Right Populism or Neoliberalism? Understanding Austerity In Doug Ford’s Ontario

Abstract

This paper outlines how right populism and neoliberalism can be regarded as ideologically co-constitutive in the context of Doug Ford’s election as Premier of the Province of Ontario. In the case of Ford, this article demonstrates that right populism and neoliberalism can be mapped by understanding how they are ultimately complementary to one another, even when right populism appears as reactionary to neoliberalism.  This is achieved through the performance of right populism and the enactment of neoliberalism co-existing at the point of both discourse and the material environment of legislation and the economy. Utilizing his political memoir (Ford Nation), the Conservative 2018 election platform, and the first two years of critical legislation passed by his government relating to de-democratization and disempowering labour and workers, this article shows that the socio-historical specificity of Ford’s ideological plan is rooted in austerity politics. While sharing rigid market fundamentalism with neoliberalism, Ford’s brand of right populism obscures the complexity of economic and democratic issues in Ontario, allowing a legislative agenda built around the continued neoliberalization of Ontario.