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Since 2010, I have been blogging and tweeting about post-truth Republican identity politics being eagerly adopted by some in Canada. Breaking with traditional Canadian government culture, this dysfunctional brand is a cheap carbon-copy of what we are witnessing south of the border. I worked in America for almost a decade, I witnessed this culture first hand when I turned on Fox News and by talking to Americans.
Many in Canada and Canadian media lack personal experience with Republican post-truth culture and identity politics, perhaps 2018 is bringing this dysfunction into better focus? Republican identity politics has deeply poisoned the health of democracy, the economy and justice in North America. Many nations suffer the tyranny of elitist Republican disaster economics, now North Americans are in the crosshairs. The short-sightedness of Republican and American mega-corporations has reformed American democracy to serve big corporate agendas and a culture fraught with corruption and protectionism.
What made America great was innovation and science, but when science identified blame with corporations, corporations discovered that changing the rules was easier than fixing their problems. This lazy approach has burdened both America and Canada for decades: executive management ignoring the informed strategy and choosing profit over innovation. Much like a cheap landlord, decades of abusive strategies have left America and Canada looking like a run-down dump.
American business kingpins ceded market leadership, intellectual property and design control for short-term profit. America once led the world in electronics, 50 years later, shareholders are left holding useless assets. Now Ontario will face the second round of abusive and ignorant conservative leadership under Doug Ford.
Much like Wisconsin, Ford will lobotomize Ontario to meet post-truth conservative ideology. All facets of Ontario will be cut using this dystopian optic: education, climate change measures, The Ontario Toxics Act, healthcare, women's rights, equality, anti-racism efforts, indigenous communities, sex education, the Great Lakes, environmental protections, gender equality, science-based innovation, justice, public safety, prisons, etc.
Nothing is safe, anything that can be sold-off, like Stephen Harper's giveaways, will be sold, no matter the results.
Doug Ford will also attack green energy while ignoring the big failures: the conservative 1998 Energy Competition Act and overpriced nuclear generation. The failure of Ontario Hydro was forged by conservatives, now it will only get worse. Donald Trump handing out welfare to coal and nuclear is a good datum for Ford's strategy.
Mike Harris hobbled Ontario with backwards government policy that benefitted elite insiders, Doug Ford will do much worse, nothing is safe, as such our economy and innovation will suffer.
Will projects like Darlington only get worse for taxpayers and ratepayers? I discussed at length this possibility on The View Up Here podcast with @CanadianGlen. Now that Ford wields a majority, how will dumb project get worse? You can probably guess that one.
Will Doug Ford be using his power to further his personal gain? Does this need to be asked?
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