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Against the People
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13 February 2025

The election of the Doug Ford–led Progressive Conservatives unleashed an aggressive and undisguised market fundamentalism. Ford’s government has taken the assault against the social welfare state, labour and environmental protections to new and unprecedented heights. Maintaining a permanent era of austerity has not only steadily reduced the public sector as a proportion of the provincial economy but has also reduced the social protections available to Ontarians.
Ford’s deregulatory agenda has explicitly degraded the quality of social provisioning and eroded labour rights to the benefit of business. From undermining the fiscal capacity to fund program expenditures adequately to reducing public sector employment and service levels, Ford Nation has reordered an array of ministries and agencies to boost business and development in general and the resource-extraction and investment sectors in particular. Tens of billions have been put back into the pockets of the business community, often directly out of public coffers. Few ministries and programs have been left unscathed. Most people have not benefited.
Against the People is the first book of its kind to provide an in-depth look into the devastating policies of the Ford government across a wide range of public policy issues: from health care, municipal, education and judicial restructuring, to economics, arts, labour, environmental, housing and Indigenous lands. Written by on-the-ground experts and focused on the Progressive Conservatives since coming to power in 2016, this book showcases the politics of dismantling a province.
POLITICAL SCIENCE / Political Economy, POLITICAL SCIENCE / Public Policy / Social Policy, POLITICAL SCIENCE / Public Policy / Social Services & Welfare
Bryan Evans (Edited by)
Bryan Evans is a professor in the Department of Politics and Public Administration, Toronto Metropolitan University, and is a member of the Steering Committee for the Ontario office of the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives. His research focuses on political economy and public policy.
Carlo Fanelli (Edited by)
Carlo Fanelli is an associate professor of Work and Labour Studies, York University. He is the author of Megacity Malaise: Neoliberalism, Labour and Public Services in Toronto, co-author of From Consent to Coercion: The Continuing Assault Against Labour, and editor of Alternate Routes: A Journal of Critical Social Research.
Introduction: From Building a Province to Dismantling It (Carlo Fanelli, Bryan Evans)
Chapter 1:: Manufacturing a Fiscal Crisis (Venai Raniga)
Chapter 2:: Arts and Culture Under Attack (Aylan Couchie)
Chapter 3:: Schools for Sale (Chris Chandler)
Chapter 4:: Privatizing Ontario Colleges (Diane Meaghan)
Chapter 5:: Public University Decline (David Leadbeater)
Chapter 6:: Everyday Justice in Ford’s Ontario (Kathy Laird)
Chapter 7:: Healthcare SOS (Micheal Hurley and Doug Allan)
Chapter 8:: Unequal Ontario (Carlo Fanelli and Katherine Nastovski)
Chapter 9:: Why Are People in Ontario Hungry? (Maria Rio)
Chapter 10:: Bulldozing Indigenous Lands (Dayna Nadine Scott and Dania Ahmed)
Chapter 11:: Child Care When Convenient (Rachel Vickerson, Carolyn Ferns and Brooke Richardson)
Chapter 12:: Riding the “Gravy Train” (William Paul)
Chapter 13:: Locking in Unsustainable Development (Mark Winfield)
Chapter 14:: De-Democratizing Ontario (Tom McDowell)
Chapter 15:: Strong Mayors, Weak Cities (Carlo Fanelli and Ryan Targa)
Chapter 16:: We Are Stronger Together (Lily Xia)
Chapter 17:: Fighting Ford and Beyond (John Clarke)
Introduction: From Building a Province to Dismantling It (Carlo Fanelli, Bryan Evans)
Chapter 1:: Manufacturing a Fiscal Crisis (Venai Raniga)
Chapter 2:: Arts and Culture Under Attack (Aylan Couchie)
Chapter 3:: Schools for Sale (Chris Chandler)
Chapter 4:: Privatizing Ontario Colleges (Diane Meaghan)
Chapter 5:: Public University Decline (David Leadbeater)
Chapter 6:: Everyday Justice in Ford’s Ontario (Kathy Laird)
