Over the past two months I have been pleasantly surprised by the response to the COVID-19 scourge by Premier Doug Ford and the Conservative government of Ontario. After a lot of blundering about in the china shop Ford had the wisdom to close nearly all shops and public places (including churches) and borders as well. Recently there have been a couple of speed wobbles as the premier took a "do as I say, not as I do" approach and the tragedy of nursing home deaths may have been mitigated by adequate inspection and funding. Still, a B+ is a strong grade when everyone is essentially making up their responses to a crisis day by day.
There are reminders that prior to the Ford government was Regressive Conservative when it came to environmental issues, willfully cancelling green energy projects despite huge costs to taxpayers for cancelled projects. You may not have noticed that the government has also relaxed environmental regulations in a number of areas, a goofy and destructive choice which is supposedly helping polluting industries because of the pandemic-induced economic crisis. Dirty air and water is a bad idea whether we're at work or at home.
Yesterday the ballyhoo announcement was about widening Canada's busiest highway, the 401, to the east of Toronto, near Cambridge. Supposedly ten lanes will move people faster and safer than six. My immediate comment to Ruth, my wife, is that it will put more cars on the road and tempt people to move farther from already congested Toronto so they can commute. Yet there seems to be no money to improve public transit and extend the GO train line into that area. Dumb and dumber.
Sure enough, many others are voicing the same concerns, including those who are experts on transportation. One quoted the late urban activist Jane Jacobs who once said that this sort of decision is like loosening your belt to lose weight. It just doesn't work that way!
It may seem like a stretch to say that the decision to widen a multi-lane highway is a spiritual matter, but I figure it is. We're all praying that the pandemic will abate and that some semblance of "normal" will resume. But we may have to accept that it will be a "new normal" in virtually every aspect of life.
While we can be grateful for positive government action in response to a crisis we also need strong leadership to implement change for the sake of a healthier society for all. As a Christian I'm praying for this as well, but I also have the privilege of exercising my right to vote when the time comes.
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