to be included in the rent, but are now being charged to new tenants. When an apartment does become vacant landlords can increase rents as they see fit, based on current market values which makes affordability a major issue.

I don’t blame landlords for wanting to make more money, but I do blame this government for taking the brakes off and allowing, what I describe as price gouging, to occur. I take issue personally, because I believe tenants protect the Investments of landlords and as such should receive some kind of benefit for doing so. After all, if tenants weren’t taking care of these investments, their value would deteriorate. This is not just a matter of philosophy, it’s a reality. Why rents are allowed to increase annually, when mortgages don’t, is beyond me and frankly ought not to be.

We need to bring back rent controls which ensure low income renters aren’t priced out of the market.

I started this piece talking about voter intentions and how many see this election as an attempt to hold Ottawa and, by extension, Trudeau to account. Returning the Ford Government to power will only expedite further erosion and privatization of vital services taxpayers have come to rely upon. Such as access to quality public education and publicly funded healthcare. Both sectors this government seems hell bent on privatizing. If you are wondering about how real the possibility is that the Ford government intends to privatize public and social services, look no further than Service Ontario centres which are essentially private services.

This election is important in a lot of ways, but it doesn’t affect what happens in Ottawa and it definitely doesn’t affect Trudeau. It will, however, effect how we live our lives in Ontario. For the working poor, elderly and disabled Ontarians, it’s not a choice they will be able to endure easily given the present rate of inflation.

Your vote is yours and yours alone, but remember the result will have far reaching impacts.

Elections aren’t a life time commitment. You’re not choosing a life partner. You’re choosing to ride a bus for the next four years. The best option may not get you to your destination, but the right one will get you the closest to it.