Dear Editor:
The candidates are bombarding us with promises. It’s significant to note that PC candidate Ted Arnott’s April 29 interview in this paper did not claim to be running on Ford’s record. Why?
The PCs want you to trust the promises they’ve made for the next four years, not their broken promises during the last four.
On most policy issues, the Ford PCs have failed to lead. No accountability, no transparency, no integrity. Failure to act on critical issues.
From the botched Covid-19 vaccine rollout, PCR testing nightmare, failures in LTC that cost lives, it’s understandable why Arnott would not be expounding his party’s record. Ford’s actions were intended to protect private LTC owners and not our family members. License sticker refunds can never pay for the lost lives and inadequate care given to vulnerable seniors.
Health care has declined under Ford. Government actions confirm the notion that more privatization is planned. The mistrust that Ford has created, particularly with our nurses who are grossly overworked and underpaid, is unconscionable. Hospitals without nurses won’t improve health care. The backlog of surgeries needs to be addressed. This government must be replaced otherwise health care will continue to be intentionally underfunded, two-tier health care the goal.
In education, incompetent ministers mismanaged from the start. Then they failed to keep students, staff and families safe from COVID-19, refusing to create smaller classes, cancelling mask precautions too early and directing RATs to private schools. Many families suffered under a sixth wave that could have been prevented if Ford had acted in the interests of safety.
The current minister and deputy, neither who attended public schools, have made significant cuts to public education and made classes larger, during a pandemic. They intend to cut more and move courses online. They repeatedly affirmed that students should be in schools, now they want more students in front of screens. Why? Schools had to close due to unsafe conditions. Parents and students of voting age should hold the PCs accountable for the instability in Ontario’s schools over the past four years.
Some further examples: cancelling autism supports, lack of transparency with ministerial letters, wasting money on court challenges, cancelling sick days then failing to reinstate them during the pandemic, cancelling cap-and-trade contracts, canceling renewable energy projects, canceling minimum wage increases. A plan for a multi-billion dollar highway which best serves Ford’s developer friends, is not supported by taxpayers and doesn’t make environmental sense.
Arnott claims we need effective, principled and accountable leadership. By any measure, the Ontario PCs have not met his own standards. What then, shall we do? Don’t vote for a party that works against your own self interests. Check out all the candidates and see which party will better represent you.
Use your vote to demonstrate that you aren’t satisfied with the Ford government’s record. We deserve better. Get out and vote.
Rod Murray,
Fergus