Fact: In the last provincial election of 2022, only 44% of Ontarians cast votes. Meaning while Ford’s PCs got a mandate with 41% (yes, under 50% of votes were cast for him), that actually represented less than 20% of the province itself.

Are we okay with this? Come on.

As Picard from Star Trek once said, “If we’re going to be damned, let’s be damned for what we really are”.

I know Ford’s not in danger of losing. He has too much momentum amid all the apathy. But this doesn’t mean you shouldn’t vote. Because a minority government would at least keep our local bully in check.

Yes, Doug Ford is a bully. You remember, don’t you?

Ford himself only won the leadership of the Conservative Party in 2018 by 51% over Christine Elliot… who had actually won the popular vote. Then after being elected, in 2019, Ford capped the wage increases of critical provincial employees, including nurses and teachers, at 1% per year (below inflation)… yet MPPs got a 14% pay hike.

And Ford has repeatedly stated he won’t hesitate to use the notwithstanding clause against courts that rule against his government.

Indeed, in June 2021, Ford convened an emergency debate session of the Legislature to invoke that clause, overriding the Charter of Rights and Freedoms to ensure unions wouldn’t be able to spend much money talking about his transgressions. (Seriously, how was that override not a bridge too far?)

Even more recently, Ford’s push to expand alcohol sales outside of the LCBO cost taxpayers an extra several million dollars. For no reason other than he wanted it to happen in 2024 instead of by 2026. (By the way, loss of LCBO sales is one way Ford is defunding the government, the same as when he removed car license fees and gave handouts to parents, see below.)

Doug Ford does whatever he likes, at whatever the cost, and we have to foot the bill.

Ontario, you MUST vote. This is not going to get better. It’s going to get worse.

We don’t even know how much worse, because Ford took the secrecy of his ministerial mandate letters all the way to the Supreme Court on our dime. Moreover, all the Conservative MPs are yet again forbidden from doing any debates this election season (or so I assume if none of 30 different timeslots for a CBC interview worked out), and Ford himself has not spoken to any reporters.

But we can extrapolate. With certain categories in particular.

EDUCATION: In 2019, Doug Ford unnecessarily made the EQAO Chair a full time position. This is the one is in charge of the province wide education testing in Grades 3, 6, 9 and 10. That person (then a failed Tory candidate) did next to nothing during the pandemic (when testing was suspended) while drawing a huge salary. Ford is now adding on more testing, namely a mandatory Grade 10 Financial Literacy test that will be required for graduation.

Note I’m not saying this is a bad idea, I am saying Ford will give as much thought (and funding) to that as he did to destreaming in 2022. Namely, very little. Why, as recently as last year, he was making more cuts to core education funding, with the per student funds down by almost 10% since 2018. Instead of funding education, he gave $200 payouts to parents in 2020. (Sound familiar?)

HOUSING: Doug Ford said in 2022’s campaign that he would build 1.5 million new homes by 2031. The province is nowhere near on track to hit that target, with Ford seemingly more interested in transit this election cycle (ie- removing bike lanes and building tunnels). Yet a study in 2024 found that across Ontario, only 29 homes or apartments were started for every 100 newcomers, putting it at 8th out of all 10 provinces. Alberta of all places seems to be doing better at housing than Ontario.

Ford’s answer? He plans to pass a bill allowing municipalities to clear homeless encampments out of parks, adding (as usual) he is “fully prepared” to use the notwithstanding clause if courts “interfere”.

HEALTH CARE: In 2018, during the election campaign, Doug Ford promised to end “hallway healthcare” in Ontario. In January 2020, before the pandemic hit us, Ford said they had made progress, despite evidence to the contrary. Once we reached 2024, the province had more Emergency Room closures than ever before.

And in a 2025 survey, a majority of those in Ontario (68%) said the situation has deteriorated. The Ontario College of Family Physicians add that 2.5 million Ontario’s have no family doctor, up from 1.8 million in 2020. Four more years of a Ford majority government will not fix this, nor will yet ANOTHER $200 cheque in the mail (oh, and it might bounce).

I won’t even get deeply into how Ford is helping to fund Elon Musk, as Ontario still has a contract with Starlink, which Ford signed in November 2024 (well after he should have known better) and later claimed he would rip up because of tariffs (he has not).

And if you’re sitting there saying you don’t like Ford but don’t know who else to vote for, I’ll offer up the SmartVoting website, which can give you information about your riding: https://smartvoting.ca/

So please, Ontario, PLEASE vote.

Don’t let even less than one fifth of the province decide our fate. Not this time.

We all have to stand up to bullies, including the ones in our own backyard.