Ontario cannot afford another term with Doug Ford in charge.
Doug Ford has been enjoying his second term as Premier of Ontario with a majority government. Throughout this time he and his government have wasted time and billions of taxpayer dollars implementing ineffective and destructive policies and legislation. His record reveals he is failing miserably to address the multiple existential crises Ontario is facing.
The next Ontario election cannot be ‘business as usual’ for the Ontario NDP, Liberal and Green Parties.
Our Plan for the next Ontario Provincial Election
This multi-faceted plan requires an ‘all hands on deck’ approach.
Cooperate for Canada is:
- Actively encouraging cooperation between the NDP, Liberal and Green Parties to prevent vote splitting as outlined in our strategy:
We are growing a grass roots movement to encourage the Leadership of the NDP, Liberal and Green Parties, the Riding Associations and Candidates to cooperate. And we are:
- Demanding that the NDP, Liberal and Green Parties – in campaign materials, public debates and advertising – target their attacks exclusively on Doug Ford and the PCs, their record, their platform, and the disastrous implications of a PC win. Do not attack the other progressive Parties.
- Identifying vulnerable swing Ridings where polling indicates the opportunity to shift from PC to a seat for progressives exists. NEW! We have identifed Unity Candidates in key ridings.
- We are encouraging individuals to support the Unity Candidate (the progressive Candidate in your local riding who has the best chance of winning (if no Unity Candidate is identified). It is very important to offer your financial support and/or volunteer your time in order to achieve the best outcome for your local Riding. Please refer to 338 Ontario polling data (https://338canada.com/ontario/districts.htm ) for your riding, and ridings near you. Polling is continuously updated, thus it is important to continue to monitor this.
- Several local chapters have been organized and will be rallying support for Unity Candidates – those Candidates best positioned to win who endorse our policy and issues agenda.
- If you live in a Riding that is deemed a ‘safe’ progressive riding, we encourage you to make donations and/or offer your time to support the Candidate for the leading progressive Party in a neighbouring swing riding. We ask you to encourage people in your networks to do the same. This support provides the most benefit to the outcome of the election.
- For a Candidate who does not have a strong chance of winning, our respectful request the Candidate to run as a paper Candidate, consider directing their support to a stronger Candidate in another Riding and take the brave but much needed step to support the Unity Candidate in their Riding. This strategy helps prevent vote splitting and allows your Party to focus resources on those Ridings where your Party has the strongest progressive Candidates.
- We continue to engage with community leaders and organizations across a variety of sectors across Ontario to build a network urging the Leaders of the NDP, Liberal and Green Parties to work together and cooperate in the next provincial election.
- We ask you to demonstrate your support for cooperation in upcoming Ontario election by signing Cooperate for Canada’s Provincial/Territorial Voting Pledge. We request that you encourage others to sign the pledge by sharing this pledge widely with your networks.
- We encourage everyone to sign our Citizens’ Letter urging the Leaders of the progressive Parties to cooperate for the next Ontario provincial election. We encourage you to share this letter widely with your networks.
Resources:
We have assembled a helpful collection of resources to use, such as news and scholarly articles, videos, talking points and tool-kits to help you to better understand the issues and our cooperation strategy, and to engage as effectively as possible with people in your network and community. We also have created a colourful Ontario campaign card – the file is suitable for printing or you can share using the image on your mobile device. Our resources also have sample letters and tips for writing op-eds, letters to the editor, Riding Associations, Leaders and Candidates. We encourage you to share your letters and ideas with us, along with questions you may have. If you are interested in volunteering to help our campaign, please let us know.
Additional Context
The results of the September 2024 Ontario by-election for Bay of Quinte, shown in the chart below, help to explain why it is important and necessary for the NDP, Liberals and the Greens to set partisanship aside and cooperate; work together – not compete against each other – in order to prevent the progressive vote from being split.
We have seen in the recent election in France and elections elsewhere that electoral cooperation is a successful strategy. We can do this in Ontario – and across Canada – too!
Why is this urgent?
Ontario provincial elections are scheduled every 4 years; the next election is scheduled for June 4, 2026.
Credible rumours suggest that Doug Ford may call an Ontario Provincial election, a year or more early.
