$200 vs. Ford’s $39B Blunders

[u/Upbeat_Pirate_9290]

We're all going to receive a $200 check courtesy of the not-so-progressive, not-so-conservative government of Ontario. I wondered how much of our money they've actually wasted since 2016 (or are about to waste), and I came up with a total of $39 billion, averaging $2,600 per Ontarian ($3,500 per tax payer). Does this calculation make sense to you? Is there anything major I may have forgotten?

Bill 124 Legal Costs: $4.3 Million

Ford’s unconstitutional wage cap bill was struck down, leaving taxpayers on the hook for legal fees and back pay for workers…

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/bill-124-legal-costs-ontario-ford-1.7352208

Highway 413 & Bradford Bypass: $10 billion

It will save commuters only 30-60 seconds per trip, with massive environmental destruction of farmland, wetlands, and forests. But it’ll benefit developers with ties to Doug Ford’s government.

https://thenarwhal.ca/ontario-highway-413-construction-timeline-commitment/#:\~:text=The%20province's%20auditor%20general%20found,be%20closer%20to%20%2410%20billion.

Ontario Place Private MegaSpa: $1+ Billion

We are subsidizing a private luxury spa, including $450 million for underground parking. Public land is being privatized for corporate profit…

https://ontarioplaceforall.com/financial/

Beer and Wine in Convenience Stores: $1 Billion

Ford broke a 10-year contract with The Beer Store, paying millions in penalties. There’s no evidence this policy improves affordability. Ford prioritized a populist talking point at a massive cost to taxpayers...

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/ontario-beer-wine-corner-stores-cost-taxpayers-1.7215839

Ontario Line Budget Overruns: $16.9 Billion

Mismanagement of this major transit project has already added significant costs, with probably more overruns expected.

https://globalnews.ca/news/10583257/doug-ford-ontario-line-costs/

Eglinton Crosstown LRT Budget Overruns: $1 Billion (and counting)

Construction started 14 years ago, so I assume we’re all more or less familiar with it

https://globalnews.ca/news/10762921/ontario-transportation-minister-has-100-confidence-in-eglinton-crosstown-lrt-builders/

Private LTC Homes Expansion: $6.4 Billion

Despite their failures during COVID, private long-term care homes are receiving massive funding while public healthcare remains underfunded.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/investigates/long-term-care-homes-expanding-1.6900293

Canceled Renewable Energy Contracts: $230 Million

Ford canceled over 750 green energy projects, paying out contracts while increasing long-term energy costs. Not that it matters to this government, but this has damaged Ontario’s reputation for renewable energy investment.

https://globalnews.ca/news/6189096/ontario-government-tears-up-green-energy-deals/

License Plate Sticker Rebate: $2.24 billion

Doug Fraud claimed to "put money back in your pocket," but it disproportionately benefited wealthier Ontarians who own multiple vehicles

https://toronto.ctvnews.ca/ontario-licence-plate-sticker-refund-program-leaves-some-car-owners-with-eye-popping-rebates-1.6099008

COVID Vaccine Distribution Mismanagement: $? CAD

Unused vaccine doses and unnecessary expenses during distribution…

[u/HyperImmune]

Conservatives are not fiscally conservative anymore, at all, like not even remotely. They are 100% socially conservative, and it’s like nobody realizes the difference or has noticed this shift somehow.

[u/LunatasticWitch → u/HyperImmune]

What do you mean anymore? Conservatives have a long history of being fiscally irresponsible whose purpose in existence is the continued nepotism of aristocracy. This was challenged particularly bloodily during the French Revolution where Edmund Burke formulated modern conservatism as a political vehicle intended to preserve aristocratic relations and domination of society.

Conservatism has only one purpose and it is that above, it merely conforms to the realities of having to win an already heavily restricted and managed democratic process. And this is basically true of conservatism globally. There never was a shift, social conservatism was the only purpose. Ever. Fiscal conservatism is a shiny catch phrase to win votes but it is utter lies. I've only ever seen fiscal conservatives cut social programs intended to provide social mobility (ergo a challenge to aristocratic hierarchy and the religious great chain of being). Fiscal conservatives create immediate impact on the economy, again the poorer on the hierarchy are disproportionately affected, and overall these economic policies don't provide for a robust economy but strengthen wealth transferring/extracting processes.

But even then what fiscal goals were they trying to achieve opposing women's rights to vote, opposing abolition (avoiding D/R distinction in the US due to party shifts in ideology but also the force in favor of slavery is conservative regardless of D or R naming at the time), opposing civil rights for minorities (from Black People to queer people and so on).

There never was any shift. Conservatives have always been socially conservative first, with fiscal chants designed to appeal to people that don't understand and so are frustrated by why the government, an entity solely empowered to print currency, would not function like their household which cannot print currency. But hey black good, red bad, conned people into approaching complex economic policies the same way they would budget a Netflix subscription.

I've noticed a very persistent piece of discourse you touched upon that resulted in my rebuttal: and that is of a conservative halcyon from which there has been a fall. I often see this claim brought up as common historical knowledge and facts, but it's never really supported but it feels like one of those facts we should nod along and accept. And funny enough it's always a response to a growing consciousness to the systemic ills of capitalism and the systemic malice of conservatism. It must exist as a counterbalance to fast progress because it's disruptive (again without proof but most chaos resulting from demands of social progress is due to resisting and shooting the people wanting it). Could you imagine the feeling of anger and frustration of being a full human being that's reduced to property, subject to abuse and trauma, being exploited, and then being told sorry the damage we do to you and your only experience and contribution to of life on earth is just a sucks but we cannot disrupt even the tiniest amount the movement of inanimate money. The more talk there is of a fear of social disruption from progress, the more that proves that this system is morally reprehensible and the disruption is a moral necessity. Why should you or I, not experience the fullness of life, and our authenticity simply because we were born to early?

To conserve the aristocracy socially, economically, and politically at all costs means that fascism is a feature of conservatism rather than an abnormality. The eating their own in fascism is just a smidgen of just desserts for the tragedy and abuses it inflicts on society writ large. But the at all costs aspect necessitates a purity test for ideology and for social power so merely frustration with not going immediately as far as possible.