Just after the Ontario provincial elections on June 7 last, we reminded our readers in this space that people get the government they deserve.
Not long after that reminder, Premier Doug Ford himself helped to convince many in the Caribbean community of the truth of that statement by his announcement of plans to slash the size of Toronto City Council almost in half.
His announcement came as a big surprise to persons who were planning to run for a seat on Toronto City Council on October 22.
Many who are now candidates are uncertain what will become of the seat for which they planned to run. Will it be vaporized in Ford’s grand plan to reduce the size of government?
Candidates and voters are confused about this state of affairs.
Many are understandably angry that Ford kept his slashing plans quiet during the recent provincial election campaign and that there was no public consultation on this issue.
Would his Progressive Conservative party have won as many seats as they did in Toronto in the last provincial elections had he made his slashing plans known on the hustings?
Many voters think not.
Is this restructuring plan a vindictive act by a former one-term city councillor?
As Ford sharpens the proverbial knife for major cuts in government spending in the name of “efficiency”, many voters in Toronto’s Caribbean community are asking what next?
Many among the politically naive who voted for Ford’s PCs are already expressing regret for having wasted their ballots.
But crying over spilled milk will not help.
Jamaica-born City Councillor Michael Thompson correctly noted that the Premier has the authority to make the proposed changes. ”
” Ideally one would have liked to have had some sort of consultation process before the restructuring but we don’t have it,” he noted.
Commenting on this issue, an angry Chris Noor, one of the candidates who is a native of Trinidad and Tobago, said that this last minute restructuring just before an election would not have happened in that twin island state which has been described as a third world country.
But , he suggested, perhaps it was intended to be confusing.
Clearly, Noor does not trust the Premier.
And so does many today, including a large number who cast their ballots on June 6 last for the Conservatives.
We hope that Ford’s announcement of the restructuring of the Toronto City Council will act as a wake-up call to the naive voters in our community and those who in the past have taken little or no interest in the political developments in the province of Ontario.
To quote Michelle Garcia, one of the candidates in the upcoming municipal elections: “If we, as Caribbean and black people do not run for political office or do not even bother to vote, who can we blame when the wrong people get elected?”
We are pleased to note that there are some Caribbean and Black candidates running for seats on Toronto City Council. We hope that there would have been more. For there is important work waiting to be done by the representatives from our community
For example, we need people on council to press for funding for some of our Caribbean community organizations.
We have not collectively demanded that the various levels of government fund Black community agencies with similar allocations as they do with others.
The City of Toronto provides core funding for one group or perhaps two from our community
Groups such as the Jamaican Canadian Association and the Harriet Tubman organization which have been providing services for over fifty years, and many others receive little or no core funding.
Our community leaders did not raise concerns about the funding issue prior to the recent provincial elections. As usual, we were depending on others to look after our concerns.
It is not difficult to understand, therefore, why we are not politically respected.
We need strong voices from our community at City Hall, in the provincial legislature and in the federal parliament.
And outside of these bodies, we need community leaders with the guts to stand up and make the demands which are in our best interests.
We have to send a message to Doug Ford that we are not asleep.
We have work to do.