Ford and the magical, all-knowing market

Progressive Conservative leader is a bit mixed up when it comes to capitalism

According to the research, no matter what I write about Doug Ford, it will not give pause to his Conservative supporters.

In fact, the more convincingly I present them with independently researched and confirmed facts, which show just how harmful Ford would be for this province, the more tenaciously Ford supporters will cling to their support. They will grow ever more staunch. More steadfast. More certain that the facts are fake and they (and Ford) are right. This is depressing.

But let’s go through the motions anyway, shall we? Let’s all of us pretend that we live in a democratic society where facts and truth matter, and logical decisions about the health of our society as a whole determine our governance. Fun.

Look, it’s just a small detail, granted, but I’ve noticed that Mr. Ford is a bit mixed up when it comes to capitalism. He’s fond of saying things like, “I don’t like the government controlling anything, no matter what it is.” And “let the market decide.” And “I believe in letting the market dictate.”

Yay! The magical, all-knowing market. Except … kind of … not.

When Ford announced he’d roll back the Liberals’ plan to raise minimum wage to $15 per hour, he was going against what the market has decided. The market, in its infinite wisdom, has dictated that housing, food and heat (and other luxuries, har har) cost more than a minimum wage earner can currently afford.

It’s actually a less-than-minimum wage; the difference is made up by government aid, charities, and people wearing themselves and their families out by working more than one job in order to make ends meet. This wearing-out process is expensive for governments: medical issues lead to job losses, which can lead to welfare payments and the loss of income tax revenues. Chronic stress and frequently absent parents will, statistically, lead to poor outcomes for their kids, not only in terms of academic performance, but in their lifelong mental health.

Kids who can’t get into post-secondary school, or who drop out , and kids who are more likely to have anxiety and depression, are bad for the market, which has decided that it needs functioning, educated workers.

I’d say that the market depends on them, but “depends” sounds so needy … let’s stick with “decides.”

I understand Ford’s anger about the fact that Hydro One’s CEO makes $6.2 million dollars a year. I share his anger. But income inequality is what the late capitalist, globalized market has decided is, to use a technical term: okey dokey. In 2016, the 100 highest-paid CEOs at TSX-listed companies made an average annual salary of $10.4 million. Yay! The wonderful market!

Ironically, Ford’s promise to fire the CEO might be scuppered by … uh-oh … the market.

Kathleen Wynne’s Liberals partially privatized Hydro One. And privatization means … let me check my Idiot’s Guide to Capitalism … yes, it means “transferred to private ownership,” which is located firmly in … drum roll please … the market.

If Ford would like to occasionally bypass his whole “let the market decide” thing with a “let Ford decide” thing, he should probably rethink his idea about privatizing pot sales in the province; if a grand poo-bah of weed commerce emerged and started earning an outrageous salary, Ford wouldn’t be able to fire him or her, because the market will have dictated that an outrageous salary is what Weed Grand Poo-Bahs make.

In addition to the cost of hydro, my general sense is that people are peed off about the cost of a lot of basic stuff — things which are produced by companies whose CEOs make millions of dollars.

Is Ford also planning on firing the CEO of Rogers (annual salary $24.6 million) because of high cellphone rates? Or the CEO of RBC (annual salary $12.2 million) because of high banking fees? Or the CEO of Weston (annual salary $7.5 million) because of the high bread prices?

Which costs are OK as dictated by the market, and which are not? Let Ford decide. The same man who doesn’t think government should control anything, no matter what.

And just a quick FYI for Mr. Ford: While the market might love loads of new houses being built in a “big chunk of the Greenbelt,” the public revenue generated by those houses doesn’t cover the increased municipal costs of servicing those chunky new neighbourhoods (a.k.a. “urban sprawl”). The shortfall is covered by the public coffers. Interesting how the market is so often held up by government spending.

Like I said, fun.

Latham Hunter is a writer and professor of communications and cultural studies; her work has been published in journals, anthologies, print news and magazines for 25 years. She blogs at The Kids’ Book Curator.