Doug Ford follows the Mike Harris playbook with fast and furious decisions
Doug Ford was 30 when Mike Harris became Ontario’s premier in June, 1995. It appears the young man took notes.
Mr. Harris moved so fast, on so many fronts, that opponents simply couldn’t keep up. Photo radar: gone. Employment equity rules: gone. The new Eglinton West subway line: cancelled. Welfare rates: slashed by more than 20 per cent. All within the first month of taking office.
And the Harris Tories never let up. Not for one minute. Not for four years. They took on provincial public servants in a province-wide strike, and beat them. They took on the teachers in a province-wide strike, and beat them.
They slashed spending and cut taxes. They closed and amalgamated hospitals. They raised university tuition. They amalgamated school boards, even as they stripped them of their power over taxation and curriculum. They forced amalgamation on Toronto, Hamilton, Ottawa and other municipalities despite furious local opposition. They downloaded responsibilities to local governments that local governments didn’t want.
On and on and on it went: First came the announcement, then the rage that greeted the announcement – the demonstrations, the strikes, the editorials. But the government didn’t bend and another bill became law. And then came the next announcement.
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