I live in the Haliburton Kawartha Lakes Brock riding. It's stunningly conservative. The "folks" will defend Ford to the death even though he is robbing the province blind. They hold on to grievance from Wynne and McGuinty FFS. I have been engaging online with people to try and help them to see the importance of voting. Ford didn't have a mandate. He's a Con's conman.
My take on the modern 'Conservative' is that every announcement they make should be prefaced with; 'How stupid do I think you people are? Well, get a load of this.....'
Strikes me that we ought to apply the same analysis for any government, be it provincial or federal. The Ford government came into office seven years ago promising to improve healthcare. Much was made, for example, about ending hallway medicine. Concerns were raised about the possibility of moving towards more private care fearing it would get less care for money and would harm the public system. And it seems at this point we would be hard pressed to argue that the Ford government has been successful in achieving its promises. That alone would seem to call for each of us to look critically at the promises being made now.
So, is there a reason for us to believe that the Ford government, if re-elected, will now be able to meet the challenge. It likely pays to be sceptical. Then we must look at the other parties looking to become the government and consider their proposals. Both certainly see this a priority issue to address. That’s a good start. We obviously then need to look at their proposed solutions and find analyses from those with knowledge of the challenges to determine if these proposals are better than what Ford has done and is offering.
It certainly isn’t a situation where someone can come along and wave a magic wand and make everything good. But it does feel at times as if we are sleep walking our way through our consideration of such issues which are critical for our own families and communities.
I voted early smart vote.ca my riding is NDP I’m liberal but voted NDP don’t split vote look up your riding and vote whoever is in Thea’s of liberal or NDP 💘💘♥️♥️🇨🇦🇨🇦
David. It’s the same in BC. Long long ER waits. (We were there on Friday) Some special Urgent Care clinics have been set up, but appointments fill up immediately. It’s very sad, and scary. No scraped knees! (So insulting)
"Vote for someone else. Your life might depend on it."
As in, vote for someone else because that will make a difference? When has it? Voting is the perfect example of a popular definition of insanity: doing the same thing over and over again while expecting different results.
What we need are representatives who aren't there because they won a beauty contest or for some other reason were most successful at duping the electorate.
We need to appoint representatives by lottery. Yes, from the general populace, no doubt with some filters for aptitude/ability. It works for juries. It can work for parliaments too.
In fact, this is how Ancient Greek democracy worked, and it was also used in some medieval Italy cities and is being used again today, because people all over are fed up with professional politicians and realize something different has to be done.
It's called sortition now. Look it up.
On another note, read Dr. Jane Philpott's book Health for All.
Interesting piece. Everything I've been reading about Ford lately has been how he is standing up to Trump, which is critical at this point and very welcome. Living in Alberta under a Trump sycophant PC Premier who is doing everything she can to make our health care system even more dysfunctional, I am also fully aware that conservatives are not good for our health. What to do?
Ford knows that 20% of the populace will vote for him no matter what he says or does. He also knows that 50% won't vote at all. This is central to his success. That leaves 30% of the polpulation to fight over. So yes, complacency is part of his game plan.
I do not live in Ontario so my comment will be of poor quality. More than a comment, a question: The Ford government tapped Dr. Jane Philpott to roll out her community clinics plan / idea this past October. I believe they are starting in Kingston, Ontario. Their stated goal is for every Ontarian to have a family doctor assigned to them by 2029. As far as I know this is one of the most consequential health care policies moves across Canada since the Feds-Provinces agreement early in the Federal Liberal's Trudeau government. No credit to Ford for this move? Can Ford point to the fact he tapped an expert with a solid idea, from a different political persuasion, to solve a huge issue?
I have no answers, but a lot of curiosity. And for the sake of Canada, I hope Philpott's plan succeeds so other Provinces take note and follow suit.
Along with lack of primary care physicians, some doctors will not allow their patients to go to walk-in clinics, and will “fire” the patient if they do so. This is due to the doctor having to cover the cost of that clinic visit. Consequently, the ER gets the visit.
We also seem to have a huge shortage of specialists, with waiting lists measured in months or years.
‘Healthcare’ is a dead word. No pun intended. You need to meet voters where they are at with positive proactive policies and use that momentum to safe guard the safety net. It’s about sports stupid. “With the explosion of Canadian women’s hockey over the past decade, Canada finds itself in a familiar position of exporting its talent to the United States. U.S. tariff threats might have given Canadians a new found clarity about the choices we must make going forward as a country, but women’s hockey was already coming of age and we own it to our Canadian girls and women to invest in hockey programs at colleges and universities at home. Let’s bring that tuition and cost of living revenue back into the Canadian economy.” https://trkingston.substack.com/p/talent-is-canadas-greatest-export
Stupid is doing the same thing and expecting a different outcome. Every province regardless of the party in power has showered money on healthcare and attempted to increase staff recruitment with few measurable improvements to outcomes. This is probably why healthcare isn't an election issue. All the politicians have failed and voters do not believe any of the alternatives are any better.
I suggest the system is problem
-improve accountability by pushing the Feds (and the Canada Health Act) to the sidelines. This would likley involve the Feds vacating tax room
-find alternatives to get past the family doctor bottleneck
-breakup the service provider monopolies through contracting to external parties
-ban unionization in the public sector as it is a barrier to innovation
I live in the Haliburton Kawartha Lakes Brock riding. It's stunningly conservative. The "folks" will defend Ford to the death even though he is robbing the province blind. They hold on to grievance from Wynne and McGuinty FFS. I have been engaging online with people to try and help them to see the importance of voting. Ford didn't have a mandate. He's a Con's conman.
