96 Facts About Doug Ford

Doug Ford represents the Toronto riding of Etobicoke North in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario.

Doug Ford ran for the 2014 Toronto mayoral election, where he placed second behind John Tory.

In 2018, Doug Ford won the party leadership election of the PC Party and led the PCs to majority victories in the 2018 and 2022 general elections.

Doug Ford graduated grade twelve from Scarlett Heights Collegiate Institute.

Doug Ford then attended Humber College for two months before dropping out with no degree.

Ford's first involvement in politics came when Doug Holyday approached Deco to print stickers for signs for his 1994 mayoral campaign in Etobicoke.

Doug Ford then assisted in his father's campaigns as a PC MPP candidate in 1995 and 1999.

Doug Ford ran his brother Rob's council campaigns in 2000,2003, and 2006, and Rob's winning mayoral campaign in 2010.

On October 25,2010, Doug Ford was elected as councillor to Toronto City Council in Ward 2.

Doug Ford was a director of the Canadian National Exhibition, and served on the Budget Committee, the Civic Appointments Committee and the Government Management Committee at Council.

Doug Ford was a member of the board of Toronto Transit Infrastructure Limited, a corporation set up to finance a Sheppard Avenue subway extension, which Council later cancelled.

In 2011, Doug Ford promoted an alternative plan for the Port Lands district of Toronto, including a monorail, a boat-in hotel, the world's largest Ferris wheel and a mega-mall.

Doug Ford caused controversy after revealing that his brother Rob would be served a subpoena if Rob's friend and driver Alexander Lisi went to court over charges of extortion.

Doug Ford commented that the subpoena was in "payback" for Toronto Police Chief Bill Blair not getting a contract renewal with the Toronto Police Service, saying "This is why we need a change at the top", in regards to Blair's contract.

An investigative report by The Globe and Mail published in May 2013 alleged that Doug Ford had sold hashish at James Gardens for several years in the 1980s, based on interviews with anonymous sources.

Doug Ford said at the time that he planned to sue the newspaper for libel.

Doug Ford opposed a house for developmentally disabled youth in his ward, saying the home had "ruined the community".

In June 2013, Doug Ford announced that he would not run for re-election as councillor in the next Toronto election, scheduled for 2014: "I won't be running next time, at least down here I won't be running, I'll be running away from this place in 16 months", expressing his frustration with municipal politics.

On February 20,2014, after meeting with PC leader Tim Hudak, Doug Ford announced that he would not be a candidate in the next provincial election, which was called for June 12,2014, so that he could focus on his brother's re-election campaign.

Doug Ford then entered the mayoral campaign in the last hour before the nomination deadline on September 12,2014.

Comments Doug Ford made during the campaign received criticism for alleged bigotry, such as misogyny and antisemitism, and critics accused him of conflict of interest and of drug dealing in the past.

Doug Ford maintained the support that Rob had in the polls and made no significant ground against frontrunner John Tory, but maintained his lead over Olivia Chow.

Doug Ford lost the election to Tory, having 34 percent of the support compared to Tory's 40 percent.

Doug Ford's campaign was fined $11,950 for placing 478 illegal lawn signs during the campaign, including placing signs on the Don Valley Parkway, the Gardiner Expressway, and on civic buildings and parks.

In December 2016, the City of Toronto's integrity commissioner concluded that Doug Ford broke the city's code of conduct when he was a councillor finding that Doug Ford improperly used his influence in municipal matters pertaining to two companies that were clients of his family's company.

Since Doug Ford was no longer a councillor by the time the ruling was issued, the commissioner did not recommend any sanctions for Doug Ford.

Doug Ford said of the experience that the two became friends, and Singh said Doug Ford was "very warm and friendly".

On September 9,2017, Doug Ford announced at his family's annual barbecue that he would run for mayor of Toronto in the 2018 election, saying "this one's for you, Robbie", referring to his younger brother Rob who had died the previous year.

Doug Ford said that his opponent, John Tory, was "all talk and broken promises".

On February 1,2018, Doug Ford announced that he no longer planned to run for mayor that year because he intended to focus entirely on his campaign for Ontario PC leader.

On January 31,2018, Doug Ford announced he would seek the PC nomination in Etobicoke North and run for the seat in the 2018 election.

Doug Ford was one of the four official candidates running for the PC leadership along with Christine Elliott, Caroline Mulroney, and Tanya Granic Allen.

