No substance behind message, but don’t count Ford out: experts
TORONTO — Doug Ford’s bold promises of government belttightening during the last Progressive Conservative leadership debate may win over some of the party’s grassroots, but experts and critics say there isn’t much substance behind his populist message.
Ford, one of four candidates running to succeed Patrick Brown at the helm of the province’s official Opposition, has repeatedly touted his experience as a business owner and former Toronto city councillor in painting himself as the only one equipped to curb reckless spending at Queen’s Park. In the last of two televised debates before the party selects its new leader, he vowed to free up billions of dollars by eliminating waste, which he said he achieved at city hall.
Ford, along with his leadership rivals Christine Elliott, Caroline Mulroney and Tanya Granic Allen, have struggled to explain exactly how they will replace an estimated $4.3 billion in revenue that would have come from the carbon tax they have all pledged to axe.
“I don’t believe we need to cut any jobs, I don’t believe in taking food off people’s table,” he clarified in a news conference after the debate Wednesday. “We’re going to find efficiencies ... and that’s how we’re going to save the money, just like we did in the City of Toronto.”
The Liberals were quick to scoff at his promise Thursday, calling it a sign that Forddoesn’t understand how government works.
“It’s obvious to me that he does not know what he’s talking about. Those are big big numbers, they mean real cuts to services that Ontarians rely on,” said Liberal legislator Deb Matthews.
Experts, meanwhile, say Ford’s achievements during his single term on city council fall dramatically short of his claims, and while his everyman approach may draw staunch support from the so-called Ford Nation, it’s unclear how that would play out in a general election.
Ford may have been a “force behind the throne” during his brother’s tenure as mayor, but even so, the pair “accomplished very little,” said Nelson Wiseman, a political science professor at the University of Toronto.
“Ford is not familiar with the issues, he just has this mantra, ‘I’m going to save money,’ but give us some specifics,” he said. “He’s full of hot air, but that doesn’t mean he won’t get elected.”
Voting begins Friday and the winner will be announced March 10.