I learned long ago that one of the hardest thing to achieve and the very easiest to lose is respect.\u00a0 Our parents, teachers and others who are involved in our personal development as a person start to teach us this lesson from an early age.\u00a0 And in my mind, it is one of those lessons that is fundamentally true no matter where you come from or what your station is in life.\u00a0 I know I learned this lesson and took it to heart as a young man.\u00a0 The thing of it is, no matter how hard our parents and significant others in our lives try to teach this lesson, not everyone actually learns it.<\/p>\n
My mom was right teaching me that to get respect, you first have to give it.\u00a0 Without a word of lie, whenever I say or hear that word, I hear Aretha Franklin\u2019s musical voice ringing out her famous R-E-S-P-E-C-T hit song, and I get such an urge to bop my head and shoulders to the tune.<\/p>\n
But I digress, let\u2019s cut to the chase.<\/p>\n
I pride myself in fulfilling my roll as an MPP demonstrating compassion and respect for all constituents and Ontario voters as well as my colleagues sitting on the government side of the legislature.\u00a0 Therefore the message below is delivered with continued respect although I am dismayed with events as they unfold.\u00a0 As I write this week\u2019s column Doug Ford has recalled MPPs to the Legislature for an emergency session to ram through in just a couple or three days, legislation that is a blatant attempt to tramp on Ontarians right to freedom of speech.\u00a0 What Doug Ford is displaying is a knee jerk reflex response to the June 8th<\/sup> Ontario Superior Court of Justice ruling that struck down a major part of his changes to the Elections Finances Act.<\/p>\n Clearly this infuriated the Premier so much that he has decided that if the courts say he is breaking the rules (law) he\u2019s just going to bully his way to pass the law.\u00a0 To do this, Doug Ford is pushing the nuclear button and invoking Section 33 of the Notwithstanding Clause<\/em> from the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms<\/em>.\u00a0 The Notwithstanding Clause allows governments to exempt their laws from certain sections of the Charter.<\/p>\n It is important to note here that, since the Charter was passed in 1982, no other Ontario Premier has even considered invoking the Notwithstanding Clause<\/em>.\u00a0 And once used, it is, as they say, a slippery slope indeed for potential use again and again.<\/p>\n Ford\u2019s new legislation limits spending by third party groups, months<\/u><\/em> prior to a provincial election.\u00a0 The limits apply to organizations such as parent associations, working family organizations, environmental groups, doctors and nurses associations, unions, coalitions and any other sort of organization that wants to inform Ontario voters about the policies and record of any political party as well as the government.<\/p>\n Canada\u2019s democracy is something to be treasured.\u00a0 It is something that many thousands of men and women died to protect in WWI and WWII.\u00a0 That is why our Royal Canadian Legions go to such lengths to ensure that Canadians never forget what our brave men and women fought and died for.\u00a0 They gave their lives, quite literally, to protect our rights and freedoms.<\/p>\n Ontarians must have the right to exercise their freedom of speech.\u00a0 We must ensure we have the right to speak out to share our knowledge, experience, concerns and views.\u00a0 People have a right to be informed about what the record of previous governments as well as all opposition parties.\u00a0 They have a right to access information to help them make intelligent, informed decisions about who is going to lead the people of Ontario for the next four years.<\/p>\n Ontario is trying to climb its way out of an absolutely horrific pandemic and healthcare crisis.\u00a0 Thousands have died \u2013needlessly in some cases \u2013 alone and afraid.\u00a0 People need to know what was done correctly, what was not done correctly, and they need to know why thousands of Canadians died before their time.\u00a0 Ordinary Ontarians have been there every step of the way.\u00a0 Every last one of us is a witness.\u00a0 We have an incredible collective knowledge, understanding and insight.\u00a0 Families of long-term care residents, parents of children with autism, teachers and school communities, working people, environmental advocates, and frontline health care workers have the right to share what they feel, and know.\u00a0 They have a right to free speech.<\/p>\n Doug Ford\u2019s legislation to muzzle Ontarians from organizing and speaking out is quite simply a blatantly desperate attempt to muzzle the very people he\u2019s supposed to serve. \u00a0It\u2019s just not right!<\/p>\n Andrea Horwath said it best. \u00a0\u201cIt\u2019s clearer than ever that Doug Ford\u2019s top priority is to \u2018protect the king<\/u><\/em>.\u2019\u00a0 At a time when Canada is in mourning from horrific tragedies in Kamloops and London, and still battling a pandemic, Doug Ford is worried most about Doug Ford.\u00a0 He wants to crush dissent. \u00a0He doesn\u2019t tolerate criticism from the people he hurts with his big cuts and bad choices.\u201d<\/p>\n I\u2019ve said this before and I\u2019ll say it again.\u00a0 In reality, Doug Ford does not care at all about the \u2018little guy\u2019, no matter what he says.\u00a0 He has proven this time and time again since taking office.\u00a0 Doug Ford cares only about Doug Ford and will do whatever it takes to be re-elected.\u00a0 Even if that means stomping on the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms<\/em> and stripping Ontarians of their right to freedom of speech.<\/p>\n New Democrats are committed to doing all in our power to oppose Ford\u2019s attack on the rights of all citizens of Ontario.<\/p>\n As always, please feel free to contact my office about these issues, or any other provincial matters.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" I learned long ago that one of the hardest thing to achieve and the very easiest to lose is respect.\u00a0 Our parents, teachers and others who are involved in our personal development as a person start to teach us this lesson from an early age.\u00a0 And in my mind, it is one of those lessons …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":29,"featured_media":45421,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[41],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-45419","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-community"],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-04-26 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