Tim Harper
Easily defeats veteran Liberal MPP Qaadri
A study in contrasts: Doug Ford could be just the foil PM Trudeau needs,
The path back to power for the Progressive Conservatives began gg in Etobicoke North, as par- ty tt leader Doug Ford easily de- feated f veteran Liberal MPP Shafiq Qaadri on his way to becoming premier- elect.
Ford bested Qaadri by a wide margin as his Conservatives — whose ww last provincial victory was w in 1999 under Mike Harris — headed to a majority government after four consecutive losses to the Liberals.
“Together, we made history,” a smiling Ford told a crowd of cheering cc supporters at the To- ronto Congress Centre on Dixon Road. “We have taken back Ontario ... for the people,” he added, promising “a government that will respect your hard- earned tax dollars” and acknowledging his late brother,
former Toronto mayor Rob Ford. FF “We owe so much to Rob’s legacy.”
The campaign succeeded because it stuck to a tight message, according to one veteran Tory.
“I think Doug Ford was able, in a disciplined way, to talk about things people wanted to talk about,” said Conservative MP Tony TT Clement, who has served as a cabinet minister in both the federal and Ontario governments.
“He talked about high hydro rates, high gas prices, he talked about a affordability. He talked about a a real change in the direc- tion of Queen’s Park.”
Throughout the campaign, Ford’s FF stump line was, “Help is on the way,” with a 10 cent cut in taxes on a litre of gasoline, a 20 per cent income tax cut in a couple of years and $ 6 billion in unspecified government spending cuts — although he vowed no public sector jobs would be axed.
But the campaign wasn’t as smooth a ride as the election results suggest.
Ford’s precampaign lead in public opinion polls slipped steadily as he faced a series of scandals and snags as the New Democrats surged under Andrea Horwath, and Kathleen Wynne’s WW Liberals were relegat- ed to a distant third.
From his rule- breaking attendance at a $ 250- a- plate fundraiser in April to numerous candidate controversies — some involving police investigations gg — and a $ 16.5- million lawsuit filed by his sister- in- law aweek ago, the former Toronto city councillor rarely had what politicos call a “clean” day on the hustings.
Ford’s handlers kept him on a tight leash, rarely allowing more than five questions from journalists in once- daily briefings, and deciding which reporters would be given a chance. That was in marked contrast to the lengthy scrums Wynne WW and Horwath would do with reporters several times daily.
The lawsuit alleges Ford deprived Renata Ford, the widow of his brother Rob, and her two children of millions of dollars and a a life insurance policy while taking an “extravagant” salary even as the family business lost money.
Ford labelled the accusations — which have not be proven in court –“false and without merit” but his political rivals pounced, raising concerns about his business acumen and warning ww Ford family travails could distract Queen’s Park much mm as his brother’s addiction problems and erratic behaviour roiled Toronto city hall during Rob Ford’s term as mayor. The campaign began with Ford dumping Mississauga Centre candidate Tanya Granic Allen, AA his one- time rival for the party leadership, over homophobic and Islamophobic comments. He was also on the defensive for saying “I’m taking care of our own first” — which was ww perceived as anti- immi- grant gg — at a northern Ontario leaders’ debate.