These ↑
Toronto, the GTA, the Province and the nation as a whole has a substantive "Hoser", "redneck", proud-to-be, in-yo-face, belligerently ass-holish population. And they can't be discounted. They vote, mostly. The 'Just Society', Pearsonian, Blue-Helmet, Peacekeeper Lovin' populace obviously still roams the land in great numbers, but they're getting slaughtered in the Message Delivery dep't. It often seems Advertisement trumps Government. The Fords truly get this, love it, spread it.
So, that smugness has to go. We have to wake up, acknowledge The Fordian Knot amongst us and figure out how to counter their - let's face it - effective sloganeering, sound-bite nonsense with more effective counter-comms. Or that populist, reactionary bent will continue to destroy the policulture, burn the furniture and piss on everything. Just because it's 'catchy'.