Here was Caroline Mulroney, Ontario’s Attorney General, on why her government is rushing through revised legislation about the Toronto election, overriding a court ruling: “Because time is of the essence,” the National Post quoted her. “There is an election in the city of Toronto in a few short weeks ….”We can’t delay, you see, there’s not time for debate; we need to get this law in place because the election is upon us! A provincial government press release noted it was rushing to clear up the “uncertainty” for voters in time for the election.Now here’s the thing about the “uncertainty” — you could say chaos — that hangs over Toronto’s election today, fewer than six weeks before the vote: it is caused entirely by the actions of Doug Ford’s provincial government.The city election was characterized by near absolute certainty until the premier decided to launch legislation changing the rules in the middle of the campaign.Doug Ford is the cause of all the uncertainty. It’s almost banal to note the obvious, but it is a recurring fact of Doug Ford’s politics: he causes a crisis, then holds himself up as the solution to it.With that in mind, let’s look for a moment at the talking point often used by Ford and his caucus and defenders: that Toronto city council (somehow because of its size) has been unable to build any transit in the city. Leave aside a moment that the proposed remedy makes no sense.The premise, itself, is wrong. Toronto built lots of transit until the Conservative government of Mike Harris in the 1990s cancelled subway lines that were already under construction (even filling in a tunnel on Eglinton) and simultaneously withdrew all provincial funding for Toronto transit. Fast forward to the mayoralty of David Miller, when the city council approved, got funding for, and began building the subway extension to York University and Vaughan ...
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