Doug Ford promised to represent the interests of Northern Ontario in Queen's Park.

Doug Ford called his opponents "insiders" and "political elites", who did not represent the interests of the residents of Northern Ontario like he could.

Doug Ford pledged several northern-focused policy initiatives including moving forward with resource development in the Northern Ontario Ring of Fire and reinstating the Ontario Northland Railway's Northlander train service.

Doug Ford called the Ontario health care system "broken" while relating the hospital experience of his brother Rob.

Doug Ford explained that Rob fell while being guided to a chair, and as the hospital was understaffed Doug had to rush down eleven floors to find security guards to help.

Doug Ford stated that the province should support transportation to allow Northern Ontarians to travel quickly and easily to the south to receive medical care and should increase provincial support for Ontario's small and medium-sized hospitals.

On March 27,2018, Doug Ford was named the party's candidate in Etobicoke North.

Doug Ford said he would condense the Conservative platform adopted under former leader Patrick Brown, reducing "about ten percent of [it]", into a five-point plan focusing on health, education, creating jobs, getting rid of the province's cap and trade program for carbon emissions, and reducing electricity rates.

Doug Ford suggested that minors should be required to consult their parents before obtaining an abortion, and indicated he would allow the introduction of a private member's bill requiring parental consent.

In terms of economic policy, Doug Ford said he would revive manufacturing in Ontario by easing regulations, cutting taxes, and ensuring competitive electricity rates.

Doug Ford criticized the Liberal government for not proceeding quickly enough to develop the Northern Ontario Ring of Fire, saying that he'd get on a bulldozer himself if necessary.

Doug Ford rejected the comparisons while praising some of Trump's policies.

Doug Ford led the PC Party to a majority government in the general election held on June 7,2018, taking 76 of 124 seats in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario, including his own riding of Etobicoke North.

Doug Ford had been PC leader for less than 100 days when his party won the election.

Doug Ford was sworn in as premier on June 29,2018, incorporating a ceremony outdoors on the lawn of Queen's Park.

Doug Ford is the first newly elected MPP to take office as premier since Mitch Hepburn did so in 1934.

Doug Ford believes in hiring independent auditors to audit government spending.

Doug Ford campaigned on "buck-a-beer" and reduced the minimum price of beer from $1.25 to $1.

In September 2018, Doug Ford's government froze the minimum wage at $14 per hour and cancelled a planned increase.

On June 15,2018, then premier-designate, Doug Ford announced in a statement that one of the first actions of his newly formed cabinet would be to eliminate the province's cap and trade program under the 2016 Climate Change Mitigation and Low-Carbon Economy Act, a polluter pay bill that "generated funds for climate change mitigation and adaptation," put in place by the Liberal government.

Doug Ford had warned that the imposition of the federal carbon tax would result in an increase in the price of gas in Ontario.

Doug Ford added that the retail price of gas reflects the drop in the price of oil prices from US$72 per barrel to US$60 a barrel in 2019 and is not related to the carbon tax.

Doug Ford has worked with the premiers of Saskatchewan, Manitoba and New Brunswick to fight the federal government's carbon tax legislation, and has supported campaigns to repeal the carbon tax led by federal Conservative Party leader Andrew Scheer and Alberta United Conservative Party leader Jason Kenney.

Doug Ford believes the federal Greenhouse Gas Pollution Pricing Act, which imposes a carbon tax on provinces that do not have their own pollution pricing regime is unconstitutional.

Doug Ford committed $30 million to challenge the federal legislation, $4 million of which was spent on anti-carbon pricing advertisements including printing anti-carbon pricing stickers and imposing fines for gas station owners failing to display the stickers.

In 2018, Doug Ford expressed support for publicly funded healthcare and a belief that funding should be increased to create 30,000 additional long-term care beds.

In 2020, Doug Ford's government spent $3.5 billion less on health care than budgeted.

In 2018, Doug Ford said he believes that the provincial government should fully subsidize dental costs for low-income seniors.

The Doug Ford government introduced the Ontario Health agency in 2019, with the goal of centralizing services.

Doug Ford has been accused of attempting to privatize healthcare in the province of Ontario.

In May 2023, Doug Ford's government passed Bill 60, known as the Your Health Act, to allow private clinics to perform more surgeries and procedures covered by the Ontario Health Insurance Plan.