Chapter 7:: Healthcare SOS (Micheal Hurley and Doug Allan)
Chapter 8:: Unequal Ontario (Carlo Fanelli and Katherine Nastovski)
Chapter 9:: Why Are People in Ontario Hungry? (Maria Rio)
Chapter 10:: Bulldozing Indigenous Lands (Dayna Nadine Scott and Dania Ahmed)
Chapter 11:: Child Care When Convenient (Rachel Vickerson, Carolyn Ferns and Brooke Richardson)
Chapter 12:: Riding the “Gravy Train” (William Paul)
Chapter 13:: Locking in Unsustainable Development (Mark Winfield)
Chapter 14:: De-Democratizing Ontario (Tom McDowell)
Chapter 15:: Strong Mayors, Weak Cities (Carlo Fanelli and Ryan Targa)
Chapter 16:: We Are Stronger Together (Lily Xia)
Chapter 17:: Fighting Ford and Beyond (John Clarke)
Introduction: From Building a Province to Dismantling It (Carlo Fanelli, Bryan Evans)
Chapter 1:: Manufacturing a Fiscal Crisis (Venai Raniga)
Chapter 2:: Arts and Culture Under Attack (Aylan Couchie)
Chapter 3:: Schools for Sale (Chris Chandler)
Chapter 4:: Privatizing Ontario Colleges (Diane Meaghan)
Chapter 5:: Public University Decline (David Leadbeater)
Chapter 6:: Everyday Justice in Ford’s Ontario (Kathy Laird)
Chapter 7:: Healthcare SOS (Micheal Hurley and Doug Allan)
Chapter 8:: Unequal Ontario (Carlo Fanelli and Katherine Nastovski)
Chapter 9:: Why Are People in Ontario Hungry? (Maria Rio)
Chapter 10:: Bulldozing Indigenous Lands (Dayna Nadine Scott and Dania Ahmed)
Chapter 11:: Child Care When Convenient (Rachel Vickerson, Carolyn Ferns and Brooke Richardson)
Chapter 12:: Riding the “Gravy Train” (William Paul)
Chapter 13:: Locking in Unsustainable Development (Mark Winfield)
Chapter 14:: De-Democratizing Ontario (Tom McDowell)
Chapter 15:: Strong Mayors, Weak Cities (Carlo Fanelli and Ryan Targa)
Chapter 16:: We Are Stronger Together (Lily Xia)
Chapter 17:: Fighting Ford and Beyond (John Clarke)
Introduction: From Building a Province to Dismantling It (Carlo Fanelli, Bryan Evans)
Chapter 1:: Manufacturing a Fiscal Crisis (Venai Raniga)
Chapter 2:: Arts and Culture Under Attack (Aylan Couchie)
Chapter 3:: Schools for Sale (Chris Chandler)
Chapter 4:: Privatizing Ontario Colleges (Diane Meaghan)
Chapter 5:: Public University Decline (David Leadbeater)
Chapter 6:: Everyday Justice in Ford’s Ontario (Kathy Laird)
Chapter 7:: Healthcare SOS (Micheal Hurley and Doug Allan)
Chapter 8:: Unequal Ontario (Carlo Fanelli and Katherine Nastovski)
Chapter 9:: Why Are People in Ontario Hungry? (Maria Rio)
Chapter 10:: Bulldozing Indigenous Lands (Dayna Nadine Scott and Dania Ahmed)
Chapter 11:: Child Care When Convenient (Rachel Vickerson, Carolyn Ferns and Brooke Richardson)
Chapter 12:: Riding the “Gravy Train” (William Paul)
Chapter 13:: Locking in Unsustainable Development (Mark Winfield)
Chapter 14:: De-Democratizing Ontario (Tom McDowell)
Chapter 15:: Strong Mayors, Weak Cities (Carlo Fanelli and Ryan Targa)
Chapter 16:: We Are Stronger Together (Lily Xia)
Chapter 17:: Fighting Ford and Beyond (John Clarke)
Introduction: From Building a Province to Dismantling It (Carlo Fanelli, Bryan Evans)
Chapter 1:: Manufacturing a Fiscal Crisis (Venai Raniga)
Chapter 2:: Arts and Culture Under Attack (Aylan Couchie)
Chapter 3:: Schools for Sale (Chris Chandler)
Chapter 4:: Privatizing Ontario Colleges (Diane Meaghan)
Chapter 5:: Public University Decline (David Leadbeater)
Chapter 6:: Everyday Justice in Ford’s Ontario (Kathy Laird)
Chapter 7:: Healthcare SOS (Micheal Hurley and Doug Allan)
Chapter 8:: Unequal Ontario (Carlo Fanelli and Katherine Nastovski)
Chapter 9:: Why Are People in Ontario Hungry? (Maria Rio)
Chapter 10:: Bulldozing Indigenous Lands (Dayna Nadine Scott and Dania Ahmed)
Chapter 11:: Child Care When Convenient (Rachel Vickerson, Carolyn Ferns and Brooke Richardson)
Chapter 12:: Riding the “Gravy Train” (William Paul)
Chapter 13:: Locking in Unsustainable Development (Mark Winfield)
Chapter 14:: De-Democratizing Ontario (Tom McDowell)
Chapter 15:: Strong Mayors, Weak Cities (Carlo Fanelli and Ryan Targa)
Chapter 16:: We Are Stronger Together (Lily Xia)
Chapter 17:: Fighting Ford and Beyond (John Clarke)