​Power grab

To the Editor:

Ontario premier Doug Ford doesn’t have much good to say about United States (U.S.) president Donald Trump. That’s funny, because Ford seems to emulate Trump in many ways.

Trump rages against any judge who makes a judgement the president doesn’t like. Ford rips Ontario judges for being soft on crime.

Trump is disbanding the U.S. education department. Ford is taking over school boards – recently the Thames Valley School Board. And he’s starving the province’s colleges and universities when it comes to funding. Maybe Ford doesn’t know that a well-educated workforce has a lot to do with our high standard of living.

Now, the province can exert pressure on smaller municipalities.

Ontario extended strong mayoral powers to the heads of council in 169 small municipalities, including Kincardine and Huron-Kinloss, effective May 1, 2025. The mayors will help deliver on provincial priorities, such as building more homes, transit and other infrastructure.

It’s easier for the province to lean on a mayor than an entire council. A bylaw proposed by a mayor now needs only one-third of council members to approve it for it to become law. Giving one member of council so much power hardly seems democratic. Just wait until some municipality elects a mayor with the mentality of Trump.

The Ford government passed Bill 5 a couple of weeks ago. The “Protecting Ontario by Unleashing our Economy Act” gives the Ford cabinet the power to declare any place in the province a special economic zone. The cabinet can then override any other provincial law in that zone. Again, that’s hardly democratic.

Ford’s not nearly as crazy but he’s acting more and more like Trump in many ways. The people of this province should be keeping a closer eye on his authoritarian moves. We don’t need a mini-Trump.

Eric Howald
Kincardine