Budget cut a sign that Doug Ford's contempt for libraries persists - 2019-04-20
Budget cut a sign that Doug Ford's contempt for libraries persists April 20, 2019,
If I have a litmus test for politicians, it might be this: if they don't understand the value of public libraries, then I don't trust them. Because a person who doesn't understand public libraries doesn't understand community, and doesn't understand civilization. Libraries are pillars of both.
Why, you may ask, do I take the time to mention this now? Well, it seems the provincial budget has slashed the Ontario Library Service budget by 50 per cent, according to a report Thursday from CBC — an immediate cut "that would need to be absorbed into the current 2019-2020 fiscal year."
While this cut was unexpected and unheralded — I cannot recall any campaign promises pledging to fight Big Book or stick it to those fat-cat librarians — it's hard to say it's exactly surprising, coming from this premier. Doug Ford, when his brother was mayor of Toronto, made his pathological disregard for public repositories of knowledge well known.
