I'm sure most of this is seen in other countries, but what is notable in the North American context is how solidly the Canadian political class has pulled together (compared to the horrorshow down south of the border).
Here's an article from the Toronto Star, which may or may not be behind a paywall... Basically, the opinion writer is talking about how Doug Ford has really stepped up his game and put aside all of the partisan point scoring that he was so engaged in over the past year or so. I have not been a Ford fan, and I thought he would be a disaster (similar to Trump), but he has far exceeded my expectations. This is a case where I am very glad to be proved wrong. He had one minor stumble early on, but since then he has trusted the scientists, taken bold steps to try to get this under control, shared credit with other politicians (particularly federal ones), spoken directly and honestly with the public and basically written a blank cheque to pay for this all. I'd say the same is largely true at the federal level, but I've always been willing to cut Liberals a bit more slack.
Now this may well be the turning point where Ford saves his government and then sneaks through at the next election, and while I would regret that, it would be a small price to pay if the crisis passes with a moderately low level of fatalities. I am definitely more open than I would have been a few months ago to some sort of unity government headed by Ford. (I know for me it truly does feel like a global April's Fool...)
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| Theo Moudakis, "Upside Down," Toronto Star |
It is a bit of a cliche that some politicians only come into their own during a crisis, but this seems to be true in his case. Ford has operated for most of his career running on a platform of resentment against the (liberal) political elites and frankly made himself small. Now he has shown that he can put that all aside in a true crisis and work for the people of the province and is getting a lot of respect and that is inevitably going to change his outlook. It's almost like the Grinch's heart growing three sizes.
The real question is whether after the crisis passes, will he be more open to working constructively. As hard as it is to believe, I don't automatically dismiss conservative ideas, such as looking to lower government costs and looking for efficiencies (and even worrying about the moral hazards of various government programs and "handouts"), though I generally count social welfare higher and end up siding with progressive (or realistically centre-left) solutions. If Ford was more generally open to hearing criticism of his reflexive positions and would reshape his legislative agenda, he could do a lot of good for Ontario. For instance, listening to why Trudeau and Freeland see climate change as such a fundamental (if medium- to long-term) threat to Canada, and then coming up with a more useful response (than fighting this at the Supreme Court and putting a bunch of stickers on gas pumps). That is asking a lot of any political leader. I think it is possible that there may be more of a detente in the future, going by this article where Ford and Freeland talk about their new-found mutual respect for each other.
Anyway, strange days indeed. I'll just end by again saying that I am appreciative of the work that Ford and his team are doing to try to end this crisis, and obviously for all of the front-line workers and everyone keeping the rest of us going. My team's work will play a bigger role in the next phase of picking up the pieces and restarting the economy and trying to make the transportation system even more efficient in the future, but for now, we are working from home, more or less on the sidelines like so many others.
Take care and stay safe!
* I have to change my tune just a bit, as I did see someone lose their cool at No Frills, storm out and then get held up by the security guards. My guess is that they will not be welcome to return for at least a few weeks and perhaps beyond. But that's the only one so far.
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