In the News June 27
Ontario Cabinet Sworn In
Ford Agenda in Service of Narrow Private Interests and War Economy
On June 24, the Ontario PC government was sworn in and the ministers were announced to the public. A report from the Premier’s Office claims the new cabinet is going to deliver on the government’s agenda to “build the infrastructure necessary to unlock the full potential of the province’s economy, including highways, transit and the road to the Ring of Fire.”
With a majority, despite less than 18 per cent of the electorate voting for their candidates, the PCs are now carrying on with their plans to establish the infrastructure that the big private interests require to rip and ship Ontario’s natural resources to the highest bidders in Canada and globally. This includes the “critical minerals” which sit on the traditional lands of Indigenous peoples who have not consented to these activities on their lands.
The naming of newly elected MPP and former mining executive George Pirie as Minister of Mines, with a specific mandate from Ford — not the people — to develop the Ring of Fire says clearly that in Ontario the rich are in charge. The election has been used to further the agenda they require. Talk about mandates and plans all hide that the people have no role in setting the direction of the province. Even when the people refuse to participate in the fraud en masse and do not vote, those in power just carry on business as usual.
No discussion was permitted on this during the election precisely because Ontarians do not support a direction for the economy based on paying big private interests at the expense of the people and the natural environment or a direction that makes Ontario an appendage of the U.S. war machine.
Without public deliberation on this agenda and whether Ontarians support it or not, why is the government acting as if they are able to do as they please? Will they just rule by decree and force, using the new powers they gave themselves to create “protected” transportation corridors that lead to the border? Do they think that Ontarians will just submit and suddenly accept it now? This will not be the case.
“With big challenges ahead, including an uncertain global economic climate, now is the time for unity and working together,” said Premier Ford. “Our government will be relentless in delivering on our ambitious plan to grow our economy and build infrastructure as we leave no stone unturned when it comes to solving the historic labour shortage. It’s all hands on deck.” [Emphasis added.]
Ford’s message to the private interests who are demanding to be served is that the PC government will do everything in its power and even outside of its powers to place Ontario at their disposal. It is also a message to his rivals and to the people of Ontario that they must submit or be defamed as being against economic development and criminalized for not going along with the PC government’s further plans to serve the rich and embroil the people of Ontario in U.S.-led wars.
It Must Not Pass!
(empoweryourselfnow.ca)
Ontario Political Forum, posted June 27, 2022.
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