Ford says he'll put family label firm in blind trust
The city of Toronto’s integrity commissioner made herself clear: Doug Ford had improperly wielded his influence as a city councillor to benefit two companies that were customers of the Ford family business.
He even accepted a gift — dinner and sports tickets — after helping one of those firms, she noted. A little over a year later, Ford is now leader of the Ontario Progressive Conservatives, and said Tuesday he will address such issues by putting his stake in Deco Labels and Tags in a trust.
It’s unclear, however, what form the trust would take, while that almost-forgotten city-hall ruling highlights the potential perils of mixing politics and a thriving business. With the June 7 election looming, some critics are worried. The city case “was a blatant conflict of interest,” charged Duff Conacher, co-founder of the group Democracy Watch, and one of the complainants. “It’s a very serious violation, and raises big questions about whether Doug Ford understands the difference between government and his family business, and that government money is supposed to be used in the public interest.”
Ford’s spokeswoman did not respond to a question about the city conflict-of-interest allegations. But at the time, Ford told the integrity watchdog he was simply doing his job as a councillor by helping local companies navigate city hall, while obtaining no personal or corporate benefit himself.
Still, his current situation is unique in recent Ontario political history.
If elected premier, as polls currently suggest will happen, Ford would be the province’s first government leader in decades to have just headed a successful company, a fact he often touts as a political asset.
Ford has no seat in the legislature yet. But the province’s Integrity Act does require that party leaders disclose their assets, sources of income and other financial information within 60 days of taking over the post, said Cathryn Motherwell, director of the Ontario integrity commissioner’s office.
Only if Ford becomes part of the provincial cabinet would he be required to do more, such as sell his business holdings or put them in a trust that complies with the act, she said.
The PC leader suggested Tuesday he would not wait for that to happen.
“I’m going to put it in a trust,” Ford told reporters about Deco Labels, without elaborating. “I plan on sitting down with the integrity commissioner over the next couple of days.” Conacher said that would achieve little, arguing that blind trusts are a “charade,” and that the only way to ensure there is no conflict is for politicians to sell their corporate assets.
Ford was a city councillor from 2010 to 2014, paralleling his brother Rob’s tumultuous term as Toronto mayor.
It was not until 2016, though, that integrity commissioner Valerie Jepson issued her report on complaints lodged against Doug Ford over his dealings with two regular Deco Labels clients. One was R.R. Donnelly, a printing company that outsourced work to the Ford firm. At a business meeting in 2011, the newly elected councillor suggested he could help Donnelly try to win work from the city, Jepson reported. He arranged a meeting with the mayor and the city’s procurement chief, which led to further meetings. Donnelly never did obtain any contracts, though, and Jepson could find no evidence Deco ended up getting more of its business.
The other company was Apollo Health and Beauty Care, which Ford helped connect with city officials to obtain grants, building permits and a street sign for its new plant in the city. Jepson received no information from either Ford or Apollo on the value of business between them, and whether it went up. But the Fords did accept an offer of dinner and box seats at the Rogers Cup tennis tournament as thanks for their help.
In both cases, the councillor “wore two hats” and failed to properly separate business from his role as a public servant, Jepson said. “It was an improper use of Councillor Ford’s authority as a member of council,” she said.
Ray Fredette, a former teachers’ union employee and another complainant in the case, predicted Tuesday it will be “four years of having to monitor him very closely” if Ford becomes premier.