Doug Ford’s safe start
Both literally and otherwise, Doug Ford enjoyed a moment in the sun on Friday after being sworn in as Ontario’s 26th premier. He earned it. And he did so by following an unlikely road. Ford wasn’t even interested in politics until he began knocking on doors for former Etobicoke mayor Doug Holyday in 1994.
When Holyday won, Ford thought “Boy, this is a lot easier than I expected.” From such a thought did Ford Nation grow.
When opportunity arose this year, Ford won the Progressive Conservative leadership in March to succeed Patrick Brown. In the June 7 election, he swept from office a Liberal government in power since 2003.
At his swearing-in, whether he still considered politics easy or not, Ford knew the satisfaction that comes from accomplishing what many said he couldn’t.
Few would deny him the pleasure of what five former holders of the office attending the ceremony agreed was likely to be the new premier’s sweetest day in politics.
The 20 MPPs sworn into cabinet along with Ford are, in large measure, sound, risk-averse choices, suggesting the new premier is well aware of the importance of a strong start and the potential of early stumbles to critically brand a government.
There are14 men in cabinet, along with seven women. There are 14 experienced Queen’s Park hands, some with tenure stretching back to the government of Mike Harris in the 1990s. There are seven freshly elected MPPs, including Ford himself, though most of these come with deep experience in politics.
The greatest responsibility was assigned to capable hands. Vic Fedeli, a veteran MPP and interim PC leader, was made finance minister. Ford’s leadership rival Christine Elliott, equally seasoned, takes on the massive challenges of the Health Ministry.
Caroline Mulroney as attorney general and Rod Phillips as environment minister add urbanity to a cabinet that, in many ways, resembled nothing so much at the swearing-in as a small-town Rotary Club.
In sensibility, the Ford government is probably best illustrated by first names. It is a cabinet of Dougs, Steves, Jims and Ernies, Lisas and Lauries.
It could hardly be a whiter shade of pale. And with so little representation from Toronto and cities across the province, it could hardly be more suburban, rural and hinterland in makeup. Still, it’s Ford’s PC party now. And it’s Ford’s Ontario. He arrives in office with few IOUs and little in the way of specified commitments. For his backers, it was a satisfying start. The fact there were virtually no leaks in advance of the swearing-in shows a discipline and tight central control, along with loyalty. Veteran MPPs owe Ford their new status. The newcomers owe him their election.
His biggest personal challenge will be adjusting to the role of ultimate insider, with no one but himself to blame for government failings.
His biggest political challenge will be squaring the circle of his carnival of promises.
Ford gave away little about his plans in his victory speech to Queen’s Park luminaries and a few hundred Ford Nation devotees on the legislature’s front lawn.
He acknowledged the magnitude of the challenges facing his government and said he was “intensely aware of the tremendous task that lies ahead.”
He urged all Ontarians — one of whom brandished a “Not My Premier” placard in the crowd — to give him a chance. “Those who did not vote for us, all I ask is for a chance to show you that life will be better.”
“We must put aside political differences,” he said. “Because this is about the people from every walk of life, from every part of Ontario, from every race, religion, colour and creed coming together.”
Ford filled the air with the breezy salesman’s hyperbole on which he has traded, promising decisions “that will make life easier, better and more affordable” even as they “alter the course of our great province and impact the future of our children.”
What that will turn out to mean remains anyone’s guess.
The 20 MPPs sworn into cabinet are, in large measure, sound, risk-averse choices