Queen’s Park run is still in the cards for Doug Ford

Councillor confident about prospect of spring election

Toronto Councillor Doug Ford is keeping one eye on Queen’s Park as he runs his brother’s new campaign for re-election as mayor.

The future of Doug Ford was on the mind of Rob Ford on Thursday as the embattled mayor — fresh from lots of television exposure during the holiday ice storm — filed his nomination papers for the civic election coming Oct. 27.

“He’s not running for council,” the mayor told Newstalk 1010. “I don’t want to say anything, but he could be the next MPP for Etobicoke North in a few months.”

Reached later, Doug Ford told the Star he’s “still thinking about it.”

“My priority is Rob and helping him become mayor again. I’m pretty confident there will be a provincial election in the spring, and we’ll see.”

Doug Ford has repeatedly expressed interest in running for the Progressive Conservatives in Etobicoke North, a riding that includes the home turf of Ford Nation and is now represented by veteran Liberal MPP Shafiq Qaadri, a doctor.

Despite the controversy surrounding Rob Ford and, to a lesser extent, his brother, PC Leader Tim Hudak has refused to rule out a Doug Ford candidacy.

Etobicoke North is one of just five ridings in Ontario where the Conservatives have not yet held a nomination meeting to select a candidate, leaving the door open for Doug Ford.

“There is a process to be followed,” said party spokesman Alan Sakach, adding no nomination papers have been filed by any potential candidates in Etobicoke North.

When the Rob Ford controversy was raging several weeks ago, Hudak, who could not be reached for comment Thursday, suggested he was waiting to see how events unfold.

“We don’t know when the election is going to be,” he said. “But look, a lot has happened in the last few weeks and I suspect a lot more is going to happen in the weeks ahead. We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it.”

Privately, some Conservative MPPs have said they don’t want Doug Ford to run for the party for fear of being tarnished by association with the controversial family. Rob Ford is an admitted crack cocaine user and is under police investigation for links to an accused drug dealer.

Hudak had urged Rob Ford to seek help for drug problems, saying the mayor “needs to get healthy” and agreed with Premier Kathleen Wynne when she said city council may need “new tools” to deal with the mayor before council took many powers away from him.

“The situation is unique. What would I do if I were in the premier’s chair? Ultimately, if the city says they legitimately cannot function then we do have an obligation at the provincial level within the powers that we have to ensure some clarity and stability,” Hudak said at the time. With files from Daniel Dale