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As the province sinks deeper into debt, its credit rating is getting worse — meaning we will have to pay higher interest on government debt

So far, the Ford government has taken only small steps to cut spending, but every move is met with a dramatic reaction from the opposition parties and public sector unions.

The latest example is a plan to cut $25 million from a $425-million fund used for a grab bag of education programs that don’t fit the cookie-cutter provincial financing model. Last year, the Kathleen Wynne government budgeted $377 million for these things, and overspent that by $10 million. Though the new government is spending more than its predecessor, former premier Wynne said the spending reduction was “reckless and irrational,” and would “put students at risk.” Not to be outdone, NDP leader Andrea Horwath called the changes “callous and shocking.”

Photo by Nathan Denette/The Canadian Press

This is typical of the way things have gone in the legislature since Ford took power. Civility and rationality have headed for the door and left rancour and vituperation behind. Question period is like a hockey game where a bench-clearing brawl starts when the puck drops and doesn’t end until the final buzzer.

The public, and probably the politicians, have had enough of that. It’s time for a Christmas truce, where all parties can step back and figure out a better way to proceed. Soldiers did it in the First World War. Surely politicians can do it, too.

Question period is like a hockey game where a bench-clearing brawl starts when the puck drops and doesn’t end until the final buzzer

It would be a welcome act of statesmanship for Ford to reach out to the leaders of the other three parties and invite them to meet, just four people in the room, and talk about what can be done about the deficit.