Ontario Premier Doug Ford is ruffling more and more feathers across the province due to his controversial activities. For Torontonians, the list of transgressions is long and includes:
- Greenbelt Scandal
- Closure of Ontario Science Centre
- Rising Homelessness
- Destruction of Ontario Place for luxury spa
- Cuts to Public Services
- Threat to Little Norway Park and Toronto Islands
On April 25, I attended a rally at the provincial legislature in Queen’s Park, one of 55 “Fight Ford” rallies held in municipalities across Ontario on the same day. I carried with me a satirical caricature I made of Doug Ford holding a gold “gravy plane” in his hand. I designed the effigy to respond in part to the government’s efforts to allow jets at Billy Bishop Airport and the controversial purchase and subsequent sale of a $28.9 million private government jet.
In addition to the aviation controversy, the Fight Ford protests centred on new retroactive Freedom of Information laws that protect Ford and his cabinet from public access to documents, anger over changes to the Ontario Student Assistance Program (OSAP), underfunding of public healthcare and safe consumption sites. Allegations of corruption over the Greenbelt Scandal and the Ontario Science Centre were also front and centre.
The Doug Ford effigy is made of duct tape, bamboo, wood, styrofoam and paper. Ford is wearing a blue suit, holding a gold gravy plane, with a bell attached. The concept of this work derives in part from ideas found in Arte Povera, a movement with its foundations in the 1960s where everyday materials were used to subvert power and deconstruct notions of institutionalized, commodified art.
Bringing theatre to street protest by carrying an effigy was intended to evoke the fool, a key dramatic character that performs the role of comedic truth teller in Shakespearean drama.
The jingle bell attached to the pole was designed to attract attention, alluding to “rough music” noisemakers historically used to shame people in public. The ringing bell sounds the alarm.