Doug Ford PC Party Embraces Tommy Douglas Politics While Saying Ont NDP Has Abandonded Tommy's NDP Values

16 posts / 0 new

Sun, 2019-06-02 16:09

Mighty Middle

Tommy Douglas knew runaway debt was immoral. Conservatives couldn't agree more

Our government is acting on its mandate to restore fiscal sanity to our province — to protect the things that truly matter

There once lived a Canadian who is revered today for his vision, compassion and prudence.

He believed that it was wrong for governments to run up huge deficits and debt; that it wasn’t fair for people to fork money out of their jeans on the good-faith understanding that it was meant for schools, roads, hospitals and support for their less fortunate neighbours — only to see it wind up paying interest to big banks. So, as premier of his province from 1944 to 1961, he delivered 17 consecutive budget surpluses, to drastically reduce interest costs and have more to spend on public services. It is a record of fiscal achievement that has never been equaled.

His name was Tommy Douglas.

So I wonder what Tommy would make of his NDP descendants at the Ontario legislature. Not a day goes by when the slightest trace of fiscal discipline isn’t met with outrage from the opposition benches, accompanied by charges of “putting our children at risk” and “abandoning the most needy.” It’s the same in some quarters of the news media. Click-bait headlines about our government feature frightening language such as “slash,” “ripping away resources” or “taking the axe” to one thing or another through “secret plans.” (Like our spring budget, for example, which is about as secret as a grocery store flyer.)

https://business.financialpost.com/opinion/lisa-macleod-tommy-douglas-kn...

Sun, 2019-06-02 16:19

voice of the damned

Mighty Middle wrote:

Hey if a former Quebec Liberal like Thomas Mulcair can namedrop Tommy Douglas, why not Doug Ford

It's the oldest trick in the debators' handbook, quoting the hero of the other side. And this is the political version that goes "If their hero was alive today, he'd be appalled at what their party had become!"

The left uses it too, eg. "Today's Conservatives have nothing in common with the great tradition of Sir John A. MacDonald!"(which is true on some issues, not so much on others).

Overall, this sort of thing isn't the man-bites-dog story the media always tries to make it out to be. Very much dog-bites-man.

Sun, 2019-06-02 16:23

voice of the damned

The quote in the above post seems to have now been removed from the OP.

Sun, 2019-06-02 16:27

(Reply to #3) #4

Mighty Middle

mighty middle wrote:

Hey if a former Quebec Liberal like Thomas Mulcair can namedrop Tommy Douglas, why not Doug Ford

voice of the damned wrote:

The quote in the above post seems to have now been removed from the OP.

After thinking about it, I deleted it because it wasn't a fair analogy. Because at least Mulcair was NDP Leader which gave him the right to reference Tommy Douglas as much as he wanted. With Ford it is just pure crass for him to even compare his party to Tommy Douglas, as there is NO comparsion.

Sun, 2019-06-02 16:46

voice of the damned

Fair enough, but I'm gonna leave it in, because it segues into my reply. (Though my point could probably stand alone.)

And, yeah, if Mulcair was the kind of guy who shouldn't be praising Tommy Douglas, a certain amount of blame needs to be apportioned to the NDP itself for electing him leader.

Sun, 2019-06-02 17:01

Mr. Magoo

This needs someone like Ed Broadbent to say "I knew Tommy Douglas, and you, sir, are no Tommy Douglas".

Worked well on Dan Quayle.

Sun, 2019-06-02 17:49

(Reply to #6) #7

voice of the damned

Mr. Magoo wrote:

This needs someone like Ed Broadbent to say "I knew Tommy Douglas, and you, sir, are no Tommy Douglas".

Worked well on Dan Quayle.

The icing on the cake there is that Quayle had been explicitly told by his handlers NOT to use the JFK comparison in the debate.

And, as someone who saw that line delivered live on TV, it's been interesting to watch its subsequent permutations, "Play it, Sam"-style: Bentsen actually said "Senator, you're no Jack Kennedy", but nowadays it often gets rendered as "You, sir, are no Jack Kennedy".

