What's your vote worth? Is it $200?
October 18, 2024 3:46 AM Subscribe
Ontario premier Doug Ford--who is really just a series of corporations in a skin suit--to send out $200 cheques to ALL Ontarians. The issue? Looks like he's planning to call an early provincial election not long after the cheques are sent out.
"Ontarians see right thorough these stunts," Stiles said, before calling the government "out of touch, out of gas, and clearly — out of ideas."
(Stiles is the NDP leader in the province.) As much as I love the NDP and would like them to get their shit together, no, Ontarians won't.
"Ontarians see right thorough these stunts," Stiles said, before calling the government "out of touch, out of gas, and clearly — out of ideas."
(Stiles is the NDP leader in the province.) As much as I love the NDP and would like them to get their shit together, no, Ontarians won't.
use that $200 to buy NDP signs maybe
posted by seanmpuckett at 5:13 AM on October 18 [5 favorites]
posted by seanmpuckett at 5:13 AM on October 18 [5 favorites]
I want to know what the $200 rebate is for.
I’d like to know what the population of Ontario is
I wonder where the billion dollars is coming from.
I’m curious about why this money isn’t being spent on new homes, programs for addressing unhoused people or health care
I wonder if Ontario is ready to get rid of this corrupt asshole
posted by ashbury at 5:16 AM on October 18 [11 favorites]
I’d like to know what the population of Ontario is
I wonder where the billion dollars is coming from.
I’m curious about why this money isn’t being spent on new homes, programs for addressing unhoused people or health care
I wonder if Ontario is ready to get rid of this corrupt asshole
posted by ashbury at 5:16 AM on October 18 [11 favorites]
Current population is just a hair over 16 million. We have a family doctor crisis, a housing crisis, and unhoused population crisis. 16 million x $200 won't fix all these issues, but it would be a start.
When I first read this, I was like, "HOW IS THIS NOT CLEARLY BRIBERY???"
use that $200 to buy NDP signs maybe
This is party I always vote for but they ain't doing much better on making promises and keeping them. I suspect next provincial AND federal election, their seats will be greatly reduced.
posted by Kitteh at 5:21 AM on October 18 [4 favorites]
When I first read this, I was like, "HOW IS THIS NOT CLEARLY BRIBERY???"
use that $200 to buy NDP signs maybe
This is party I always vote for but they ain't doing much better on making promises and keeping them. I suspect next provincial AND federal election, their seats will be greatly reduced.
posted by Kitteh at 5:21 AM on October 18 [4 favorites]
The NDP is anymore the party of Whatever, like the Conservatives are the party of Racists, and the Liberals are the party of Corporations. "Vote Orange, we're not the other guys!" is not a compelling message. I'm like, who the fuck even is Marit Stiles. "It's Marit" means precisely what? Does no one in the party have a vision? Does no one in the party have passion? What the hell is Jagmeet doing anyway? I have no idea, does he even know. This isn't doom posting, but god damn. Can we have something nice in this country/province, please?
posted by seanmpuckett at 5:31 AM on October 18 [13 favorites]
posted by seanmpuckett at 5:31 AM on October 18 [13 favorites]
OK i suppose both C and L are the party of corporations, and the differentiation is whether the racism is overt or covert. I just didn't want to confront that. But it's there.
posted by seanmpuckett at 5:32 AM on October 18 [3 favorites]
posted by seanmpuckett at 5:32 AM on October 18 [3 favorites]
20 grams of hash equivalent to put it in Ford terms.
posted by whatevernot at 5:35 AM on October 18 [8 favorites]
posted by whatevernot at 5:35 AM on October 18 [8 favorites]
When Ralph Klein did this in Alberta, he at least have is all enough to get a new iPod. $200 doesn't seem like a lot.
posted by jonnay at 5:42 AM on October 18 [3 favorites]
posted by jonnay at 5:42 AM on October 18 [3 favorites]
It doesn't seem like a lot but it's gonna have the intended effect of "Doug Ford cares about Ontarians! Let's re-elect him!" I find it infuriating that this will likely work because goddamn, Conservative voters are thick as pig shit.
posted by Kitteh at 6:06 AM on October 18 [3 favorites]
posted by Kitteh at 6:06 AM on October 18 [3 favorites]
Respond by sending out checks for 1000$ that say "valid if the NDP are elected".
