Tuesday, June 05, 2018

A vote for a local Conservative candidate is also a vote for Doug Ford

If you were looking for just one more reason to finally jettison Doug Ford in the upcoming Ontario election, then it has probably arrived.
It is difficult to believe in a Ford Nation, when even the Ford Family is crumbling in a torrent of dysfunctionality. Rob Ford's widow Renata is suing brother-in-law Doug for $16.25 million for being a negligent business manager and frittering away the family fortune, which is largely held in the family-owned company, Deco Labels & Tags Ltd. The action alleges that Doug and other brother Randy "lack the education and business ability to justify their employment as senior officers of Deco". Ouch!
Now, a good part of Doug's election credentials, like Donald Trump before him, are based on his supposed business acumen, and his reputation as a successful businessman. Having overseen the decimation of a $15 to $20 million company to the state where a third party valuation deems the company shares as essentially worthless, puts a pretty substantial spoke in that particular wheel. And the allegations that Doug and Randy have been pursuing the "ongoing liquidation of investments" to fund the company and their own interests, and that the company has no real business plan (sound familiar?), are pretty serious.
Whether the allegations are ultimately proven in court or not, you can just see that a Doug Ford premiership would go much the same way as the Trump presidency, with one lawsuit after another, and riddled with scandals. Having (barely) survived 4 years of a Rob Ford mayoralty - no thank you.
So, maybe you had managed somehow to overlook the fact that Ford lacks a real platform, has no idea how provincial politics works, is implicated in the party's corrupt internal organization, and once helped to enable his now-deceased brother in probably the worst mayoral administration in Canadian history. But surely this is a compelling reason not to vote Conservative this time, however much you may like your local candidate. In voting for a local Conservative candidate, you are also voting for Doug Ford. Let's not lose sight of that.

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