My take on the modern 'Conservative' is that every announcement they make should be prefaced with; 'How stupid do I think you people are? Well, get a load of this.....'
Strikes me that we ought to apply the same analysis for any government, be it provincial or federal. The Ford government came into office seven years ago promising to improve healthcare. Much was made, for example, about ending hallway medicine. Concerns were raised about the possibility of moving towards more private care fearing it would get less care for money and would harm the public system. And it seems at this point we would be hard pressed to argue that the Ford government has been successful in achieving its promises. That alone would seem to call for each of us to look critically at the promises being made now.
So, is there a reason for us to believe that the Ford government, if re-elected, will now be able to meet the challenge. It likely pays to be sceptical. Then we must look at the other parties looking to become the government and consider their proposals. Both certainly see this a priority issue to address. That’s a good start. We obviously then need to look at their proposed solutions and find analyses from those with knowledge of the challenges to determine if these proposals are better than what Ford has done and is offering.
It certainly isn’t a situation where someone can come along and wave a magic wand and make everything good. But it does feel at times as if we are sleep walking our way through our consideration of such issues which are critical for our own families and communities.
I voted early smart vote.ca my riding is NDP I’m liberal but voted NDP don’t split vote look up your riding and vote whoever is in Thea’s of liberal or NDP 💘💘♥️♥️🇨🇦🇨🇦
David. It’s the same in BC. Long long ER waits. (We were there on Friday) Some special Urgent Care clinics have been set up, but appointments fill up immediately. It’s very sad, and scary. No scraped knees! (So insulting)
"Vote for someone else. Your life might depend on it."
As in, vote for someone else because that will make a difference? When has it? Voting is the perfect example of a popular definition of insanity: doing the same thing over and over again while expecting different results.
What we need are representatives who aren't there because they won a beauty contest or for some other reason were most successful at duping the electorate.
We need to appoint representatives by lottery. Yes, from the general populace, no doubt with some filters for aptitude/ability. It works for juries. It can work for parliaments too.
In fact, this is how Ancient Greek democracy worked, and it was also used in some medieval Italy cities and is being used again today, because people all over are fed up with professional politicians and realize something different has to be done.
It's called sortition now. Look it up.
On another note, read Dr. Jane Philpott's book Health for All.
Interesting piece. Everything I've been reading about Ford lately has been how he is standing up to Trump, which is critical at this point and very welcome. Living in Alberta under a Trump sycophant PC Premier who is doing everything she can to make our health care system even more dysfunctional, I am also fully aware that conservatives are not good for our health. What to do?
Ford knows that 20% of the populace will vote for him no matter what he says or does. He also knows that 50% won't vote at all. This is central to his success. That leaves 30% of the polpulation to fight over. So yes, complacency is part of his game plan.
I do not live in Ontario so my comment will be of poor quality. More than a comment, a question: The Ford government tapped Dr. Jane Philpott to roll out her community clinics plan / idea this past October. I believe they are starting in Kingston, Ontario. Their stated goal is for every Ontarian to have a family doctor assigned to them by 2029. As far as I know this is one of the most consequential health care policies moves across Canada since the Feds-Provinces agreement early in the Federal Liberal's Trudeau government. No credit to Ford for this move? Can Ford point to the fact he tapped an expert with a solid idea, from a different political persuasion, to solve a huge issue?
I have no answers, but a lot of curiosity. And for the sake of Canada, I hope Philpott's plan succeeds so other Provinces take note and follow suit.
Along with lack of primary care physicians, some doctors will not allow their patients to go to walk-in clinics, and will “fire” the patient if they do so. This is due to the doctor having to cover the cost of that clinic visit. Consequently, the ER gets the visit.
We also seem to have a huge shortage of specialists, with waiting lists measured in months or years.
Lots of work to be done to fix this
FTR, Ford is also starving higher education in Ontario (as did the liberals before him).
Ford must be ousted!!! 🇨🇦
‘Healthcare’ is a dead word. No pun intended. You need to meet voters where they are at with positive proactive policies and use that momentum to safe guard the safety net. It’s about sports stupid. “With the explosion of Canadian women’s hockey over the past decade, Canada finds itself in a familiar position of exporting its talent to the United States. U.S. tariff threats might have given Canadians a new found clarity about the choices we must make going forward as a country, but women’s hockey was already coming of age and we own it to our Canadian girls and women to invest in hockey programs at colleges and universities at home. Let’s bring that tuition and cost of living revenue back into the Canadian economy.” https://trkingston.substack.com/p/talent-is-canadas-greatest-export
Ontarians will reelect Ford because the are too dumb for democracy. The price and convenience of beer matters more than "woke" public health policy.
The polls or votes seem to suggest Ford is not wrong.
Stupid is doing the same thing and expecting a different outcome. Every province regardless of the party in power has showered money on healthcare and attempted to increase staff recruitment with few measurable improvements to outcomes. This is probably why healthcare isn't an election issue. All the politicians have failed and voters do not believe any of the alternatives are any better.
I suggest the system is problem
-improve accountability by pushing the Feds (and the Canada Health Act) to the sidelines. This would likley involve the Feds vacating tax room
-find alternatives to get past the family doctor bottleneck
-breakup the service provider monopolies through contracting to external parties
-ban unionization in the public sector as it is a barrier to innovation