[URBAN NOTE] "Ontario Tories should think twice about Doug Ford"

[rfmcdonald]

National Post writer Chris Selley is probably right to note that Toronto city councillor Doug Ford's interest in entering provincial politics in Ontario may not work well for the Progressive Conservatives. The Ford brothers' record in Toronto--even that of Doug Ford alone--hasn't been the most successful.

It wasn’t unreasonable to think the 2010 municipal election would augur changes at the provincial level; the Fords certainly boasted that it would. But as I’ve noted before, Ford Nation hardly showed up for the Tories in 2011 at all. In the 10 ridings that voted most enthusiastically for Rob Ford, compared to 2007, the Progressive Conservatives lost votes. The biggest beneficiaries were the New Democrats. That might have been a protest vote, but it hardly spoke volumes of the Fords’ ability to move mountains.

Since then, it seems as though the Tories have occasionally shouted out to Ford Nation priorities — most notably on the transit file, where they’re all about subways and not much about how to pay for them — but mostly kept their powder dry. That was good thinking, if you ask me.

[. . .]

I’d be less enthusiastic, if I were him. Doug was once thought to be the brains behind the operation, but he is currently best known for being the mouth. He’s blustery, he’s brash, he’ll say just about anything, and he shows even less evidence of political tact than his brother. Maybe he is indeed capable of zipping his lip for the good of the cause, but he seems disinclined to even when the cause is his own brother. No doubt he thinks he’s helping. But if I was Tim Hudak, that’s a brand of help I wouldn’t want — especially if this election ends up being largely about GTA transportation issues, about which the Fords have roughly a thousand opinions for every workable solution, and about big, bold policy solutions. Ford Nation doesn’t do white papers.