End “squeaky wheel” politics
The City of Toronto will elect a new Mayor. Voters have a right and an obligation to “right the ship” of a city in decline from the failed “leadership” of past mayors. More of the same won’t cut it.
Is there hope for Toronto?
Yesterday, I listened to the discussion between Dr. Jordan Peterson and Anthony Fury, candidate for Toronto City Mayor.
While I don’t know Anthony personally, I have read his journalism on and off since I witnessed a presentation by him about ten years ago. I admired him then, and I admire him now for his integrity, intelligence and courage to step forward to become Toronto’s next mayor.
During the discussion, Anthony described what I call “squeaky wheel” politics which is practiced by many elected and non-elected officials. The expression “the squeaky wheel always gets the oil” is an apt adage to explain why and how small, vocal and rancorous special interest groups (SIG) get greater political attention than their size might otherwise justify. These SIGS are forever lobbying to get some of what those officials control in the “honey pot”.
The Honey Pot
The “honey pot” contains two things: your tax dollars and legislation. It is the source of power and can be used to bestow ‘oil’ on a “noisy wheel”. Control of the “honey pot” is exactly why anyone runs for public office. What they promise to do with that access is exactly why and how voters vote. While many voters will righteously claim “the greater good” to be their goal, they often vote on the basis of a “squeaky wheel” issue that is self-serving and requires plenty of oil.
“Squeaky wheels” can get louder and more irritating over time.
Public sector labour unions started as a small SIG in the past and are now the most powerful of all special interest groups in Ontario. Today, they have both hands and feet firmly placed in the “honey pot” at the expense of every other citizen that does not benefit from their legislated and tax-funded privileges.
For decades, we have witnessed the teachers unions, and others in the government sector, suspend public services in order to “negotiate” a series of “settlements” that have compounded over decades to enable unionized public servants to enjoy privileges that no other Canadian worker has, but for which they are forced to remit taxes. Many citizens would love to change this fact but they can’t find a politician who will risk tackling this very thorny, crony-statist problem.
Olivia Chow is Anthony’s main adversary.
She, and her deceased husband Jack Layton, practiced “squeaky wheel” politics as elected officials in the past while representing the New Democratic Party (NDP). Their brand of politics employs the “sugardaddy” strategy which is a form of bribery to “buy votes” by promising SIGs more access to the “honey pot”. Their goal is always political power for its own sake ever though they claim otherwise. They operate on the principle that “the easiest and most intoxicating thing in the world to do is to spend Other Peoples Money, aka taxes”. I have called this the political OPM addiction which is a form of mental illness that afficts primarily the policians of the political ‘left’. You know them by the promises they make!
Toronto’s current problems are the legacy of past failed politicians.
Torontonians suffer daily from too many past politicians who practiced “squeaky wheel” politics or suffered from “sugardaddy” syndrome. I lived in the GTA for 55 years and couldn't wait to escape it in 2016 when I retired. I now live in rural Ontario far from city life and its madness. I am especially thankful that I escaped before the affects of government pandemic policies were foist upon our citizenry in the most autocratic period in Canadian history.
From what I know about Anthony Fury, neither of the above character flaws of the political ‘left’ can be attributed to him, a rare find in politicians. Furthermore, I suspect that he supports the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms which is our constitutional document that enshrines the spiritual of the Freedom Of Informed Choice for everyone equally.
For the sake of Torontians who are old enough to remember a time when “Toronto The Great” was the city’s proud reputation, I hope Anthony defeats Chow and every other politician of her ilk. It's way past time that Torontonians push the political pendulum back towards a government led by a principled leader with a fiscally and socially approach to restore their city to its former glory. I believe Anthony Fury is such a leader.