Ford’s Greenbelt flip-flop raises many questions

There are a couple of different ways to look at Doug Ford’s Greenbelt flip-flop.

One is that he listened to what people were saying when it was revealed he privately promised a roomful of developers that he would open up the provincial ly protected land for housing development.

He was caught on video making that pledge, and someone gave it to the Liberals who released it to the public.

There was considerable uproar. From opposition leaders, obviously. From Progressive Conservative election candidates who began to hear about the scheme while campaigning. And most importantly, from average Ontarians who understand what Ford apparently doesn’t — the 800,000-hectare protected area is the most important environmental achievement in decades and needs to be preserved, not destroyed.

Ford’s unequivocal response: “The people have spoken — we won’t touch the Greenbelt. Very simple. That’s it, the people have spoken. I’m going to listen to them, they don’t want me to touch the Greenbelt. We won’t touch the Greenbelt. Simple as that.”

So the good news is that Ford listens to his advisers and Ontarians, at least when he’s campaigning for premier.

But there are other ways to look at this.

Ford tried to make a secret deal with developers, and got caught. What if he hadn’t been captured on video? What else has he promised, to whom? How will those developers, who no doubt have invested millions in Ford’s campaign, react to having been promised the huge business potential of paving the Greenbelt only to have it taken away within a few days? Will they go quietly into the night?

Or will they remind the premier-in-waiting that he owes them a big one?

Another way to look at this is that Ford was tailoring his message for his audience. He told developers what they wanted to hear. Then he told Ontarians what they want to hear. But which one is true? And doesn’t Ford remind you, yet again, of another leader — orange skin, blond hair — whose policies are largely founded on who he talked to last?

But as long as we’re talking flip-flops, here are a few more we’d like to see Ford undertake.

He said he’d give tax breaks to minimum-wage workers. But it turns out his plan would leave Ontario’s lowest-paid workers with nearly a thousand dollars less per year than if they got the scheduled minimum wage hike.

Flip-flop in waiting here, Mr. Ford.

Or how about his promise to make girls under 16 get parental consent before having an abortion? Charter of rights violations don’t get much clearer than that, and this would be turfed unceremoniously by the courts. Flip-flop away, Mr Ford.

And here’s a good one. Ford has said he is “dead set” against supervised injection sites as a harm reduction strategy, even though they have proven an effective tool in the fight against the growing opioid epidemic. This flip may be underway already. This week Ford’s campaign staff say that while is has made his “personal thoughts” known he is consulting with experts on the subject. We live in hope.

Doug Ford is hardly the first politician to get caught backroom dealing and covering his tracks. But in Ontario, right now, he’s the one promising to do things differently. Is this what he means?

What if he hadn’t been captured on video? What else has he promised, to whom?