In My Opinion: Strong local journalism is a key pillar of our democracy

By ALAN SHACKLETON

EDITOR, BEACH METRO COMMUNITY NEWS

I was asked last Friday morning what were my thoughts on the Ontario election the night before. The person who asked would have been amazed, I believe, by my ability to string curse words together into a coherent sentence. They’re also probably wishing they hadn’t asked in the first place.

But I will share the edited version which is I have no opinion on who won — it was never in any doubt Premier Doug Ford and his Progressive Conservative government was going to be re-elected to a majority government.

What had and still has me turning the walls blue is the complete and unnecessary waste of time and taxpayers’ money that this provincial election was. There was no need to call it as Ford already had a majority government with more than a year left on its mandate before we needed to go into another provincial election.

After all the time and money spent on this winter campaign, amid some of the highest snowfalls we’ve had in years in Toronto, the only thing that changed for the Ford government is that they won one more seat than they had before they called the election. Hardly seems worth it to me.

Yet, many are praising Ford for his brilliant strategy of calling this snap election and therefore extending his majority mandate through to 2029. I disagree, and see it as a cynical move to get ahead of the rocky political seas that are ahead.

All of which leads us to our democracy and the role that strong local journalism plays in it.

If you saw our Feb. 18 edition of Beach Metro Community News, you would have noted that we devoted much space and effort to providing voters with information on the candidates running in the ridings of Beaches-East York, Scarborough Southwest, and Toronto-Danforth. You will also note that from the stories and photos in our March 4 paper that we had reporters out on election night last Thursday covering the races in those ridings and getting interviews with those who will be your MPPs for the next four years.

That’s what a good community newspaper does. We have been doing that work since this paper first opened in March of 1972.

The first two pages of our March 4 edition are reminding our readers of the critical importance of good, independent local journalism.

It’s no joke when we say local journalism is under attack.

That attack is all part of the attempts to dismantle democracy in the free world and replace it with tyranny and dictatorships run by billionaires, organized criminals, and ideological zealots.

You need only look at what happened last Friday in the White House during the “meeting” with American President Donald Trump, his Vice-President JD Vance and President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy to know we are now in very dangerous times. That shocking incident leaves no doubt that Trump’s administration is in support of dictators and against democratic freedoms.

Now is the the time for Canadians, and everyone else in democratic countries who believe in freedom, to stand up and do the right thing in facing down the bullies in the White House and the tyrant in Russia.

As Canadians, we are often accused to being “too nice” but that politeness and willingness to listen and have sympathy for others should never be seen as weakness.

It’s exactly the opposite. It’s easy to be a bully, especially if you have economic or perceived political power over others, but it takes real courage to do what is right. And doing the right thing is a core Canadian value. We need to remember our history and not get sucked into the stupidity south of the border.

Canada fought for freedom in the First and Second World War, entering them both long before the United States joined. Fighting against fascism and evil was at the heart of the reasons for the Second World War and Canada willingingly and bravely took on that task.

Remember we are a strong, brave, true and free country. And we always have been.

Remembering that will be especially important over the coming years as we face challenges from the U.S. on trade tariffs, natural resources, absurd talk of annexation, and attempts to dismantle democracy in the free world. We have stood up to bullies before and we will do it again.

To show your Canadian pride, your values, and strength, we also provided a printed version of a Canadian flag in the centrespread of our March 4 paper. We encourage you to proudly display it on a window.

At Beach Metro Community News, we are here for you. As we celebrate our 54th birthday, we also ask for your support to help us continue to provide strong local journalism to our community. To support us, please go online to https://beachmetro.com/support-us