Written by: Gene Cole, Opinions Editor
On February 20, 2019, Ontario Premier Doug Ford suspended MPP Randy Hillier from his Tory caucus. This was in response to his behaviour while answering questions from parents of children with autism at Queen’s Park regarding changes to Ontario’s Autism Plan (OAP), which he ended by saying “yada yada yada.” Following his suspension, and an apology to the parents by Ford for Hillier’s behaviour, Hillier tried to explain he directed the phrase towards NDP MPP Monique Taylor, who he accused of taking advantage of these parents. But it doesn’t change how dismissive and offensive it came across to the parents.
Something this informal amidst such a serious issue is nothing short of embarrassing and disappointing to see in a Canadian government when handling concerned Canadian parents. The changes to the OAP to spread funding to more families, but many parents are concerned because they seems unlikely to solve the problems with the past OAP, namely decreasing the waitlist for families to receive financial assistance to seek effective therapy for their children. Those parents at Queen’s Park that day had valid and serious concern for the care of their family, and deserved a little more formality than “yada yada yada.”
This isn’t to say politicians need to be exclusively robotic and official, but it shouldn’t be this difficult to read the room. In America, senator Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has gained a lot of popularity for having a more blunt and approachable tone in her political career, recently even starting a serious speech in Congress about political corruption with “let’s play a game.”
The difference between her and Hillier is that Hillier didn’t take caution or consideration with how he was speaking, to ensure it was a space where something would be welcome and fine to use less formal tone and language. Instead, by using a phrase like “yada yada yada” to concerned parents, he belittles a serious issue in a way that someone with political authority and power should rarely — if ever — be doing.
