Doug Ford Congratulates Erin O’Toole After Tory Leadership Win, But Won’t Campaign With Conservatives In Next Election
Ontario Premier Doug Ford congratulated Erin O’Toole Monday for winning the Conservative leadership race, but firmly closed the door on campaigning with him during the next federal election.
Speaking with reporters in Toronto, Ford lauded O’Toole and the other leadership candidates for a hard-fought race. He also said he is encouraging everyone to “rally around” O’Toole, who defeated former cabinet minister and presumed front-runner Peter MacKay on the third ballot.
But the Progressive Conservative leader of Canada’s most populous province made it clear he won’t be “getting involved” to help his federal cousins in a future campaign.
Watch: Erin O’Toole wins Conservative leadership vote
“I won’t be campaigning for anyone, like I didn’t last time either,” he said, referencing last fall’s election campaign that saw Ford on the sidelines as his name was repeatedly invoked negatively by Liberals, especially in seat-rich Ontario.
“I am so swamped right here. I’m going literally around the clock every single day and I can’t take my eye off the ball for an election or anything else.”
Laura Stone, a reporter for The Globe and Mail, noted Ford’s complimentary words for federal Liberals during the COVID-19 crisis, in particular Chrystia Freeland, the deputy prime minister and new minister of finance.
Ford said his government has a “phenomenal relationship” with the feds, and said he personally thinks the world of Freeland.
“We were able to get a lot accomplished just by communicating and collaborating… along with the prime minister, as well. And I just, I’ll work with anyone at the end of the day,” he said. “Like I say, I don’t care what political stripe you’re from. If you get elected, I’ll work with you.”
Asked why he wouldn’t try to help O’Toole’s Conservatives win seats in Ontario, particularly the battleground suburbs around the Greater Toronto Area that largely rejected the Tories last fall, Ford said he...
