Now we know for sure what is proposed for the next four years. And yes, Ottawa will have a ‘super mayor’.
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In the spring, the Ontario government released a budget so voters would know what to expect if Doug Ford and company were re-elected. On Tuesday, the victorious Progressive Conservatives repeated their essential assumptions, mixed with the lyrics “Give us a place to stand… a place to grow” from that 1967 “Ontari-ari-ari-o.” ear worm.
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Alright, so now we know for sure what’s planned for the next four years: lots of roads, hospital infrastructure, more long-term care beds, a boost for the battery/electric vehicle industry, investment in the North, education, increasing the money and various attempts to attract more health workers.
We also know that the Ford government plans to never again institute lockdowns due to COVID (or presumably any other disease). People are expected to live with the virus as there are vaccines, antivirals, rapid tests and HEPA filters. It’s a strange promise about a disease that continues to kill despite these tools. There is also no mention of monkeypox or other future plagues; no long-term strategy is needed, it seems. That’s public health in Ontario-ari-ari-o.
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What Tuesday’s laundry list included that wasn’t there three months ago was a modest pay raise for people on the Ontario Disability Support Plan (ODSP). The Tories are now promising a five per cent increase in the monthly allowance, currently a stingy $1,169. The inflation rate in June was 8.1 percent. There is a plan for future inflation-indexed raises.
Another addendum was the “bold” commitment to create a “strong mayor” system for Toronto and Ottawa (future expansion to other municipalities has yet to be determined). Tuesday’s throne speech tied this move directly to Ontario’s affordable housing challenges, with the government saying strong mayors can “work more effectively with the province to reduce timelines for development, standardize processes and address local barriers to increasing housing supply”.
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It is unlikely that even a “super mayor” could magically fix Ottawa’s or any other city’s housing and shelter problems; this concept is really about shifting the problem, partly as a result of provincial bureaucracy, onto the shoulders of an identifiable local politician. And it’s true that the measure should give Ottawa voters pause. On whose shoulders would you put this topic? Those of Bob Chiarelli, Catherine McKenney or Mark Sutcliffe? And what other powers will they exercise if their vote or veto counts more than that of other councillors?
But at least now we have the government’s plan for provincial growth. Be calm. We’re all going to be fine in Ontari-ari-ari-o.
