A strange thing happened on the way to Queens Park, something we could not foresee. The Conservative Party of Ontario seems to have returned to its progressive roots, returning to the party’s mindset of Bill Davis long ago. Doug Ford’s administration was elected to bring Ontario’s bloated budgets under control, ending the Liberal’s spending marathon once and for all. The Provincial debt had skyrocketed, and the world looked upon Ontario as a bad penny, unworthy of international investment.
Then the Pandemic passed right through our communities, and the Conservatives of Ontario were forced to respond, not like the Conservative Administration of Jason Kenney in Alberta, where the administration seemed to ignore the pandemic as something that was just passing by, but by investing in the needed health and safety protocols that ultimately saved many Ontarian lives.
The needed economic shutdowns threatened multiple businesses and their employees. What did the Conservatives do? A process of assistance, in partnership with the Federal Government, was established.
Realizing that the province required an economic booster shot, a massive infrastructure program commenced, again in partnership with a Liberal Federal Government.
The Conservative Government of Ontario under Doug Ford transformed before our eyes. From a party of restriction and budget control, we saw our Premier saluting a Liberal Prime Minister, working with the Federal Government for our benefit. Spending upon those portfolio’s the province required met little or no opposition from the O.C.P. Like the New Deal of the Roosevelt Era in America, Ontario was jump-started into economic motion towards a bright future.
I salute Premier Ford and the Ontario Conservative Party who showed their ability to see the future, understand what was needed, and be courageous and wise enough to walk the walk of political success.
Steven Kaszab
Bradford, Ontario
[email protected]
