Pattern
Underfund a public service, cite resulting problems as evidence of dysfunction, then propose privatization or cuts as the solution.
Cumulative Documented Cost
Pattern Sequence
Bill 124 caps nurse wages at 1% (2019)
Nursing workforce hollowed out, 33,000 shortfall projected (FAO)
Government cites ER closures as evidence of "system strain"
Bill 60 approves 57 private clinics at premium rates (2023)
Documentation
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The Ford government announced that beginning fall 2026, provincial OSAP grants will be capped at 25% of aid — down from up to 85% — with the remaining 75% issued as repayable loans. Students at private career colleges lose grant eligibility entirely. Combined with lifting a seven-year tuition freeze (allowing 2% annual increases), the changes dramatically increase student debt burdens. A student who previously received $8,500 in grants on $10,000 of aid will now receive just $2,500 in grants and $7,500 in loans.
Legislation capping public sector wage increases at 1% annually for three years, later struck down as unconstitutional by the courts.
Ontario faces a shortage of approximately 25,000 nurses, with emergency departments overwhelmed and over 2,000 patients daily waiting on stretchers.
Systemic failures in long-term care homes led to thousands of deaths during COVID-19, with promised reforms remaining largely unimplemented.
Chronic understaffing in long-term care homes exacerbated by wage caps and for-profit expansion, with military reports documenting horrific care deficiencies during COVID-19.
The Ford government slashed $133 million (30%) from Legal Aid Ontario's budget in April 2019, forcing clinic closures and eliminating refugee services, before partially backtracking eight months later under public pressure.
Ontario spends 10 cents per student per day on school food — the lowest in Canada and a quarter of the national median. Despite a $108.5M federal deal, Ford's government hasn't increased its own core investment in a decade, leaving 2 million+ students underserved.
Over 1 million unique Ontarians used a food bank in 2024-25 — a 165% increase since Ford took office. Ontario Works has been frozen at $733/month since 2018 despite 23%+ inflation, pushing record numbers to food banks the province doesn't adequately fund.
Disability support rates frozen and cut despite rising cost of living.
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