The PM and the mayor came through — the premier did not

Opinion

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This article was published 14/02/2022 (948 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Which level of government helped us in our years of need? Which let us down?

Reason over passion. This has always been Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s theme, in this pandemic crisis and in others, from coping with Donald Trump to easing Westerners’ fears over carbon pricing, and it has taken us through waves of danger comparatively well.

But he tends to see the best in people, including those who don’t deserve it. It’s his greatest flaw. Was Jody Wilson-Raybould a good hire? Does he really think all gun owners are law-abiding and persuadable? Was that last election call a good idea?

Let’s be reasonable. That’s Toronto Mayor John Tory’s response to almost everything, clearing parks of tent encampments so children can play, setting up safe injection sites, and working with a retrograde police service to block Toronto’s occupation by blaring tractor-trailers. It works.

But sometimes I wonder if his lack of passion impedes this city’s ambition. Look at Yonge and Bloor, Toronto’s busiest, most central and crucial intersection. That crashingly ugly half-built mess, the south side forever ruined, that’s on Tory.

God bless ’em. That’s Ontario Premier Doug Ford’s response to truck convoys blocking borders and city streets, to developers building how and where they please, and to unvaccinated people wanting to dine in Toronto restaurants. It is Ford’s cluelessness and cowardice, not high-handedness, that have landed us in this dogpile.

Of our three levels of government, only one has let citizens down and that’s the provincial government, led by this man who so often caters to our worst instincts: greed and carelessness. At no time have I ever felt that Ford had my back, to use Trudeau’s phrase.

I understand Ford. What I don’t understand is why people voted for him and may well vote for him again in the coming election on June 2. Imagine if we had had a better premier when COVID-19 hit, someone well-educated, socially adept, and open to fresh ideas, someone who hires good people. Imagine if we’d been vaccinated earlier and with ease, if public information had flowed fast and smooth, if Ontario had been Canada’s leader in a nest of provincial incompetents.

But no. We had Rob and now we have Doug. On Tuesday we saw him scuttle through the political elevator doors just as they were closing, preparing to end vaccine passports and restrictions just as it looked as if Canada’s anti-vax blockades might end (they won’t). It fooled no one. The fact is, Ford caved to the occupiers. As he did so, he openly doubted the efficacy of third doses, a slap in the public’s face.

Despite his declared state of emergency, Ford has done almost nothing to rescue Ottawa citizens. The truck convoys across Canada are using our famous decency against us, kicking us when we’re down. The only reason Toronto has so far escaped occupation is that this city runs on money, as does the Ambassador Bridge, notably the first to be rescued. We like money, we take it seriously, and we don’t block its flow.

Ford doesn’t understand cities. He lives in one but he doesn’t grasp how city dwellers think, how car life is vanishing and how the suburbs as we know them will not survive global heating. He looked so much happier out snowmobiling on the weekend while people in Ottawa cried. And yes, snowmobiling is heavenly but a more normal man wouldn’t have indulged.

I do think Ford judges people by how they vote. Toronto doesn’t vote for him. The key to political survival is not taking things personally but Ford resents our rejection. Equally, he can’t see Ottawa as a living city that exists beyond Parliament Hill. His dislike of the feds blocks his vision.

He has said “bless ’em” twice now, part of the folksiness that I admit I once found charming. It has soured now. Throw out that bag of milk. Bring us something clean and new.

Heather Mallick is a Toronto-based columnist covering current affairs for the Star. Follow her on Twitter: @HeatherMallick