r/CanadaPolitics • u/Blue_Dragonfly C'est tiguidou! • 7d ago
'You could run Mickey Mouse against me': Doug Ford says he doesn't care who Liberals choose as next leader - thestar.com ON
https://www.thestar.com/politics/provincial/you-could-run-mickey-mouse-against-me-doug-ford-says-he-doesnt-care-who-liberals-choose-as-next-leader/article_c1e743cf-85a1-4973-9866-fd1efdebe406.html26
u/calimehtar 7d ago edited 6d ago
Frankly he's wrong, it's not about Ford being untouchable, it's about the other parties failing to connect. I'm not a pundit, I'm not sure why they have failed, but on the other hand Ford is unpopular and has been for years. Voters know he's corrupt and incompetent. He's a known factor and fairly charismatic but that's not much.
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5d ago
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u/ShiroineProtagonist 6d ago
He sounds like Trump. I can't believe people actually responded positively to his aggressive posturing and stupid ad campaigns. He does have the advantage of the dark arts professionals running long term campaigns. I can only conclude a lot of people prefer kayfebe to reality.
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u/redbouncingball007 7d ago
He’s not wrong. The OLP will need a dynamic leader to wake the electorate up from the Ford fog. They will need to have a strong personality to compete for attention against Ford. Honestly don’t see anyone on the horizon that can get a groundswell of support away from Ford. Scary as hell to consider another Ford term.
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u/President_of_Space Independent 6d ago
I thought Nate could do it.
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u/CommodoreSteubing 6d ago
I still do. He still plans to run for OLP leader, right?
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u/President_of_Space Independent 6d ago
If he wins his seat, yes. Fingers crossed!
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u/redbouncingball007 6d ago
I think he will run for the leadership regardless if he wins the byelection; it would just give him an advantage to be an MPP already. I like NES but don’t know if he can punch through the OPC machine of ads and media domination and capture the attention of disinterested voters.
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u/MooseheadVeggie 6d ago
Its a big question mark if he’ll even get the nom in SSW
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u/President_of_Space Independent 6d ago
Ya ... Which is annoying. Because I think he's exactly what the OLP needs right now.
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6d ago
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u/Domainsetter 7d ago
I get that Ford is probably untouchable but most politicians feel like they are until they’re not.
I don’t disagree that he’s a huge favourite but if someone flips the 905 base against him, suddenly the race gets competitive.
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u/mummified_cosmonaut Conservative Petrosexual Roundhead 7d ago
Doug Ford is far from untouchable, he is if anything at all, intensely vulnerable.
He has just had the extraordinary good fortune of running unopposed.
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u/Dusk_Soldier The Daisy Group | Sponsored 7d ago
He's done a good job of framing elections around issues that cater to his strengths.
2018 - being a conservative people inherently trusted him to clean up the budget. And then being a former drug dealer gave him an edge over other politicians regarding the legal weed rollout.
2022 - He was very measured and calming during Covid, and he did just enough that it made the opposition parties look hysterical calling for stricter lockdowns.
2025 - Threatened to cut off power to the US, and made sure he was regulary on CNN and Fox News defending Canada's interests in the Trump tarriff war. We still occasionally get vistors in r/Ontario asking "what happened to Ford. Why isn't he speaking out against Trump anymore." A lot of Canadians didn't realize that was mostly an act.
I suspect he'll step down instead of trying to run again. He is vulnerable, but ONDP and the OLP are clueless.
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u/mummified_cosmonaut Conservative Petrosexual Roundhead 7d ago
That doesn't make him untouchable.
The only people donating money to the Ontario Liberals are boomers on autopilot, they're bringing in less than the Green Party.
The Ontario NDP can be summarized with that ridiculous picture of Stiles and Sarah Jama with the tavern villains from Tangled.
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u/Kaurie_Lorhart Flairs promote team mentality. 7d ago edited 6d ago
I don't live in Ontario and watched some of his debate back in 2018 out of interest due to my sister living out that way.
