Tories can’t hide Ford from media

There’s more than a bit of hyperbole from Liberals, NDP and media critics about the decision by the Doug Ford brain trust to stop the usual practice of providing a media bus to follow the candidate around the province during the election campaign.

It’s hardly an assault on democracy or the free press. Journalists will still cover Ford. Their employers have always paid a lot for that, and those that can afford it will do so again.

But even though the incident is overblown, it does put a dent in the conservative armour. The problem isn’t so much that they did it, it’s that they haven’t offered a plausible explanation.

It’s not like the media rode for free — it often costs media companies $6,000 or more for a seat. Chances are there’s a decent markup in that price, which probably made the media bus a profit centre if anything.

So in the absence of a credible explanation, as usual, speculation fills the vacuum.

The predominant theory? Tory organizers know Ford is a loose cannon who could sink their ship, so they want to limit his exposure. They want to control the media environment themselves to mitigate that risk and ensure some off-the-cuff fumble doesn’t derail their considerable momentum.

If that sounds familiar, it is, because a similar philosophy drove the Trump campaign. That doesn’t flatter the Ford folks, who dislike all the Trump comparisons. But they’ve handed critics this new one.

Asked about the controversy, the candidate said he finds the criticism “ironic” and that “the only person that should be running from the media is the premier ...” Problem is, Mr. Ford, the Wynne campaign will have a media bus, and yours won’t. So who’s running?