Doug Ford's government said new clinics must apply for a licence to operate and include thorough staffing plans "to protect the stability of doctors, nurses and other health-care workers at public hospitals" as part of their applications.

Immediately after taking office in 2018, Doug Ford proposed to cut 3,475 Ontario teaching jobs over four years to save $292 million a year, Doug Ford cancelled the Green Ontario Fund residential rebate program which included a $100 million fund for public school repair, free prescriptions to youth 24 and under, and an initiative to add indigenous peoples content to school curriculum, and eliminated free tuition for low-income students,.

Doug Ford believes that financial literacy education should be expanded and included in school curricula, and believes Ontario's math curriculum should drop discovery learning and put a greater emphasis on arithmetic and memorization of the multiplication table.

Doug Ford ordered all public universities and colleges in Ontario to develop free-speech policies that meet his government's expectations and stated that universities and colleges that do not comply will face funding reductions.

Doug Ford's government introduced Bill 28, known as the Keeping Students in Class Act, which was passed by the Legislative Assembly of Ontario on November 3,2022, amid ongoing labour negotiations with the Canadian Union of Public Employees.

On November 7,2022, Doug Ford announced that he would rescind Bill 28 and that he would resume negotiations with CUPE.

In 2014, Doug Ford took over this brother's mayoral campaign, running against Olivia Chow and eventual winner John Tory.

Provincially, Doug Ford's riding as a member of Provincial Parliament is in the Toronto suburb of Etobicoke.

Doug Ford believes that the constitution does not prevent provincial governments from changing the size of municipal councils, even after an election campaign has already begun.

Doug Ford believed that the provincial government should assume control over the Toronto subway.

Amidst backlash, Doug Ford announced that the province would keep the cost-sharing arrangement and re-evaluate it at the end of the fiscal year.

On December 6,2018, the Doug Ford government tabled its omnibus bill, Bill 66.

Doug Ford vowed to fire them all if elected, although PC energy critic Todd Smith later clarified that the government cannot dismiss Hydro One's CEO directly.

Doug Ford opposed his predecessor's decision to privatize Hydro One, but does not plan to reverse the decision.

Doug Ford's government passed legislation to publicly disclose and reduce the salaries of Hydro One's board members and executives.

Doug Ford denies that he is to blame for the US regulators' decision.

The accusation followed on the heels of Doug Ford appointing a longtime family friend to be the next OPP commissioner just days after lowering the requirements for the position.

Doug Ford supports allowing licensed private retailers to sell cannabis, rather than a government monopoly like the LCBO.

Doug Ford's daughter took down the posts, but neither Doug Ford nor his daughter commented on them.

In December 2018 Bob Paulson, who served as a Royal Canadian Mounted Police officer for 32-years including as RCMP commissioner before retiring in 2017, called for an independent third-party inquiry into Doug Ford's appointment in December 2018 of Toronto Police Superintendent Ron Taverner, who is a long-time friend of Doug Ford, as the new commissioner of the Ontario Provincial Police.

Doug Ford hired Jag Badwal as Ontario's agent-general to Britain and the United States with an annual salary of $185,000.

Doug Ford's qualification was "that he played lacrosse with French's son".

Just hours before French resigned, Doug Ford had cancelled Albrecht's and Shields' appointments.

Doug Ford sought clearance for the event from the Ontario Integrity Commissioner in January 2023.

Doug Ford announced on April 30,2021, that he had asked the federal government to stop international students from coming into the province in an effort to curb the third wave.

On January 3,2022, Doug Ford announced that Ontario would be moving into modified Step 2 on January 5, closing indoor dining, gyms, movie theatres and schools.

In March 2021, Doug Ford publicly accused MPP Sol Mamakwa of "jumping the line" to receive his second dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, despite being eligible to receive it.

On Thursday, 11 March 2021, Doug Ford apologised for his remark and later said he "got a little personal" when throwing the accusation at Mamakwa.

Doug Ford led the Progressive Conservatives to another majority government in the 2022 provincial election.

Doug Ford endorsed the economic policies of the Republican Party and the presidency of Donald Trump in the United States, saying his support for Trump is "unwavering".

Doug Ford became an "ethical vegetarian" after working in a meatpacking plant as a teenager, and while this is no longer the case, he still does not eat red meat.

Doug Ford, who is obese, has struggled with his weight at least since 2012, when he publicly attempted a weight loss challenge.

Doug Ford is occasionally fat shamed in the media, having been previously called "unfashionably overweight".