Owning up to a mistake is never easy-particularly in politics where doing so could cost someone their job.
That’s why it was somewhat surprising-though refreshing-to see Ontario premier Doug Ford admit he missed the mark when he rolled out big changes to the province’s autism program. And missed it by quite a large margin, too.
While he deserves credit for taking steps to try and fix the mess, it can’t be ignored it was his haste to get something done without proper consultation that caused it in the first place.
After making waves with a rushed plan that promised to treat all cases the same and drastically cut funding to a lot of families, Ford reshuffled his cabinet and came back with a new plan, released late last month. This new plan aims to focus on a ‘needs based’ approach which will be in place by April 2020.
The reason for the change in course, so says the Ontario government, was based on negative feedback from families. It’s probably not a stretch to say it also had something to do with the fact Ford’s numbers had hit an all time low, checking in with a -53.5 per cent approval rating, per a Mainstreet Research poll conducted in late May. That number would place him well below what embattled outgoing premier Kathleen Wynne faced right before her Liberals were overwhelming defeated by the Conservatives in June 2018.
By backtracking, Ford has put himself in a difficult position. The people who elected him with the hope he’d slash the budget and work on reducing Ontario’s mounting deficit may not like the fact their no nonsense leader flip-flopped on an issue and is now promising even more money spent on the program than when Wynn was in power. It remains to be seen whether his amended plan will do enough to win over the family members affected by autism who rallied in such strong numbers that they couldn’t be ignored. The fact a province wide protest was held at Conservative MPP offices was held last week suggests there’s work to be done to win that vote.
It’s been said in this column space before that Ford has earned himself a reputation for taking action. He’s never been shy to push forward with a plan, no matter how radical it may seem or the backlash it will cause. While he may be good at cutting through the red tape and getting things done, that’s of little use if the end result is to have to backtrack and undo it all a few months later once his ministers actually sit down and listen to those at the heart of the issue. A lot of stress, tax dollars and jobs could have been saved by simply taking the right approach, even if it didn’t have an immediate pay off with attention grabbing headlines. As much as we all dread bureaucracy, sometimes there is a reason for it.
-Adam Prudhomme