Scott Stinson: For Doug Ford, the 21-week summer is over. A cold front is moving in

TORONTO — A lot happened in the 21 weeks since the Ontario legislature last sat. Summer came and went. The Toronto Blue Jays played 101 games, winning 50 of them, and missed the playoffs. A baby giraffe born at the Toronto Zoo grew by about two feet.

Sign In or Create an Account

And yet, as MPPs returned to the legislative chamber at Queen’s Park on Tuesday for the first time since June 2, there was a distinct sense of the familiar.

Marit Stiles, the NDP leader of the official opposition, accused Premier Doug Ford and his PC colleagues of living high on taxpayer dollars, spending on luxury jets and hotel rooms while regular people struggled.

Columnist Jesse Kline keeps you up to date with what’s happening in Israel and the effects of antisemitism on life here in Canada. Friday mornings.

By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc.

A welcome email is on its way. If you don't see it, please check your junk folder.

The next issue of Channel Israel will soon be in your inbox.

We encountered an issue signing you up. Please try again

She complained that Ford was just looking out for his developer buddies, and lamented that Ontario Place was making way for “a luxury spa.”

John Fraser, the interim Liberal leader, said Ford leads a “tired government” and that people are ready for change.

It was like we never left.

Much has changed, of course. The trade war that was just burbling in June has since become a full-on battle, with tariffs and counter-tariffs — and Ford, notably, urging Prime Minister Mark Carney to hold a hard line against the Trump administration. Ford’s blunt talk about the U.S. president resulted in Donald Trump proclaiming that he had renamed Lake Ontario, to the consternation of cartographers everywhere and also anyone with a lick of sense.

The trade fight was a political boon for the premier, shoring up poll numbers that had been weighed down by the spring’s spending scandals: the gravy plane, and the subsequent revelations that several PC MPPs had routinely booked Toronto hotel rooms, on the public tab, even while living a short drive from the legislature.

While it might be hard for Stiles to put those stories back in the public eye, despite her best efforts on Tuesday, there is no lack of potential trouble spots in the coming session for Ford. It begins with a Fall Economic Statement on Thursday, which is expected to show the stresses of U.S. tariffs and could forecast upcoming cuts to the public service.

There are ongoing investigations into alleged favouritism at the Skills Development Fund and the aborted removal of land from the protected Greenbelt, either of which could bring weeks of bad headlines when they conclude.

There is potential labour unrest at the province’s schools, with teachers’ unions holding strike votes in the coming weeks. Ford has managed to make peace with education workers in the past, but a strike would create an instant PR crisis.

And, in a little under a month, the Liberals will select a permanent leader after Bonnie Crombie’s January resignation. The Liberals have moved ahead of the NDP in polls even without such a leader, and if one of the candidates who are sitting MPPs wins — Stephanie Bowman or Lee Fairclough — then Ford would be facing a Liberal leader in the legislature for the first time since he became premier eight years ago.

But Ford’s biggest concern might be what was on display on Monday night across the province, as voters tossed out incumbent mayors in a number of cities, including Hamilton, Mississauga, Oakville, Milton, Windsor, Sarnia and Niagara Falls.

So many leaders, some of whom had been in the job for decades, were defeated that it’s impossible to tie a common thread through all of the losses, especially when there were notable exceptions in places such as Toronto, Brampton, Vaughan and Markham, where incumbents won easily.

But the opposition leaders at Queen’s Park gave it a shot anyway. Fraser said there’s “no question” that “if there’s a message out of (Monday) night, it’s that there’s a desire for change.”

Stiles said she thought it was evidence of voters who are struggling with affordability issues. “Across this province, we saw a pretty strong signal that people are tired of governments and leaders that just want to play politics,” she said. “They need solutions.”

Ford, to the surprise of no one, used his few answers in question period to tout the investments his government has made in industry and infrastructure over the past 21 weeks. He said such actions were necessary to defend the province against “that tyrant Donald Trump,” risking another renaming of a Great Lake.

But that line, successful as it has been for Ford, could yet have a limited shelf life. Trump has said that a trade deal with Canada is close, and even if only a fool would take him at his word, it’s possible that next week’s U.S. midterm elections will lead to a warming of relations between the two countries. If the Republicans suffer heavy losses, Trump’s trade agenda could be undone.

What happens, in other words, if there’s no one left for Ford to Protect Ontario against?

National Post

sstinson@postmedia.com

This website uses cookies to personalize your content (including ads), and allows us to analyze our traffic. Read more about cookies here. By continuing to use our site, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.