Call it a "UBI alpha test".
posted by NotAYakk at 6:35 AM on October 18 [4 favorites]
Call it a "UBI alpha test".
posted by NotAYakk at 6:35 AM on October 18 [4 favorites]
how will this stimulate the economy, you absolute idiot potato
posted by Kitteh at 6:39 AM on October 18 [2 favorites]
posted by Kitteh at 6:39 AM on October 18 [2 favorites]
Things I would rather have than $200:
For the people I see on the streets of Ottawa to have better choices than living on the streets of Ottawa.
Functioning transit in Ottawa.
An appointment with the dermatologist I was referred to two years ago.
Any chance at all of ever affording a home or even being able to move to a rental closer to my work.
I realize my $200 dollars doesn't buy any of those things, but all of our $200 could help with at least some of them.
posted by jacquilynne at 6:40 AM on October 18 [9 favorites]
For the people I see on the streets of Ottawa to have better choices than living on the streets of Ottawa.
Functioning transit in Ottawa.
An appointment with the dermatologist I was referred to two years ago.
Any chance at all of ever affording a home or even being able to move to a rental closer to my work.
I realize my $200 dollars doesn't buy any of those things, but all of our $200 could help with at least some of them.
posted by jacquilynne at 6:40 AM on October 18 [9 favorites]
> Functioning transit in Ottawa.
Ottawa doesn't vote for Ford enough: so Ottawa gets 30$ per capita for Transit, while Toronto gets 200$ per capita for Transit.
Keep up.
posted by NotAYakk at 6:42 AM on October 18 [5 favorites]
Ottawa doesn't vote for Ford enough: so Ottawa gets 30$ per capita for Transit, while Toronto gets 200$ per capita for Transit.
Keep up.
posted by NotAYakk at 6:42 AM on October 18 [5 favorites]
I am sure that I am not the first to observe this, but despite DoFo being the ONTARIO premier, he basically just focuses on Toronto. I rarely hear about anything he does that does not involve Toronto.
posted by Kitteh at 6:44 AM on October 18 [4 favorites]
posted by Kitteh at 6:44 AM on October 18 [4 favorites]
One of the few politicians who makes me feel slightly less shitty about TFG, thanks folks
posted by gottabefunky at 6:52 AM on October 18 [1 favorite]
posted by gottabefunky at 6:52 AM on October 18 [1 favorite]
tbh, repeating the message that the other parties are useless really is doomposting. it's literally the corporate media line; the opposition parties all have housing platforms and healthcare platforms etc.
do i wish we had an unusually savvy savant, a once-in-a-generation galvanizing charismatic figure that could break thru this pro-corporate pro-doom media environment to lead us to the promise land? sure.
anyways, "the current guy is insanely corrupt and racist but why would i vote for the other parties?" just don't repeat it idk, i for one would be tremendously excited to have a non-corrupt non-racist premier. that sounds great, actually!
posted by pmv at 7:25 AM on October 18 [5 favorites]
do i wish we had an unusually savvy savant, a once-in-a-generation galvanizing charismatic figure that could break thru this pro-corporate pro-doom media environment to lead us to the promise land? sure.
anyways, "the current guy is insanely corrupt and racist but why would i vote for the other parties?" just don't repeat it idk, i for one would be tremendously excited to have a non-corrupt non-racist premier. that sounds great, actually!
posted by pmv at 7:25 AM on October 18 [5 favorites]
Well, we're gonna have to have more than 35% of Ontarians to actually vote this time out. One of the reasons we're stuck with this joker is that voter turnout was so so low. Like, embarrassingly so.
posted by Kitteh at 7:28 AM on October 18 [4 favorites]
posted by Kitteh at 7:28 AM on October 18 [4 favorites]
I'm enormously privileged to be able to vote for Kristyn Wong Tam (NDP) for my MPP so it's like on a day-to-day level, I'm stoked to have her, but the party itself is such a cluster.
and I never say stoked, i hate that word
posted by seanmpuckett at 7:46 AM on October 18 [2 favorites]
and I never say stoked, i hate that word
posted by seanmpuckett at 7:46 AM on October 18 [2 favorites]
Ottawa gets 30$ per capita for Transit, while Toronto gets 200$ per capita for Transit.
Wow, that just makes me irate.
posted by jacquilynne at 7:51 AM on October 18 [2 favorites]
Wow, that just makes me irate.
posted by jacquilynne at 7:51 AM on October 18 [2 favorites]
Our MPP is Ted Hsu from the Liberal Party. He's a nice man and does a good job here! Our MP on the other hand....
posted by Kitteh at 7:52 AM on October 18
posted by Kitteh at 7:52 AM on October 18
My NDP MPP (Doly Begum) is good, but there aren't enough NDP MPPs to make a difference.