(Though I realize the original version wouldn't have worked for your riff, as Ford is not a senator.)

Sun, 2019-06-02 18:43

(Reply to #7) #8

Ken Burch

Mr. Magoo wrote:

This needs someone like Ed Broadbent to say "I knew Tommy Douglas, and you, sir, are no Tommy Douglas".

Worked well on Dan Quayle.

Not really. It got a big round of applause from the vice presidential debate audience(who overlooked the intrinsic ickiness of JFK being referenced by a politician from Texas), but the Bush/Quayle ticket was solidly elected nonetheless, and if Bush the first had died at that state dinner in Japan-instead of just vomiting and passing out-Quayle would have become president.

Sun, 2019-06-02 21:56

(Reply to #8) #9

Debater

Mr. Magoo wrote:

This needs someone like Ed Broadbent to say "I knew Tommy Douglas, and you, sir, are no Tommy Douglas".

Worked well on Dan Quayle.

Long-term former Liberal Ontario MPP Ted McMeekin did just that a few days ago:

Hey Lisa MacLeod - Tommy Douglas was a friend of mine. You’re no Tommy Douglas!

https://twitter.com/TedMcMeekin/status/1134657182539091969

Mon, 2019-06-03 20:11

#10

Debater

Bob Rae:

I knew Tommy Douglas well. There’s nothing about Doug Ford’s he would have liked. The booze, the profligacy, the hypocricy, the bullying. He would have fought it all with every fibre of his being.

https://twitter.com/BobRae48/status/1135492183308603393

Tue, 2019-06-04 15:50

#11

Misfit

I’m not defending what Doug Ford said. However, his late brother appealed to some traditional NDP voters and he is saying what he said in order to appeal to those very same people who supported his brother in Toronto.

His remark was as garishly awful as Brian Mulroney retelling TommyDouglas’s Sir Andeew Barton’s poem, “Fight on”!

When Tommy Douglas said it, it was epic. Brian Mulroney tried to devalue Tommy Douglas by readying it but he only succeeded in cheapening himself. The same is true of Doug Ford.

Fri, 2019-06-07 10:47

#12

blairz

Yeah the same cheap trick gets played here in the States-Everyone loves a dead Roosevelt .

Fri, 2019-06-07 10:52

(Reply to #12) #13

Michael Moriarity

blairz wrote:

Yeah the same cheap trick gets played here in the States-Everyone loves a dead Roosevelt .

I think a better example is all the right wingers who claim each year on MLK day that Dr. King would be a conservative if he were alive today. Obvious nonsense, the man was a strong socialist, but they say it nonetheless.

Mon, 2019-06-10 13:28

#14

Mighty Middle

Keifer Sutherland has blasted Ford Government for comparing their policies to what Tommy Douglas would advocate. Calling it "Offensive"

https://twitter.com/RealKiefer/status/1138112542482374656

Mon, 2019-06-10 16:07

(Reply to #14) #15

Ken Burch

Mighty Middle wrote:

Keifer Sutherland has blasted Ford Government for comparing their policies to what Tommy Douglas would advocate. Calling it "Offensive"

https://twitter.com/RealKiefer/status/1138112542482374656

And if anybody is entitled to say that, it's Kiefer-for those who don't know, he's Tommy Douglas' grandson and introduced this animated depiction of Tommy's "Mouseland" story: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GqgOvzUeiAA

Mon, 2019-06-10 17:54

#16

Debater

June 10, 2019

Mr Ford,

Your tweet has recently come to my attention and I can only tell you that you are correct, my grandfather Tommy Douglas was fiscally responsible. In addition to balancing the budget of Saskatchewan, he also provided the province with paved roads, healthcare and electricity. He did it all within four years. Contrary to your argument, it was never at the expense of social and human services to those in need. I personally find your comparison of your policies to his offensive. So I can only ask, as the grandson of this man, for you to stop posting his picture and using his name as part of your political agenda. After all, I knew Tommy Douglas and you Sir, are no Tommy Douglas.

P.S. You're lucky my mum's not active on Twitter.

Sincerely, Kiefer Sutherland