Looking relaxed and comfortable, perhaps sharing the hope of his audience that the worst of the pandemic is behind us, Premier Doug Ford addressed the combined Halton Region Chambers of Commerce this morning at the Burlington Convention Centre. I had the good fortune to be in the audience, seated next to Burlington Federal Conservative candidate Emily Brown.
While the audience doubtless skewed towards business concerns, the Premier was at pains to recognize the sacrifices and hard work of front-line workers during the pandemic, both in health care and the provision of essential services. It was clear his gratitude was shared by everyone there.
Pressed on the Province's preparedness for potential unexpected curve balls from the pandemic, Premier Ford highlighted investments that have been made during his party's term in power.
"We can't have a healthy economy without healthy people," he said.
To that end, the government touts the addition of 8600 health care workers and strong plans to improve health care delivery and reduce wait times dramatically. These include establishing a new medical school in Brampton to ensure that investments in physical facilities, such as hospitals and long-term care facilities, can be properly staffed.
New hospital facilities will deliver 3100 acute care beds and 3000 more ICU beds to ensure capacity should the system need to absorb another shock of the type we have lived through for the past two years, he said.
"Wouldn't it be great if you could go to school in Brampton, go to medical school in Brampton, and wind up practising medicine in a Brampton hospital?" enthused the Premier.
He said that $30 billion have been committed to hospitals across the Province, and 30,000 new long-term care beds will be added, citing figures of only 600 such beds provided under the previous government.
The Premier also emphasized his commitment to Lean Six Sigma processes, which he says the government is deploying to streamline processes across all ministries and in municipal governments.
"We built a long-term care facility in 11 months, from shovels in the ground to moving residents in. Why can't that happen in housing or commercial building?" he asked.
Ford says we have 1800 Lean Six Sigma blackbelts in the Ontario government. Mobilizing them across the government will create efficiencies, he claims.
"When government starts creating jobs, we are in deep trouble," he said, suggesting that Lean Six Sigma would mean better government services with lower overheads.
The private sector must create jobs, said the Premier. The government's role is to create an environment that fosters job creation.
Optimistic that the retreat of the pandemic will unleash all kinds of positive economic activity, in a kind of roaring twenties akin to what followed the Spanish Flu epidemic of 1918, the Premier promoted the reduction of investment barriers such as regulation that his government has implemented.
He credited these steps as the signals that have attracted dramatic increases in investment in the Province, notably $12 billion in the auto sector.
Cooperation between levels of government, regardless of party stripe, has been strong under his government, he claimed, noting that he would work with anyone if it would mean more prosperity for Ontario.
"The $5 billion that has been committed by Stellantis-LG to a battery plant in Windsor will have a huge positive effect. The job multiplier is 7-1. Windsor is also getting a new hospital." This investment by Stellantis and LG is the largest single investment in Canadian history, he said.
According to the Premier, supply chain issues will drive significant increases in domestic sourcing, which will mean more jobs.
"Look what happened with PPE in the pandemic. That revealed the cracks in the system. Within two months, the ingenuity of Ontario companies solved the problem, but it was a real insight, and we must never rely on anyone else again. There is now a new 3M plant in Brockville, for example, making PPE."
Despite his earlier reluctance to support the transition to green energy for transportation, opposition to carbon taxes and electric vehicle rebates, even, in the early days of his term, pulling out charging stations, the Premier is clearly all-in on electric vehicles now.
He described marshalling all the tools at his disposal to support positioning Ontario to lead in taking advantage of the massive shift just now gaining momentum away from fossil fuels to battery-powered technology.
"Thirty-three of the most critical minerals for electric vehicles are in Ontario, and we are working to collaborate with indigenous populations, who see opportunity to better the conditions of their people by accessing these resources," he said.
"Green vehicles can't be built with steel from coal-fired plants either, so we have invested heavily in Dofasco and Algoma to reduce the carbon impact of their steel mills."
"Everything is interconnected," said Ford, sounding very much like a French dirigiste economist promoting centres of excellence for technology.
It felt very much as though the Premier had had an epiphany. He evangelized how a strong tech sector, a strong mining sector, strong battery technology, and cleaner manufacturing needed to be coordinated to ensure Ontario profits from its advantages in the transition to electrified transportation.
Excited by the potential, his newfound enthusiasm was welcomed by the audience. Nothing was said about whether carbon taxes or electric vehicle rebates and charging networks had helped smooth the way for this opportunity.
All of this anticipated growth will exacerbate the already very challenging labour market, and Premier Ford emphasized his support for immigration. He spoke about the need to streamline the recognition of foreign credentials and the need for more housing.
"Ontario is short 338,000 housing units," he said, "and we have a million new residents coming in the next five years."
Oakville News readers will be aware of the recommendations of the Housing Affordability Task Force and the concerns it presents to our Official Plan, Livable Oakville.
On a positive note, the Premier pointed out that the province is focused on providing high-speed internet to every area, which he says will facilitate the trend of the dispersal of housing that has been accelerated by working from home during the pandemic.
"Some people can work from Huntsville now," he said, and this flexibility could lead to less pressure on traditional areas.
"We need more people. We need to cut immigration red tape, one security check, and that's it, easier credential recognition, and more housing."
"We need to keep taxes down and keep putting money in people's pockets," he emphasized, sending a message that prosperity would only increase under his government.
The audience warmly received all of this, clearly in agreement with the Premier that business prosperity leads to prosperity for everyone.
After the event, the Premier made himself available across the large room, in keeping with the commitment to accessibility that characterizes his approach to the job. As he pointed out early in the program, he still gives his cell phone number to everyone.
Next week, Stephen Del Duca, leader of the Liberal Party of Ontario, who is gunning for Mr. Ford's job in the election on June 2nd, will be addressing the Chambers.
We can expect to hear challenges to the Premier's claims, as hot issues like Highway 413, Ministerial Zoning Orders, Environmental concerns, municipal control over zoning and development, funding for public education and others are stark differences between the two men's approaches.