Ontarians are really not seeing right thorough these stunts, though
posted by scruss at 7:54 AM on October 18 [1 favorite]
Ontarians are really not seeing right thorough these stunts, though
posted by scruss at 7:54 AM on October 18 [1 favorite]
Kingston briefly had Ian Arthur (NDP) as our MPP; to me, he represented what we don't have enough of anyone in politics: he was a former sous chef who had a deep interest in politics and decided why not run. And he won! When he left the position, he went on to work on affordable housing with a small company he co-founded.
And when I say we don't have enough of, he wasn't a legacy nor a career politician. Just a regular dude who wanted to run to try and make change.
posted by Kitteh at 7:56 AM on October 18 [3 favorites]
And when I say we don't have enough of, he wasn't a legacy nor a career politician. Just a regular dude who wanted to run to try and make change.
posted by Kitteh at 7:56 AM on October 18 [3 favorites]
I'm priviledged to have a Green MPP in Ontario, but I have strong suspicions that the Green party is propped up by the Conservatives to further split the Left vote.
The way I fight that is to vote for literally whoever is most likely to beat the Conservatives locally. Currently in Guelph that means Greens, but I'd vote for a potato if it was leading the non-right-wing polls. I don't need an inspiring leader, in fact I don't particularly want one, I want competent governance.
ABC: Anyone But Conservative.
posted by PennD at 8:23 AM on October 18 [2 favorites]
The way I fight that is to vote for literally whoever is most likely to beat the Conservatives locally. Currently in Guelph that means Greens, but I'd vote for a potato if it was leading the non-right-wing polls. I don't need an inspiring leader, in fact I don't particularly want one, I want competent governance.
ABC: Anyone But Conservative.
posted by PennD at 8:23 AM on October 18 [2 favorites]
Wow, that just makes me irate.
If it is any consolation there's lots of places in Ontario that get way less and often nothing (hint - anywhere that isn't south of North Bay).
posted by Ashwagandha at 8:30 AM on October 18 [2 favorites]
If it is any consolation there's lots of places in Ontario that get way less and often nothing (hint - anywhere that isn't south of North Bay).
posted by Ashwagandha at 8:30 AM on October 18 [2 favorites]
We live adjacent to the area in the GTA regarded as Ford Country, so we've seen first-hand the strength of his support there. One thing that the Ford Bros are (were) indisputably good at is retail politics. The getting out in public, their annual BBQ, the championing of populist causes, burnishing their reputation for "fighting for the little guy". You could call their office with a problem, and someone would actually do something. This is how they created a base of support.
Of course, letting them rise above the level of Councillor or MPP... disaster. Except if you're a developer, in which case... happy days.
Everyone outside of Toronto loves to hate on it, so of course Toronto is his nemesis, even when he had his housepet John Tory as Mayor.
Besides the $200 bribe, Duggie has also latched onto the current backlash against bike lanes. Apparently us cyclists are now the primary cause of gridlock. He is really scrambling hard for causes and shiny things to distract from his horrible record and many missteps. Greenbelt sell-off, anyone? Ready for our new Ontario Place spa?
posted by Artful Codger at 9:08 AM on October 18 [4 favorites]
Of course, letting them rise above the level of Councillor or MPP... disaster. Except if you're a developer, in which case... happy days.
Everyone outside of Toronto loves to hate on it, so of course Toronto is his nemesis, even when he had his housepet John Tory as Mayor.
Besides the $200 bribe, Duggie has also latched onto the current backlash against bike lanes. Apparently us cyclists are now the primary cause of gridlock. He is really scrambling hard for causes and shiny things to distract from his horrible record and many missteps. Greenbelt sell-off, anyone? Ready for our new Ontario Place spa?
posted by Artful Codger at 9:08 AM on October 18 [4 favorites]
Changing the creation of bike lanes to be a provincial responsibility instead of municipal is fucking mindboggling. So my city is hamstrung in creating new bike lanes until DoFo gives us the greenlight? Get fucked, you absolute stale Hot Pocket.
posted by Kitteh at 9:44 AM on October 18 [6 favorites]
posted by Kitteh at 9:44 AM on October 18 [6 favorites]
This $200 bribe is right out of the old Mike Harris playbook, no big shock there. Ford sees that a lot of what he’s doing is at risk of being undermined if they can’t get 4-6 more years in power so why not bribe the voters so they have a bigger majority and then wield the notwithstanding clause like a cudgel to push their agenda even harder? The Donors Highway is underway, next up is the bait-and-switch to turn Ontario Place into a casino surrounded by luxury condos, and the Science Centre into even more luxury condos.
