Christmas carollers visited Doug Ford’s house to protest Bill 60
The premier did not strike the harp and join the chorus
Look out, Mariah Carey—some new Christmas classics have entered the charts.
With the holidays upon us, tenant advocacy groups in Toronto recently formed a choir of carollers outside the home of Premier Doug Ford, swapping out familiar festive lyrics for clever lines protesting Bill 60—“Wealthy Night” instead of “Silent Night,” “Go and get a job says our premier in a pear tree,” that kind of thing.
Related: Doug Ford told protesters to “go find a job”
To an audience of neighbours, police officers and any members of the Ford family who were home at the time, the group gathered to oppose the provincial government’s Fighting Delays, Building Faster Act. Though Ford walked back part of the act after first announcing it in October, critics say Bill 60 will severely impact renters’ rights. (Supporters argue that Bill 60 will incentivize building development at a time when the province urgently needs more housing.)
“Instead of peace on earth, we got rent hikes and evictions, courtesy of Ontario’s very own Grinch,” said an Instagram post shared by the York South–Weston Tenant Union, Climate Justice Toronto and the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now.
The post went on to show footage of an alleged police drone hovering above the group.
It would have been hospitable for the premier to open the door with a platter of KyKy’s Cookies for the singers. Where was his holiday spirit? We know the Fords have time to bake!
Related: A Scarborough family’s Christmas decorations were destroyed by masked vandals with hammers
Carly Lewis is a journalist whose work has appeared in the New York Times and the New York Times Magazine, Vanity Fair, Wired, Interview Magazine, Pitchfork, Elle, and Maclean’s, where she is a contributing editor. Her work has been recognized by the National Magazine Awards and the Digital Publishing Awards. She reports on city life, culture—including what people do online—politics, art and crime. She received the Dave Greber Freelance Writers Award for “The Murder of Ashley Wadsworth,” an investigative feature about a Canadian teenager who was killed by a man she met on social media, published by Maclean’s.
