The horror of free child care and other political crimes
CHELSEA, QUE.—She’s done it again. Free child care for pre-schoolers in Ontario! This cynical ploy follows a series of recent outrages: free drugs for seniors, a staged increase in the minimum wage to $15 an hour, expanded mental-health services, the largest increase in hospital spending in a decade, $300-million more for special needs education. Where […]
Ford could be next Ontario premier, he just has to keep his mouth closed for three months
OTTAWA—Doug Ford could well be the next premier of Ontario. He just has to keep his mouth shut for three months in order to pave the way for a victory in June. That could be more difficult than it appears. Just last week, Ford predicted he would win the biggest majority in the history of […]
Ford campaign team has ties to Bernier, Leitch, went all in on digital ads
New Ontario PC leader Doug Ford upended the party establishment through a campaign run by a small group with ties to the Ford family, as well as several high-profile federal Conservatives. The members of Mr. Ford’s PC leadership race team are still working with Mr. Ford, said Kory Teneycke, who led digital marketing for the […]
Ford threatens federal plans
The prospect that Doug Ford could be in charge of Canada’s largest province by July 1 is bad news for the three main federal leaders. For Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, it could mean the window of opportunity to execute some of his government’s signature policy missions is inexorably closing. Without a high degree of provincial […]
Why Kathleen Wynne is likely to lose Ontario’s provincial election
TORONTO—There are all kinds of clichés about how and why governments lose. That they defeat themselves. That they die by degrees. That they become the very thing they had once pledged to always oppose. Mostly, though, governments forget the plot. All of governing—all of the politics—is telling a story, every single day. Some folks call […]
The important difference between Trump and Ford
TORONTO—Forget the comparisons to Donald Trump. Doug Ford, Ontario’s new Progressive Conservative leader, is very much a homegrown phenomenon. If he and his party win the June provincial election, it will be for homegrown reasons. Ontario is usually a Red Tory province. Voters tend to elect parties, whether they call themselves PC, Liberal or New […]
Championing the green economy: why values matter more than logic
Carbon tax—“unfair”, according to the new Ontario PC leader Doug Ford. His colleague, Tanya Granic Allen, a former candidate for the leadership, suggests that she has always known “right from my gut” that carbon taxes are “wrong.” Such knee-jerk, “gut” reactions to a strategy that behavioural economists know to be a rational way to curb […]
The councillor from Crazy Town has morphed into a premier-in-waiting
Premier Doug Ford. Say that three times fast. Then take a breath and let it sink in because it could happen. This candidate is not to be underestimated, regardless of his perceived shortcomings and the circus that often travels with Ford family campaigns. At the outset of the now-concluded—although you never know with this crowd—Progressive […]
Don’t underestimate Doug Ford
After a topsy-turvy sprint of an election campaign, former Toronto city councillor Doug Ford is now leader of the Ontario Progressive Conservative Party. And he may just become premier after Canada’s most-populous province goes to the polls in June, given the mood for change in Ontario after 15 years of Liberal rule. The gas plant […]
Ten reasons Doug Ford could win and did
TORONTO—When I quit the Olivia Chow Toronto mayoral campaign in 2014, guess who was the first person to call me? Doug Ford. “Warren, old buddy,” said Doug Ford, brother of former Toronto mayor, the late Rob Ford. “We’ve had our differences but I want you to chin up. Rob and I like you and respect you. […]
