For the last 20 years I have ranked Mike Harris as Ontario’s worst premier — at least in the last 75 years and possibly ever.

I was out of the country during Bob Rae’s tenure as premier, years that many Ontarians argue were disastrous, although much of Rae’s troubles can be attributed to the fact he was sworn in as premier about 17 hours before the start of a deep global recession that hit Ontario hard.

Now, though, Doug Ford has changed my mind about Harris.

That’s because, in less than a year in office, Ford has clearly proven through actions and words that he warrants the title of “Ontario’s worst premier ever.”

While some may argue it’s way too soon to make such a definitive statement, sadly Ford, who is one of the least formally educated premiers we’ve ever had, demonstrates virtually every day why he’s worse than Harris.

As premiers, both Harris and Ford launched sweeping initiatives affecting everything from education to health, taxes, the environment, cities, welfare and much more that impacted every resident of the province.

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And throughout their terms both sparked massive outrage and protests from the lawns at Queen’s Park to remote villages. Indeed, Ford was even booed this week by hundreds of people at what normally would have been a friendly, politics-free event in Toronto for the Special Olympics Youth Games.

The big reason why I say Ford has surpassed Harris is that Ford has governed not with a cohesive plan, but rather through a mean-spirited, vindictive approach to leadership that includes blindsiding municipalities, schools and others with out-of-the-blue decisions that were never discussed and never properly researched.

As much as progressives disliked much of what Harris did while in office, at least he had a plan — the Common Sense Revolution calling for tax cuts and less government presence in a wide swath of areas — that he campaigned on in winning the 1995 election.

Voters knew what Harris was all about — and he stuck largely to his plan, regardless of how bad it was.

And it sure was bad, filled with tax cuts that hampered delivery of essential services, gutting of labour laws and rent controls, cutting money for schools and hospitals and amalgamating municipalities against their wishes.

Ford, on the other hand, is an erratic, seemingly angry politician who has introduced countless measures that cut services for the poorest and neediest while offering tax cuts for the rich.

Most of his biggest moves have come without any warning and little consultation — huge changes in the health-care system, easing environmental laws, cancelling French-language programs, cutting funds for schools, workplace safety, eHealth, health research and much more. He’s done all this without a whisper of protest from his intimidated cabinet.

Ford’s also done it while giving his buddies a slew of fat government jobs, including his failed bid to appoint family friend Ron Taverner as head of the OPP.

At the same time, there’s no doubt Ford is out to punish Toronto, which rejected him when he ran for mayor in 2014 and which he feels never accorded his late brother Rob the respect he deserved.

Why else would he unilaterally cut in half the size of Toronto city council in the midst of an election, slash provincial funding for public health at a higher rate than in other cities and decreasing money for children’s and paramedic services that are critical for a major city?

Meanwhile, Ford openly smears his critics, for example calling the Toronto District School Board, which says it is facing a $67-million shortfall because of changes in Ford’s funding of schools, “absolutely reckless,” and suggesting the Toronto Board of Health, which is also seeing huge cutbacks, is run by a bunch of “lefties.”

In Ford’s bewildering mind, such comments might seem really smart.

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But what he doesn’t understand is that the only thing worse than a “irresponsible leftie” is an “irresponsible right-winger.”

That’s because an “irresponsible leftie” will wind up hurting the rich and upper middle class; an “irresponsible right-winger” will wind up hurting the poor and working class.

Just three more years before the next election. Can Ontario endure that long with the worst premier ever?

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