Ford attacking democracy under cover of darkness

September 17, 2018

TORONTO — Green Party of Ontario Leader and MPP for Guelph, Mike Schreiner, issued the following statement on the midnight sitting of the legislature:

“This Premier has manufactured a crisis by meddling with elections and trampling on local democracy. The Conservatives are acting with impunity, trying to suspend people’s Charter rights under the cover of darkness while Ontarians are asleep.

The Conservatives are trying to clean up the mess they’ve made with Bill 31, but midnight sittings won’t fix the fact that the Toronto City Clerk has made it clear that a free and fair election in Toronto is in jeopardy. The Premier’s actions have caused this mess.

I am deeply concerned about the Premier’s lack of respect towards municipal government, the judicial system and the people of Toronto. I would gladly work emergency hours if the Legislature was being recalled to address serious problems that affect everyone in Ontario, such as hallway medicine, the mental health and addictions crisis, housing affordability, transit and the largest one-month job loss in a decade.

Instead, Premier Ford is playing political games. And the people of Ontario are paying for it.

The Premier is responsible for this mess and he needs to explain why is wasting so much time and money on his personal vendetta against Toronto instead of serving the people of Ontario.

I’m calling on PC caucus members to do the right thing: Put the constituents you serve before your leader’s personal political games.”

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