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 2018, this book showcases the politics of dismantling a province.

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.

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Bryan Evans is Associate Professor in the Department of Politics and Public Administration at Ryerson University. In addition to a PhD in Political Science from York University, he holds a Bachelor of Arts from Laurentian University and a Master of Arts from York University . His doctoral dissertation, defended in January 2008 at York University, explores the links between managerialism, neoliberalism and the restructuring of the Ontario public sector. His advisor, Gregory Albo, is an internationally respected Marxist analyst.

His teaching and research interests focus on public sector restructuring, public policy and public management as well as the politics of labour and work Currently he is a member of a university and community based team investigating Ontario ‘s workers’ compensation system. His publications reflect this research agenda and most notably, Shrinking the State , co-authored with Dr. John Shields , is regarded as a path-breaking contribution toward a critical understanding of the new public management and public sector restructuring.

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“This powerful volume sets out how Doug Ford is dismantling Ontario even more zealously and recklessly than Mike Harris did. Against the People tells an infuriating tale of foolish privatizations and chronic underfunding of health care, education, and so many other things that made Ontario a good place to live—all for the benefit of a wealthy elite.”

Linda McQuaig, journalist and the author of The Sport and Prey of Capitalists: How the Rich Are Stealing Canada’s Public Wealth

“This timely book goes well beyond a progressive issue by issue critique of the Ford government. The authors analyze the distinctive nature of the populist right in Ontario, and the fundamental threat it poses to working class politics.”

Andrew Jackson, former director of Social and Economic Policy, Canadian Labour Congress

“Is Doug Ford’s bumbling political incoherence his secret weapon? This angry, persuasive book highlights how he’s built a uniquely effective—and Canadian—version of rightwing populism.”

Rick Salutin, author and journalist

“Ontario’s is the most under-resourced healthcare system in Canada: Understaffing. Fewer hospital beds per capita than any other province. Repeated and escalating crises in long term care. Unprecedented numbers of emergency room closures. Ongoing exploitation of the health care workforce. Unsustainable workloads. Harassment or firing of those who speak out. This book allows a full appreciation of exactly how, despite its duty to all Ontario citizens, the Ford government is Getting it Done for only a select few. It is required reading both to remind Ontarians of the greed, incompetence and undeserved privilege of our government, and to outline how we might work together to build back a better Ontario, for All the People.”

Dr. Nancy Olivieri, Senior Scientist at Toronto General Hospital, and Professor of Pediatrics, Medicine, and Public Health Sciences, University of Toronto

“A powerful and insightful polemic on Doug Ford’s six years in government. It is a must-read road map for the left in Canada in understanding working class conservatism and its appeal in the blue-collar communities of Oshawa, Hamilton, Timmins, and Sudbury.”

Sid Ryan, former president, CUPE Ontario

“Doug Ford is one of the most effective right-wing populist leaders in the country, blurring the nature of his political agenda with a folksy style and unexpected flexibility. This book shines crucial light on the impact of the Ford rule in every aspect of society. Vital reading for anyone involved in the struggle for social justice in Ontario.”

John Cartwright, Past President, Toronto and York Region Labour Council