Premier-designate Doug Ford names his transition team

Thestar.com
June 8, 2018
Robert Benzie

The man who ran on the campaign slogan “for the people” is moving to broaden his appeal after a resounding election victory that returned the Progressive Conservatives to power in Ontario after 15 years in opposition.

Reaching out to the 60 per cent of voters who didn’t support the party he has led for just three months, Doug Ford said Friday, “I intend to lead a government for all the people.”

He will be sworn in as premier June 29, just in time for the Canada Day long weekend.

“It’s very humbling," Ford added, striking a more premier-like tone at his first news conference since the dramatic election that also saw the NDP double its seat count, the governing Liberals collapse and the Green Party win a toehold.

The businessman and former Toronto city councillor met with Lieutenant-Governor Elizabeth Dowdeswell in the early afternoon and was asked to form a government after defeated Liberal premier Kathleen Wynne submitted her resignation.

“We intend to act fast,” the premier-designate told reporters at the Toronto Congress Centre, announcing a transition team that includes former federal and Ontario cabinet minister John Baird.

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“The people out there have given me a very clear mandate to govern,” said Ford, whose party holds 76 seats in the 124-seat legislature, while the NDP has 40, the Liberals seven, and the Greens have one.

Wynne, who has been premier since 2013, pledged her co-operation in the handover of power during a lengthy news conference where she was at times wistful and emotional.

“I will work to make that transition as smooth as possible,” she said, advising Ford to take care in a gruelling job of meetings, complicated policy decisions, and travel with “way too much sitting.”

“It is really important to be healthy and to look after yourself ... find time to look after yourself physically.”

Ontario’s first female premier said she is anxious to get her portrait painted quickly so it can hang outside the second-floor office Ford will occupy for the many school tours in the historic building to see, along with paintings of other premiers.

“It is not out of ego ... I want them to see a woman,” she told reporters, her voice cracking briefly. “I hope it’s not too long before we have another woman as premier. I hope it’s not another 150 years. It would be better if it weren’t.”

Ford, 53, did not say how soon Ontarians can expect action on his campaign pledges, such as a 10-cent-a-litre cut in gasoline taxes, but vowed they will be fulfilled.

“I always keep my promises,” said Ford. “We aren’t going to flip-flop.”

He added one caveat, however: “First of all, we have to look at the books.”

Ford announced his campaign chair Dean French, a business executive, will be his chief of staff and that veteran political consultant Chris Froggatt, who served in the Harper government, would chair the transition team.

“Now the real work begins,” said Ford, who credited Wynne for being “gracious” in defeat.

Also on his transition team are former PC president Rueben Devlin, a doctor who was CEO of Humber River Hospital for 17 years; Simone Daniels, who works at Ford’s firm, Deco Labels and Tags; and PC stalwart Mike Coates.

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The new cabinet will be sworn in on June 29. Expected to join the executive council are Christine Elliott, Caroline Mulroney, Rod Phillips, Peter Bethlenfalvy, Lisa MacLeod, John Yakabuski, and Steve Peters, among others.

NDP Leader Andrea Horwath, who becomes official Opposition leader, said the election is a “new beginning” for her party, which will be on its toes, given concerns of millions of voters about Ford’s promised $6 billion in unspecified government spending cuts.

“We have a big job ahead of us. The people of Ontario have asked us to hold Doug Ford accountable for every decision that he makes,” she said.

“When I think about the cuts that are coming, what I know is people don’t want their health care system cut …. They want their schools fixed for their kids,” Horwath added.
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“Now it’s a guessing game to see what exactly his priorities are going to be.”

Wynne stepped down as Liberal leader after Thursday night’s drubbing, but will stay on as the MPP for Don Valley West while the party selects an interim leader.

“It’s going to be different,” said Wynne, who evaded a question on whether she would serve a full four-year term for her constituents. “They can count on me to represent them at Queen’s Park,” she said.

Wynne also defended her strategy in the waning days of the campaign, of asking voters to consider voting for Liberals in a bid to hold Ford or Horwath to a minority government without a “blank cheque.”

“We have seven seats in the Legislature,” she said. “Those seats would not have made a difference to the NDP.”