Our opposition parties do have all sorts of great policies and platforms but they can’t bribe anyone to vote the way Ford can.
posted by grmpyprogrammer at 10:04 AM on October 18 [3 favorites]
Our opposition parties do have all sorts of great policies and platforms but they can’t bribe anyone to vote the way Ford can.
posted by grmpyprogrammer at 10:04 AM on October 18 [3 favorites]
"Bribing your constituents" is a good thing, and exactly how a democracy ought to work. The correct criticism here is that $200 is piss in the pool compared to what the state should be distributing.
posted by jy4m at 11:46 AM on October 18 [3 favorites]
posted by jy4m at 11:46 AM on October 18 [3 favorites]
The only way either the Liberals or NDP have a chance is if they can successfully shift the blame on everything wrong in the province (housing, health care, traffic, lawlessness, too many foreign students) from Trudeau to Ford. Factually it shouldn't be hard because most of the problems are matters of provincial jurisdiction but if facts won the day Ford wouldn't have won or been re-elected in the first place.
posted by any portmanteau in a storm at 11:57 AM on October 18 [4 favorites]
posted by any portmanteau in a storm at 11:57 AM on October 18 [4 favorites]
It is wild that the "facts not feelings" crowd is not exactly the "facts not feelings" crowd. Will no one rid us of this troublesome pest?
posted by Kitteh at 11:58 AM on October 18 [2 favorites]
posted by Kitteh at 11:58 AM on October 18 [2 favorites]
as an Albertan who lived through Ralph Bucks and a premier who literally threw cash at a homeless person in a shelter and told him to get a job (and note, it was the premier who was drunk at the time, not the homeless guy), all I can say is: that's right Ontario, suck it all up. My Ottawa brother used to be insufferable, I'm quite certain his favourite sport in life was to point out how shitty Alberta politics are. Well nothing has changed, only now Ontario is looking pretty shitty too.
no, sorry. I really hope we can all turn the corner on this bullshit but it just seems to creep further out and take hold in more places and I think we are either in for a long cycle before it gets better or we're just bound for a bad place.
posted by ginger.beef at 12:08 PM on October 18 [3 favorites]
no, sorry. I really hope we can all turn the corner on this bullshit but it just seems to creep further out and take hold in more places and I think we are either in for a long cycle before it gets better or we're just bound for a bad place.
posted by ginger.beef at 12:08 PM on October 18 [3 favorites]
> I wonder if Ontario is ready to get rid of this corrupt asshole
No because the largely conservative media has successfully gotten them to blame our PM for our declining QOL.
That said it’s not NOT JT’s fault inasmuch as he’s on board with neoliberal free trade policies that eviscerate domestic wages for corporations’ benefit (ultimately Mulroney’s fault, but none of Martin, Chrétien or Harper improved things, and it was the Liberals among them who shaved corporate taxes down to pretty much nothing and downloaded most things to provinces who in turn downloaded stuff to municipalities).
Infrastructure, education, healthcare etc more directly Ford’s fault. But McGuinty sucked at it all too.
Anyway of course we’re going to have conservatives again. OLP have Crombie who’s getting crap from misogyny, people associating them with the federal liberals, and Crombie’s own purported cuddlesome relationship with developers. Stiles no one knows about because the ONDP are broke + conservative media monopoly (+ again misogyny).
Either way right now and probably forever JT is going to take the heat so Ford, man of the people /s is going to win it.
They want this election ahead of the federal one too obviously. JT is so toxic PP will get at least two terms.
I’ll be close to 60 by the time they’re all done ruining Ontario and Canada. Once my caregiving obligations in this province are done I am fucking out. Off to anywhere in Europe my partner or I can get to based on ancestry. Or somewhere in Latin America if they’ll have us.
posted by cotton dress sock at 12:52 PM on October 18 [3 favorites]
No because the largely conservative media has successfully gotten them to blame our PM for our declining QOL.
That said it’s not NOT JT’s fault inasmuch as he’s on board with neoliberal free trade policies that eviscerate domestic wages for corporations’ benefit (ultimately Mulroney’s fault, but none of Martin, Chrétien or Harper improved things, and it was the Liberals among them who shaved corporate taxes down to pretty much nothing and downloaded most things to provinces who in turn downloaded stuff to municipalities).
