Although the election won’t officially be called for a few more days, the NDP and Progressive Conservatives recently got a head start on the campaign. Monday saw the release of the Ontario NDP platform while Thursday saw the Progressive Conservatives reveal their own platform, disguised as a budget.

Even though one comes from a left-wing opposition party and the other from a right-of-centre governing party, the two documents were not that different. Both represented gigantic funding commitments or to use the vernacular — both parties promised to spend like drunken sailors if they win on June 2.

But there was something else similar about the two documents. Once you worked your way through the shopping list of commitments, you couldn’t help but notice that both were totally lacking what George Bush senior called “the vision thing.”

There was no indication of either party’s thoughts on the future direction of the province, particularly as we emerge from the pandemic.

That’s not to say that both documents didn’t have a strong narrative.

If you read the NDP platform you will learn that Ontario is a very bad place to live — “broken” — according to the platform’s subtitle. Why? Because of years of underfunding and neglect by both the Conservatives and the Liberals. According to my count, it was a sentiment that was expressed over sixty times in the platform.

According to the NDP, there was another reason for Ontario’s vast woes — Doug Ford’s “buddies” — something they mention nine times. Who are these “buddies”? They appear to be shadowy, unscrupulous people who, when not hanging out with their friend Doug, spend their days ripping off ordinary Ontarians, destroying our environment and generally making life harder.

The solution to all our woes is simple. Elect the NDP and not only will they stop Doug Ford’s “buddies” (presumably the NDP don’t have any friends) but they will tax wealthy Ontarians and rich corporations to generate the money needed to throw at every problem.

The PCs' narrative was eerily similar — in a mirror image kind of way. Listening to the finance minister’s speech I learned that Ontario is a fantastic place to live. However, it wasn’t always that way. Ontario used to have lots and lots of problems, but they were all the fault of the opposition in general and the Liberals in particular. Problems associated with everything from housing to infrastructure through to long-term care were all created by the incompetence of those on the other side of the legislature.

The best way to ensure that Ontario remains a fantastic place is to re-elect Doug Ford who promises to never act like a Liberal — but will spend lots of money.

I hate to say it but neither narrative contains a compelling vision for Ontario.

Does it matter? Isn’t this simply politics as usual?

It may be, but these are not ordinary times. We have just been through one of the most historic periods in our province’s history.

Remember the message of the pandemic — we can never go back?

Remember those calls to transform our society for the better?

Remember “we are all in this together”?

Is it too much to think that our political parties might want to think about the lessons of the last two long years and outline a new direction for our province?

There is something else going on out there. We are a divided and angry nation. As someone recently said to me, “we are all in this together,” seems to have been replaced by “everybody for themselves”.

Our entire public discourse seems intent on pitting us against each other: the vaccinated vs. the unvaccinated; the masked vs. the unmasked; city folks vs. rural folks; homeowners vs. those unable to afford one; and most importantly, all of us against those not smart enough to share our political views.

These divisions are serious. We saw them play out during the truckers' convoy. We are seeing them at work in the federal Conservative leadership contest and they are threatening to drag down our nation.

Is it too much to ask our leaders to present a vision that has the potential to unite all of us instead of narratives intent on dividing us even further?

This is not a partisan rant. I don’t expect the Greens or the Liberals to present platforms significantly different from the NDP or Tories.

It is, however, more than a lament. As the Ontario campaign begins, we as citizens have a chance to shape the discussion. We can ignore the silliness that accompanies every election and instead demand that our candidates outline their vision for the future of a province that has emerged from COVID-19 beaten, bruised, and divided. A province that although far from the “broken” shell outlined by the NDP, is not the paradise described by the PCs.

John Milloy is a former MPP and Ontario Liberal cabinet minister currently serving as the director of the Centre for Public Ethics and assistant professor of public ethics at Martin Luther University College, and the inaugural practitioner in residence in Wilfrid Laurier University’s Political Science department. He is also a lecturer in the University of Waterloo’s master of public service program. John can be reached at jmilloy@luther.wlu.ca or follow him on Twitter @John_Milloy.

Believe it or not, the NDP platform and the Ford budget are not that different

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