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Dear Litigious Doug:

I have been highly critical of your actions as Premier of Ontario. But it occurs to me that I have been delinquent in giving credit where credit is due. You have set a new high water mark for the number of court battles waged singlehandedly keeping the courts in business.

The list of your government’s court cases – a dozen or more – is eye-opening and I venture to say unprecedented. A few examples of these battles starting with ones you have lost:

LOST Bill 124: Public Sector Wage Cap

The province’s highest courts declared this law, which capped salary increases for broader public sector workers, to be unconstitutional. You were forced to repeal the law. Justice 1: Ford :0

LOST Phone Logs and Transparency

You were pressured to disclose records from your personal device made regarding the controversial Greenbelt land development. You took the matter to court block release of the records but lost.

You found a way around that ruling by changing the Freedom of Information laws. Of course, those changes are going to be challenged in court as well. Good luck with that one. Justice 2: Ford: 0

LOST Ministerial Zoning Orders

In Bill 197, the COVID-19 Economic Recovery Act, you tried to sneak through changes to rules relating to Ministerial Zoning Orders to fast-track land development projects. The courts ruled that you violated the Environmental Bill of Rights which requires you to consult with Ontarians before making such changes. Justice 3: Ford: 0

LOST Carbon Pricing

You campaigned on a promise to fight the federal Liberal’s carbon pricing program and budgeted $30 million in taxpayer funds for the court battle. You lost this battle at every judicial level. The Supreme Court brought a definitive end to the legal challenges. Justice 4: Ford: 0

LOST Cabinet Mandate Letters

You have been waging a three-year battle to keep secret your mandate letters to cabinet ministers. The Ontario Information and Privacy Commissioner ordered your government to release the documents. You appealed to Ontario’s Divisional Court to overturn the decision but lost that case too.

Still undaunted, you took the matter to the Ontario Court of Appeal. The judges have not yet rendered their decision but they have not been inclined to support anything you want to do. Justice 5: Ford: 0

Well, it seems I have run out of space before I get to the few court cases you have won. Sorry about that. I was only able to reference less than half of the cases you have lost. How much taxpayer money went down the drain fighting those losing battles? Oh, I forgot. You do not disclose that kind of thing.

The verdict that really matters is in. The legacy of expensive legal battles lost has become an anchor dragging you down. Enjoy what time you have left because that anchor will ensure you will never be elected again.

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