Book: Against the People: How Ford Nation Is Dismantling Ontario
A look at a Doug Ford take-down book to understand the overall arguments against this government.
Presumably pushed out as quickly as possible to have some effect on the recent Ontario election, the book Against the People: How Ford Nation Is Dismantling Ontario was released on February 13, 2025. It felt like a special gift to see the book at my door the day before that date. I had ordered it first from Amazon, but cancelled that and paid a little more to get it directly from Fernwood Publishing, a Canadian publisher. This book seemed far too late to have any real effect on the February 27, 2025 provincial election, but I was ready to take in what the many contributors here had to say.
And there’s an incredible list of contributors beyond the authors:
- Maria Rio, Director of Development and Communications, The Stop, Executive Director Further Together
- Kathy Laird, former tribunal lawyer and adjudicator, now with Tribunal Watch
- Venai Raniga, CUPE National Researcher (Chapter: Manufacturing a Fiscal Crisis)
- Carolyn Ferns, Public Policy Coordinator Ontario Coalition for Better Child Care
The clearest thing about this book is that it’s against Doug Ford’s rule as Premier, but I as you read, you learn that left-leaning progressive ideals are hailed as the truth, and Ford’s “neoliberal” approaches are bad. In one passage a previous Conservative government’s balancing of the budget was expressed as a horrible outcome. So, right away, it’s clear what biases are present (which is okay, of course). The sense in this book is that Ford has not spent or invested enough in an specific topic, represented by each chapter.
The chapter I was most interested in was Laird’s, in which she talked about the mishandling of Ontario’s landlord and Tenant Board (LTB). The chapter titled “Everyday Justice in Ford’s Ontario” discusses a litany of issues at the LTB, but the tribunals overall. She explains that “Since 2018, the quality and accessibility of justice at several of Ontario's dispute resolution tribunals ( commonly referred to as adjudicative tribunals) have taken a precipitous drop.” It’s no surprise that SOLO, the organization I currently Chair was born shortly after that drop. Laird gets into some of the history, the issues and illuminates many of the things that deserve more attention in Ontario.
The folks behind the book ran a press conference at Queen’s Park in January. See that here:
This is a highly recommended read. To order the book online, get it from the Canadian publisher here and they’ll ship it to you promptly.
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