Doug Ford isn’t “for the little guy” – he’s a mercenary for the millionaire class
A surging NDP can defeat Canada’s Trump – whose folksy act is a front for an assault on working people and the environment
A recent episode perfectly captures the appeal of Ontario Tory leader Doug Ford. Asked about a delayed mining plan in the province’s north, this is how he answered: “If I have to hop on a bulldozer myself, we’re going to start building roads..it will benefit local people but it is also going to benefit everyone in Ontario.” The statement quickly went viral.
In a single gesture, witness the dizzying acrobatics of right-wing populism. There’s the posture of an unflinching maverick, spitting on his hands and getting the job done. There’s the plain-spoken concern for the common man and woman. And then there’s the actual result: a resource scheme that would enrich multinational corporations – who’d help themselves to a 10-year tax holiday – while trampling Indigenous rights and razing one of the last intact wild areas in Canada.
The spectacle has nevertheless dazzled most of the media. The result has been the frequent amplification of Doug Ford’s claim to be an outsider, in alliance with the “little guy,” crusading against the elite – the ones he says “drink champagne with their pinkies in the air.”
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