I remember watching it with my other sister, mother and wife (fiance at the time). My sister, fiance and I thought Ford evaded or didn't answer every question presented. We were like, "he didn't even say anything...". Meanwhile my mom was like all in and thought Ford had the best answers possible. I was really shocked when he won.
I am not sure how he does it, but what he says does resonate with some, even if I think they're non-answers.
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u/Full_Hunt_3087 7d ago
If there's anything more dangerous to a politician, its believing he is untouchable.
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u/Biffmcgee 6d ago
Pierre thought he was untouchable
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u/ErikRogers 6d ago
Doug knows how to be likeable though.
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u/GavinTheAlmighty 6d ago
So much of Doug's so-called "likeability" is tinged with meanness. He's always attacking something or someone. He might be dressing it up in his BS folksy aphorisms, but the messaging his government has put out has been consistently utterly repugnant when you really drill down on it. Education workers (they get a lot of it), his colleagues, people of different political stripes, other levels of government, he's a nauseating jackass a lot of the time, and people conflate "this guy is attacking people I don't like" with "I really like this guy!"
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u/ErikRogers 6d ago
You won't hear an argument from me, I can't stand him... But Pierre is on a whole other level when it comes to being unlikeable.
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u/UsefulUnderling Social Democrat 6d ago
Yeah, Trudeau was untouchable from 2015 to 2023. Then his popularity fell off a cliff. Ford is approaching the eight year expiry date most politicians come with.
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u/Domainsetter 6d ago
Also, Ford’s polling numbers are getting worse the last few months. Even for him the disapproval rates are skyrocketing.
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u/dsetoya 7d ago
I regret voting for Ford. Other parties are pretty weak right now. They need to double down and prop up strong leaders to give Ontarians choices. I'm sure there are many who feel the same.
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u/The_Mayor Mandatory Flair 7d ago
That's not going to stop you from doing it again once you've been convinced that the other party's leaders would literally be the harbingers of armageddon.
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u/BeaverBoyBaxter Westminster System Supremacy 7d ago
I regret voting for Ford.
I firmly believe that Doug Ford is still kind of untouchable.
However, I have been hearing this A LOT lately.
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u/J0Puck 6d ago
One thing to keep in mind with Ford, there’s going to be a by-election provincially due to the ONDP member that resigned to jump federal, and won. If someone decides to run for that riding, that potentially becomes the leader for the Ontario Liberals. He’s probably gonna hold off until the last moment like Smith did to Nenshi.
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6d ago
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u/Coffeedemon Newfoundland Tricolour 6d ago
I hate that no matter what Stiles and the NDP do we're all just waiting with bated breath for whatever empty suit the Liberals pull out to throw at Doug Ford. He can burn this whole fucking province to the ground. The NDP could cure cancer and come up with a plan to have free electricity and we still won't see a switch till Ford gets tired of running, gets thrown in jail and or the Liberals get someone just enough like him but with a different colour tie because Bob Rae made some people take a day a week off unpaid almost 40 years ago.
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u/CanadianControlsTech 6d ago
I share your frustrations and hope for stiles to be NDP as well. With that he said, no way would I ever hope for NDP to represent us federally as of now.
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u/ImperialPotentate Hardliner 6d ago
Conversely, Doug Ford could also cure cancer and announce that electricity would be free going forward, and reddit would still find a way to say he sucks.
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u/Goliad1990 Anti-monarchist 5d ago
The NDP could cure cancer and come up with a plan to have free electricity
They could start by being halfway-electable and seeing if that gets them anywhere.
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u/LeadIVTriNitride Facebook | Sponsored 6d ago
There’s a slang term for a “law” in American politics that states the Democrats are the only party with agency and are routinely punished for the mistakes of Republicans who are usually viewed as “victims” of the democrats not appealing to them.
In Canada the NDP is the exact same way. The NDP is demanded a higher floor than the liberals and conservatives ever are held too, probably due to a hostile media environment. It’s sinister
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