IN Toronto magazine

POLITICS:

With American mania for budget cuts infiltrating north, this provincial election could return us to the anti-government, slash-and-burn policies of the Mike Harris era

The ghost of former Ontario premier Mike Harris and his obsession for cutting taxes is looming large in the province. Are Ontario voters going to turn the clock back to 1995, when Harris was first elected? His administration had a devastating effect on many in the province. The Tories slashed funding for welfare, housing, women’s shelters, rehab and hospitals. Deregulation and gutting the enviroment ministry, a judicial inquiry later concluded, contributed to the Walkerton water disaster. Harris forcibly amalgamated cities and downloaded provincial services to municipalities — moves from which Toronto has still not recovered.

"Politicians are appealing to cynicism, to people’s pocketbooks.
People seem to have a knee-jerk reaction to cut, cut, cut."

With the Ontario election on Thu, Oct 6, prime minister Stephen Harper is calling for a Conservative “hat trick.” He wants to see provincial Conservative leader Tim Hudak join himself and Toronto mayor Rob Ford in power. And the numbers suggest that it could happen. Harper has, in fact, been pouring high-profile Tory troops into the GTA, whose ridings are seen as key to deciding who will be the next leader of the province. While the PM himself has confined his appearances to attending Rob Ford’s annual BBQ in his mother’s backyard, federal cabinet ministers John Baird, Tony Clement, Lisa Raitt and Jason Kenney have all made numerous appearances to support local candidates.

Hudak and premier Dalton McGuinty are virtually deadlocked in the polls with two weeks to go, with the NDP riding high on the Jack Layton wave — actually leading in Toronto in some polls. Hudak’s soulmate Rob Ford, however, is in freefall as the city anticipates massive municipal cuts. What will Ontario voters do? Will they bring back the Harris era?

Glen Brown, one of the original founders of AIDS Action Now, a former executive director of the AIDS Committee of Toronto and a longtime community activist, does fear a return to the Harris era of sacrificing services for tax cuts. As Ford did municipally, Hudak is talking about cutting costs and finding waste. He, too, is promising no cuts to services.

“I fear that that’s a possibility. The prospect of having federal, provincial and municipal, not just conservative, but right-wing conservative governments, gives one pause. Not just pause, but shivers.

“Neo-liberalism has gotten us to the point where people no longer see the apparatus of government as belonging to them.”

“Conservatives have been tremendously successful in getting people to oppose taxes, even taxes on the rich. One can just do the math. Even if there were good news on the economic front, they will have reduced government revenue. They are peddling the same bullshit that Rob Ford peddled so successfully. I don’t know how much we’ve learned.”

In fact, Brown says he thinks voters might be even more alienated from government today than they were during the Harris era.

“Neo-liberalism has gotten us to the point where people no longer see the apparatus of government as belonging to them.”

Brown fears things might be worse in some ways, especially for minority groups like gay men and lesbians, under a Hudak government than they were under Harris. Brown points out that under Harris, funding for HIV and AIDS programs actually increased. He says he doubts that Hudak would be so generous.

“I have absolutely no faith that a Tim Hudak government would do anything for our healthcare system.”

Susan Gapka, of Ontario’s Trans Lobby Group, agrees that a Conservative government might be disastrous for the health of minority groups, especially trans people. She says the coverage of sex reassignment surgery under OHIP, which was restored by the Liberals after being cut by Harris, could be at particular risk.

And while she’s angry the Liberals never included gender identity in the Ontario Human Rights Code, she agrees that the resurgence of right-wing politicians at all levels of government feels like an unwelcome case of déjà vu.

“They said there would be a pushback after same-sex marriage, but they could never have predicted it would look like this. It feels very much like we’re going backwards. There is a danger of going back 10 or 15 years. There may be an attempt to cut funding for basic healthcare, not just for trans people, but for all disadvantaged communities, including LGBT people. It’s time to push back on the pushback.”

Brown sees signs that minority groups could be a particular target after this election. He points to the ways in which race has already been raised as an issue. Hudak has repeatedly attacked a Liberal proposal to offer tax breaks to companies that hire skilled recent citizens as “affirmative action” and as taking jobs away from Ontarians. Bob Rae, the federal Liberal leader and former NDP premier of Ontario, and even Ernie Eves, the former finance minister under Harris, have both accused the provincial Conservatives of emulating American Tea Party politics by adopting such divisive policies.

“You’ve seen how quickly they leapt on an ugly, ugly wedge issue,” says Brown. “They’re lying through their teeth. The fact that they’re willing to demonize that population makes me worried. The style of Conservative we’re seeing today would use wedge issues against us.”
Brent Hawkes, the pastor of the Metropolitian Community Church of Toronto who conducted the memorial service for Jack Layton in August, hopes voters don’t go for that sort of division.

“This compassionate country is at odds with a Tea Party mentality,” he says. “I think prejudice lies just below the surface at all times. My hope is that people would react with horror to that. The politics of attack and division just horrify me when it looks like it’ll reap benefits at the polls.”
Hawkes doesn’t think voters want to return to the Harris era. But he does see similarities, especially when it comes to taxes.

“I regret that the public discourse has become how to cut taxes. Politicians are appealing to cynicism, to people’s pocketbooks. People seem to have a knee-jerk reaction to cut, cut, cut.”

But Hawkes says the growing opposition to Rob Ford’s attempts to cut services in Toronto is encouraging. Polls have shown not only growing opposition to Ford, but a willingness to pay higher taxes in order to maintain services.

“For me paying taxes is the primary way people respond to the Biblical instruction to love thy neighbour,” says Hawkes. “I don’t want tax cuts. Tax cuts that cannot be proven to be of benefit are immoral.”

But Hawkes says that regardless of who wins the election, a lot of groups will find their government funding cut. The answer, he says, is to build new movements.

“To rely so heavily on that level of government funding, I’ve been saying for the past couple of years, that’s very dangerous. I really challenge people that they can’t get paralyzed by fear. This is the time to build movements.”

And Brown says he sees hope for that sort of movement.

“I think we’re seeing a bit of a resurgence of activism. I’m certainly seeing at community events a lot of young folks out and about. And we’re going to need them.”

Hawkes sounds one more cautionary note. “The problem with democracy is it assumes an intelligent electorate.”