Recently my Harvard classmate Peter Sage, who blogs in Oregon and occasionally reposts some of my blogs, did a post with an AI-generated folk song criticizing the 73 year-old Republican member of Congress for his district. I took Peter’s lead and went to Chat GPT for a protest song about Doug Ford. Ford is no stranger to the use of campaign songs, as his 2022 campaign had one (“Get it Done, Ontario.”)

ChatGPT tends to be generic, so I asked it for verses about corruption, the environment, and disregard for democracy. To exemplify the first, I asked it to mention the Greenbelt; the second, Highway 413 and the fantasy tunnel; the third limiting debate in the Legislature and the notwithstanding clause. Here is what I got. I’m posting it as an inspiration to the Opposition parties to take advantage of inexpensive tools that are readily available to use in the next campaign, whenever Ford calls it. On the other hand, we know that the Ford Government is using public money for political ads, so why shouldn’t the opposition parties record and release their songs now?

“Clear the Road, Ontario”

Folk protest song
Key: G · Slow–medium tempo

Verse 1 – Corruption (Greenbelt / Social Development Fund)
(G) They said the Greenbelt’s sacred, said it’s land we’d always save
(C) Then the lines were moved in secret for the friends who misbehave
(G) Fields sold off to insiders before the public knew the plan
(D) Funny how the profit followed every well-connected hand
(G) And the money meant for housing, for the poor and left behind
(C) Found its way to donors’ pockets, not the people it was signed
(D) When the books won’t face the daylight, you know something’s being bent

Chorus
(G) So clear the road, Ontario,
(C) the warning signs are red
(G) A province isn’t something
(D) you can sell and then forget
(G) This land, this trust, this future
(C) were never his to own
(G) Come election day, we take them back
(D) and send him home

Verse 2 – Environment (Highway 413 / 401 tunnel)
*(G) They call it “getting moving,” pour the concrete nice and fast
(C) Highway Four-One-Three cuts through the farmland of our past
(G) More lanes don’t end congestion, that’s a lesson we ignore
(D) You just get more cars lined up than you ever had before
(G) Then a tunnel under highways, like the answer’s buried deep
(C) Billions for a fantasy while green space’s put to sleep
(D) You don’t fight climate crisis with a shovel and a road

Chorus
(G) So clear the road, Ontario,
(C) the earth is trying to speak
(G) You can’t outrun the future
(D) on a promise that’s too cheap
(G) We need clean air and clean water
(C) not another traffic jam
(G) You don’t save tomorrow
(D) with yesterday’s plan

Verse 3 – Democracy (Rushed debate / Notwithstanding Clause)
*(G) They rushed the bills through Queen’s Park, said “there’s no time to wait”
(C) Shortened debate, closed the doors, rewrote the rules of the state
(G) When the courts pushed back and asked them to explain
(D) They reached for the notwithstanding clause again
(G) Rights aren’t obstacles to power, they’re the reason power’s lent
(C) You don’t silence disagreement ‘cause you find it inconvenient
(D) Democracy ain’t something you suspend when it’s in the way

Bridge
(Em) You don’t need a law degree
(C) to know when lines are crossed
(G) When speed replaces listening
(D) the public pays the cost

Final Chorus
(G) So clear the road, Ontario,
(C) the choice is ours to make
(G) The ballot is a quiet thing
(D) but it’s strong enough to shake
(G) If you want open government,
(C) a future you can trust
(G) Stand up, vote him out —
(D) this province belongs to us

Outro
(G) The land remembers what we do
(C) long after speeches fade
(G) Let’s choose care over shortcuts
(D) when we mark that name