As COVID-19 cases climb higher every day, temperatures drop and the Holiday season looms somehow ominously, Ontarians are only now poised to suffer the worst of this pandemic. Now more than ever we must rely on our government to represent our interests and protect our health. But will they?
In 2018, Doug Ford won 40.5% of Ontarians’ votes, giving him 76 of 124 (61%) seats due to our winner-take-all electoral system. With this false majority, Ford introduced sweeping cuts to public health without consultation through Budget 2019 and Bill 74. He announced a 27% reduction on provincial public health spending, including a reported $1 Billion in cuts over 10 years from Toronto Public Health, affecting programmes in infectious disease control and immunization monitoring.
The budget squeeze also forced several leadership positions within Public Health Ontario to close or go indefinitely unfilled, including Chief Scientist Dr. Natasha Crowcroft, Director of Informatics Julian Martalog, and expert in risk communication Dr. Ray Copes. We might recall that the Public Health Ontario was established in response to the 2003 SARS pandemic, with a specific mandate to support management of health emergencies. Ford also collapsed all 14 Local Health Integration Networks (LHINs) plus 6 parallel organizations into one “super agency”, Ontario Health, and similarly reduced 35 Public Health Units to a mere 10. If the importance of locally-focused health system oversight was not obvious before, perhaps 2020 has made it clear.
Alongside this untimely deconstruction of Ontario’s public health infrastructure, the Ford government also made cuts to childcare and education support, labour regulations, and the universal basic income pilot project, not to mention ending practically all efforts to address the climate crisis. Ford’s majority government was able to make these cuts without opposition despite only receiving minority support. The majority of Ontario voters cast their ballot for more progessive parties, yet the misrepresentation of votes as seats and distortion of voter intent through strategic voting systematically excluded progressive representation from the provincial government.This meant that a majority of voters in Ontario were subjected to cuts and policies they did not support.
There is now overwhelming evidence that marginalized Ontarians are enduring the worst disease and economic burdens during the pandemic. Household density, income, education, and recent immigration status have all been independently associated with COVID-19 diagnosis. So, we are left to wonder how Ontarians might have fared against the virus if the social determinants of health had been supported and improved by a majority coalition of progressive parties; what 61% of Ontario wanted.
Current Nation-wide campaigns
Have you sent your holiday card to Justin Trudeau yet?
Fair Vote Canada is offering a fast, fun and easy way for Canadians to tell Justin Trudeau that we need a National Citizens’ Assembly on Electoral Reform. Click this link to select a festive holiday card design, include a short personal message and we’ll take care of the rest!
In addition, if you have an extra holiday card around the house, why not mail it to Trudeau or your local Liberal MP? No postage is required and you could join thousands of us across Canada by sharing a photo on social media of yourself mailing it with the hashtag #MakeYourVoiceHeard on December 12th.
Share our campaign with your friends & family! Together we can make every vote count
What does the power of song have to do with Proportional Representation?
Find out on Wednesday, December 16 at 7pm! Tony Turner, Canadian singer-songwriter, will join us to share his journey from local folk singer to singing activist for various social and political causes. Tony will outline his affinity for proportional representation, reflect on the power of song to unite forces advocating for change, and demonstrate how each of us can contribute our unique talents to the fight for a better democracy.
FairVote USA has its own plan for bringing proportional representation to the United States. The “Fair Representation Act” would replace Congress’s single-member districts with larger, multi-member wards elected using single-transferable vote (STV).
The reform would reduce the US’s notorious partisanship by ending gerrymandering and giving parties in-roads into historically unfavorable constituencies, meaning more urban Republicans and rural Democrats. It would also be easier to elect popular third parties like Greens and Libertarians, allowing more diverse voices in congress.