Infrastructure, education, healthcare etc more directly Ford’s fault. But McGuinty sucked at it all too.
Anyway of course we’re going to have conservatives again. OLP have Crombie who’s getting crap from misogyny, people associating them with the federal liberals, and Crombie’s own purported cuddlesome relationship with developers. Stiles no one knows about because the ONDP are broke + conservative media monopoly (+ again misogyny).
Either way right now and probably forever JT is going to take the heat so Ford, man of the people /s is going to win it.
They want this election ahead of the federal one too obviously. JT is so toxic PP will get at least two terms.
I’ll be close to 60 by the time they’re all done ruining Ontario and Canada. Once my caregiving obligations in this province are done I am fucking out. Off to anywhere in Europe my partner or I can get to based on ancestry. Or somewhere in Latin America if they’ll have us.
posted by cotton dress sock at 12:52 PM on October 18 [3 favorites]
Does it matter if this election is before the next federal one? Say Trudeau holds on until October 2025, if Pollievre wins he'll still be in his honeymoon period by the time the Ontario election rolls around in June 2026. By calling the election now, if Ford wins the next election would then be in 2028, and by that time enough Ontarians might be blaming their problems on the Conservatives, which would then be Ford's problem. By waiting until June 2026, he can win then and doesn't have to worry about an election until 2030.
posted by any portmanteau in a storm at 1:01 PM on October 18 [1 favorite]
posted by any portmanteau in a storm at 1:01 PM on October 18 [1 favorite]
The timing matters based on a couple of huge capital projects: Highway 413 and the Eglinton Crosstown. If Highway 413 doesn't get final permits before the election, Ford's backers will be very, very displeased and the "open for business" slogan will be proven wrong. If the Crosstown doesn't open before the election (no sign that it will, from this near neighbour) he shows he's not in control of his provincial agencies. If the Crosstown does open, the difficult "why did this take so long?" and "how was it possible to go so wildly over budget?" questions may start to have answers, none of which will look good.
posted by scruss at 7:49 AM on October 19 [1 favorite]
posted by scruss at 7:49 AM on October 19 [1 favorite]
Scruss, there is a theory going around that the DoFo party is delaying the opening of the Crosstown to co-incide with the opening of the Finch LRT, so that they can take credit for opening new transit in Toronto. And that would make strategic sense; I remember voters congratulating brother Rob for opening the Spadina subway extension, even though work on that line started way back when Mel Lastman was mayor.
I myself suspect the Crosstown isn't ready to open anytime soon (who can say, after all? No one is talking, so all we have are rumours and theories and hearsay) but as someone who lives on Eglinton I just want one damn transit line to open up and maybe, *maybe* get some cars of the damn roads for a change.
Anyway, thanks for the two hundred bucks, Doug. Mind you, it's going straight the the NDP, but it's the thought that counts, I suppose.
posted by spoobnooble 3D: the spoobening at 9:57 AM on October 19 [1 favorite]
I myself suspect the Crosstown isn't ready to open anytime soon (who can say, after all? No one is talking, so all we have are rumours and theories and hearsay) but as someone who lives on Eglinton I just want one damn transit line to open up and maybe, *maybe* get some cars of the damn roads for a change.
Anyway, thanks for the two hundred bucks, Doug. Mind you, it's going straight the the NDP, but it's the thought that counts, I suppose.
posted by spoobnooble 3D: the spoobening at 9:57 AM on October 19 [1 favorite]
the Finch LRT opening sync is plausible, but it's so much nearer completion than the Crosstown that it should leapfrog it. You're right that no-one has an opening date for Crosstown, and that it's highly likely that Doug won't announce anything until the very last moment. I have a pretty much daily readiness check, though: the building for the Kennedy terminus is on my bike route, and every day that the advertising poster frames are still empty is a day that I know that the Crosstown won't be open in the immediate future.
posted by scruss at 11:56 AM on October 19 [1 favorite]
posted by scruss at 11:56 AM on October 19 [1 favorite]
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Rob used to give out Tim Hortons gift cards all the time when he was campaigning; Doug isn't the brightest spark, so he'd hand out cash instead, and got a slap on the wrist for it. But here we are again, because the man hasn't had an original thought in his life.
posted by mhoye at 4:44 AM on October 18 [6 favorites]