This is a modal window. No compatible source was found for this media. After weeks of speculation surrounding a federal election call, a five-week countrywide campaign is now underway after Liberal Party of Canada Leader Justin Trudeau visited Governor General Mary Simon on Sunday to ask for Parliament to […]
Canada election: Could Doug Ford and Ontario’s PCs impact federal party standings in 2021?
This is a modal window.
No compatible source was found for this media.
After weeks of speculation surrounding a federal election call, a five-week countrywide campaign is now underway after Liberal Party of Canada Leader Justin Trudeau visited Governor General Mary Simon on Sunday to ask for Parliament to be dissolved.
With Ontario having the highest number of ridings up for grabs set against an emerging fourth wave of COVID-19 and heightened criticisms surrounding the provincial government’s handling of the pandemic during the third wave, the current dynamic raises questions of how Premier Doug Ford and the Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario could impact federal party standings in the province.
During the 2019 federal election campaign, Ford was asked why he wasn’t campaigning with then-Conservative Party of Canada leader and Saskatchewan MP Andrew Scheer. In mid-September weeks before voters went to the polls that year, he said he was too “busy governing” to campaign.
Ford and his Progressive Conservative government were elected in June 2018, but by the time the 2019 federal election came around his popularity had fallen, particularly after a spring budget that was rife with cuts. Ford was also among a trio of conservative premiers who opposed the federal government’s moves on carbon pricing. Trudeau often tried to bind Scheer to Ford, suggesting at the time that Ford’s governing in Ontario is indicative of what a Scheer government would look like.
Scheer, meanwhile, didn’t use Ford’s name when directly asked about the premier, preferring instead to criticize the former Ontario Liberal government. But he denies making any attempt to distance himself from Ford.
However, throughout the course of the year-and-a-half-long pandemic, there has seemingly been increased co-operation between Trudeau’s Liberal and Ford’s Conservative governments even as Ford and other premiers pushed for actions from the feds. For example, Trudeau in May announced $12 billion in funding to back a transit expansion plan for Toronto and Hamilton championed by Ford and his government.
Ford also previously boasted about his friendship with Chrystia Freeland, who served as deputy prime minister during the pandemic.
But fast-forward to this campaign with Durham incumbent Erin O’Toole at the helm of the federal Conservatives and many might be wondering how the campaign map will look this time given how Ford’s approval ratings saw a sharp drop earlier this year.
Global News contacted Ford’s office to ask how the premier might be involved during the campaign, if members of his government will be working to support federal candidates, if there are any concerns about having an election campaign during the pandemic, and if there are Ontario-specific commitments Ford is looking for.
Ivana Yelich, Ford’s director of media relations, issued a brief statement in response to questioning surrounding the election.
“The premier and our government are focused squarely on the pandemic and getting as many Ontarians vaccinated as possible. Our hope is that all levels of government continue working together to ensure the people of Ontario have the support they need as we continue our fight against COVID-19,” she told Global News before the campaign began.
CANADA ELECTION 2019: Did Doug Ford laying low work for Andrew Scheer?
Multiple political experts Global News spoke with, for the most part, said they believe the campaign will see Ford and the Ontario PC Party caucus members keep a lower profile.
Tim Abray, a doctoral candidate at Queen’s University who focuses on political behaviour and voter decision-making and a former radio journalist, also speculated the federal Liberals won’t heavily target the PCs on the campaign trail, especially when it comes to the handling of the pandemic.
“They don’t want to push people back into the arms of Doug Ford, so I think they’re just going to let that dynamic do its own talking,” he said.
Stéphanie Chouinard, an assistant professor with the department of political science at the Royal Military College of Canada and at Queen’s University, said she believes 2021 will be like 2019 in that the federal Conservatives aren’t “keen” on campaigning with the PCs, noting the need to make inroads into the Greater Toronto Area.
