The wrong man

Doug Ford is a people pleaser. His government works on that principle. He doesn't conceal the fact; indeed, he proclaims it. He is "for the people". If the people want to drink, he'll have alcohol, including  pre-mixed cocktails, available in corner stores. If people want to drive, he'll build a highway. If people want a spa and water park, he'll arrange it. If the people want entertainment, he'll lease out the waterfront venue to a promoter (never mind the promoter in question is a predatory monopoly).

That has made Doug Ford popular with an enthusiastic base. It also makes him extremely unsuited to lead during what look like the very hard times ahead of us. There is very little that is pleasing about our situation. Doug Ford will have very little to offer in the way of gratification if Donald Trump follows through on his threats. We don't need a premier who promises us everything we want; we need a premier who can rally us to stand together, even if the government can offer us nothing but toil, tears, and sweat. 

One policy of the Ford government amply shows how badly his leadership style fits with the coming trials. He has floated the idea of building a tunnel under the 401 where it passes through Toronto. Now we face punishing tariffs from the United States, along with other measures to coerce us into giving up our country, Mr. Ford has repurposed his proposal as a make work project designed to keep employment high in the likely event Trump's tariffs devastate Ontario's auto sector.

Leaving aside the futility of trying to fix traffic congestion by building more lanes, or the wasteful nature of the project itself when compared to the alternatives, this proposal shows the Ford government does not grasp the nature of the threat Donald Trump's policies represent. At best, the Trump tariffs aim to permanently relocate auto production to the United States. Cars and trucks will get substantially more expensive on both sides of the border, and with that rise in costs all the associated costs of car or truck ownership, from  maintenance to insurance will increase substantially. The costs for Canadians, in particular, will increase. We can't expect relief from this policy any time soon. At best, we face four years of it, which is a lifetime in the automotive world. Spending billions to cater to increased automobile traffic is grossly out of alignment with the reality of our situation.

That's the best case. It assumes what Trump really wants to do is bring industrial production into the United States. That, however, is not his stated policy. Trump has recently stated, emphatically and repeatedly, that he intends to use the considerable economic power of the United States to disrupt and destroy our economy, in order to take our country over, erase the border and make us a state, or, as is more likely, a subservient territory. We are not facing an ordinary economic downturn; we are not even facing a conventionally protectionist policy. Trump has made it clear: we face straight up economic aggression. Ordinary efforts to minimize the pain, Keynesian economic pump priming won't work, because these strategies require us to borrow, and Donald Trump has the means to cut off our credit. A premier whose brand is built on gratifying the desires of the public, and who doesn't understand the full seriousness of our predicament, is not the leader who can rally us to face the pain together. His stated policies are profoundly ineffectual. His jovial personality is no match for the struggle we face.