Ontario will champion a united Canada: Premier Doug Ford

Torontosun.com
October 25, 2019
Antonella Artuso

Ontario needs to “step up” and help heal a country fractured after a federal election campaign, Premier Doug Ford says.

“I’ve never seen the country this divided,” Ford said in a one-on-one interview Thursday with the Toronto Sun. “I think it’s time that Ontario steps up and unites this country. We’re so much stronger when we’re united.”

Ford said he gets along well with several other premiers, including those in Alberta and Quebec, and strongly believes that the provinces should be competing against the world, not each other.

Ontario does well in a strong Canada, and Canada does well with a strong Ontario, he said.

“I understand their concerns out west; they’re putting $20 billion into the federal government’s pockets and they’re frustrated,” he said. “(Albertans are) upset; they’re really upset, actually.”

The same is true for folks he spoke to in Saskatchewan, he Ford.

One of the issues dividing some provinces and the federal government is carbon taxes.

The federal government’s lead voice in favour of carbon taxes, Liberal MP Catherine McKenna, found the windows of her constituency office spray-painted with a vulgar, sexist message Thursday.

Ford said he continues to oppose carbon taxes, believes that they put the province at an international economic disadvantage, but called for political points of views to be expressed peacefully.

“That’s totally unacceptable what they spray-painted,” he said. “I don’t care what political stripe you are.”

His own constituency office was occupied by protesters recently, terrifying his staff, he said.

Ford and his government head back to the legislature Monday for the first time since June.

Many have suggested that Ford was keeping out of the public eye for fear of hurting Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer’s chances of winning Monday’s federal election.

Andrew Scheer is congratulated by Ontario Premier Doug Ford at the Ontario PC Convention 2018 at the Toronto Congress Centre on Saturday, November 17, 2018. (Jack Boland/Toronto Sun)

Ford said he told Scheer at the start of the campaign that he hoped the Conservative leader won but he was staying out of it, focusing on pressing provincial matters.

Asked if he minded that his name kept popping up in the campaign -- Prime Minister Justin Trudeau repeatedly told Canadians they could expect Ford-like cuts from Scheer -- the premier said it didn’t bother him.

However, in a phone call with Trudeau the day after the election, he touched on the topic, Ford said.

“I told the prime minister that ‘enough of the politicking now, people expect us to work together and make sure that we build on infrastructure and other areas,’” Ford said.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau meets with Ontario Premier Doug Ford in Montreal on Dec. 6, 2018. (The Canadian Press)

All the parties received a letter during the legislative recess from Speaker Ted Arnott calling for more decorum in Ontario’s legislature.

“We’re going to tone it down a little bit,” Ford said. “It doesn’t mean we won’t get passionate and there might be a few (standing ovations) on both sides, (but) we’re going to have to tone it down a bit.”

-- You promised a 12% cut in hydro bills, so why are they going up?

“Nothing ticks me off more than when I hear that, We’re going to target that 12%. If there was one file that is probably the worst file we inherited, it’s probably the energy file. But we’re going to hit that 12%. That’s going to take a little bit of time, maybe over the next year or two, but we’ll make sure before the election we find real savings on the hydro.”

-- You ran as a law-and-order premier, so what more can you do about gun crime?

“Number one, stop the guns coming across the border. I’m a big supporter of our border patrol. They’re saying they need more resources. If they’re given more resources, they’re going to put a big dent in the guns,  We need judicial reform and making sure when these criminals are out there and they’re shooting up our streets, that they don’t get out on bail two days later and basically laugh at the system and laugh at all of us. We have to make sure we work with the federal government on this. That’s their jurisdiction. And they have to toughen up on the crime. I know (former) prime minister (Stephen) Harper toughened up and then Justin Trudeau rolled it back. That’s unacceptable. We have to put these gang members and anyone with a gun in jail for a long time.”

-- Are you concerned that justice issues may take a back seat in this particular configuration of the Parliament?

“Hopefully, not. Justin Trudeau promised a lot of things to the people of Ontario and I’m going to hold him to account for all the promises. And one of the areas was crime.”