The majority of Canadians are concerned about at least one of the many crises we are facing. The people of Ontario expect our provincial government to be a collaborative partner in constructive solutions, and take action on these crises:
- worsening climate crisis
- growing economic disparity
- homelessness and the lack of affordable housing
- weakening protections for our environment and endangered species, biodiversity loss
- valuing Indigenous peoples’ wisdom and history as guardians of the land/water/biodiversity
- inequitable access to clean water
- implementation of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission calls to action and Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls calls for justice
- safeguarding our democratic rights
- improved access to secure, publicly funded healthcare including a woman’s right to choose
- the need for safe, not-for-profit Long Term Care
- inadequate benefits for the most vulnerable (persons with disabilities, elderly, low income families)
- safeguarding human rights
- protecting and enhancing access to affordable childcare, mental health and drug use services, dental care, vision care and prescription medications
- providing good, safe and sustainable employment for all workers with a standard, basic minimum income
- the need for electoral reform
- the need to strengthen public education
Take a look: Ford’s record on these issues as Premier speaks for itself.
And check out these very long lists of Ford’s cuts:
- OFL Ford Cuts Tracker: https://ofl.ca/ford-tracker/
- Unifor tracks cuts that affect workers: https://www.stopfordcuts.ca/fords_cuts
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Recent polling indicates Ford and the PCs have a significant lead, possibly sufficient to be elected with a super majority. Doug Ford’s record shows that under his leadership the Ontario government has not taken effective action to address any of the issues the people of Ontario are facing – in many cases Ford’s government has made things worse.
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Investigations: There is an active RCMP criminal investigation related to decisions made by the Ford government about the Greenbelt, and there are ongoing Auditor General, Integrity Commissioner and Privacy Commissioner investigations. In August 2023 the reports related to the Greenbelt Scandal from the Auditor General and the Integrity Commissioner revealed findings of inappropriate decisions by members of Ford’s cabinet and political staff. (The findings of the Auditor General’s report resulted in the ongoing RCMP investigation.)
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Ontario voters have traditionally confirmed the opposite major party to the Federal government. The next federal election must take place no later than October 2025. If current federal polling is accurate, and Pierre Poilievre and the CPC were to win a majority, or even form a minority government, this would not bode well for Doug Ford and the PCs’ re-election chances if the Ontario election takes place after the federal election.
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Donald Trump’s presidency in the US presidential cannot be ignored. Despite more recent efforts to distance himself from Trump, Ford has stated in the past he is an unwavering Trump supporter. The instability and uncertainty around Donald Trump and the influence of Elon Musk is signficant.
Ontario’s Democracy is under attack
Democracy stands in the way of corporate profits. Provincially, federally, and globally, corporate power is providing significant financial support to parties that are willing to put the welfare of their constituents in the backseat. These ethically-challenged parties put forward policy developed by, and for corporations and the ultra-rich in order to provide those supporters unfettered access to our public wealth, and break down the institutions that safeguard it. This is what we are seeing in Ontario.
Doug Ford’s government has consistently introduced legislation that aims to weaken our public institutions, cut services and spending, while shifting our “broken” systems over to private interests.
Possibly the most concerning changes that Ford’s government has made, are those that aim to weaken our democratic safeguards. Ultimately the changes will take us to the point those safeguards become useless against the extraction of our public wealth and the dangers imposed on our institutions, climate, our most vulnerable citizens, and the future of Ontario as a functioning democracy.
Again, Ford’s record here is extensive and includes centralizing executive authority, weakening the power of the legislature, suppressing information, usurping control of the judiciary – and, crucially – rigging voting rules and the conduct of elections. We encourage you to read the post “Democratic erosion in Ontario“ written by Joyce Hall.
Ford’s contempt for democracy and the election process was in full view during the 2022 election where tactics were employed to suppress voters and avoid accountability with candidates not participating in debates. More recently, his contempt was visible yet again as Ford, without providing any explanation, announced his decision to keep the province’s electoral-district boundary map as-is, rather than updating to conform to the changes in federal riding boundaries. Because Ontario’s population is growing rapidly, but not at the same rate everywhere, failing to update the riding boundaries results in disenfranchisement.
Let’s work together to protect Ontario’s future
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