After being re-elected in the new Bowmanville–Oshawa North riding, Conservative Jamil Jivani took aim at Ontario Premier Doug Ford for being a “hype man” for the Liberals in the middle of the federal election.
Jivani won the riding with 49.8 per cent of the vote while the Liberal candidate, Bridget Girard, garnered 45.4 per cent.
During an interview with the CBC’s David Common at an election night party in Jivani’s riding, the Conservative MP-elect laid into the Progressive Conservative premier for his negative comments about the Conservative campaign in the heat of the election.
Jivani said, despite his dislike for how Ford “managed healthcare or education,” the federal Tories avoided commenting or interfering in Ford’s jurisdiction and the Ontario election, “out of respect.”
“We didn’t get in his way when it was his turn to run an election,” he said. “He couldn’t stay out of our business, always getting his criticisms and all his opinions out, distracting our campaign, trying to make it about him, trying to position himself as some kind of political genius that we need to be taking cues from.”
Jivani referred to comments made initially by Ford’s campaign manager, Kory Teneycke, who claimed Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre’s campaign was mismanaged, and had blown a 20-point advantage over the Liberals.
Conservatives still won over 40 per cent of the popular vote. Before the election of Prime Minister Mark Carney as leader of the Liberal party, many polls showed similar levels of support for the Liberals – the difference being that the Liberals saw a surge in support, particularly from NDP voters.
Ford commented, saying if his campaign had run the federal election, the Conservatives would not have lost their lead in the polls. Ford later defended his comments, saying he was standing up for his campaign manager.
Notably, Ford met with Carney right before the election was called, as no meetings between him and Poilievre have been publicly reported.
“I think Doug Ford is a problem for Ontario and Canada, I think he’s not doing a great job in running this province, and now he’s trying to exercise his influence over other levels of government,” Jivani said in the interview. “And it’s not like this guy is doing anything particularly well.”
Jivani continued to slam Ford, saying he has turned the Ontario Progressive Conservatives into a conservative-in-name-only party.
“He has taken the provincial Conservative Party and turned it into something hollow on principle, something that doesn’t solve problems,” Jivani said. “He’s glad-handing with Chrystia Freeland, having coffees and lattes with Mark Carney, and I’m sitting here saying we need to be fighting for change in something new and something different. Not being a hype man to the Liberal Party.”
Ford told reporters at Queens Park on Tuesday that he was “focusing on unity right across this country.”
He noted Poilievre’s hard work and the difficulty of running a campaign.
“The people have spoken. The people are never wrong,” Ford said.. “They have a reason why they vote the way they do, and I just want to move the province forward.”
Jivani also spoke about unity, saying that beyond the comments from Ford’s PCs, conservative Canadians are unified behind Poilievre.
“I think it’s not about ideology or differences of beliefs. It is about some people believing our purpose as conservatives is to be an alternative to what the Liberals offer,” Jivani said. “And then there are people like Doug Ford who are opportunists, and I reject that outright.”
When asked if Jivani would seek leadership as Poilievre lost his riding, Jivani dispelled those notions and said his focus was on the people who trusted the Conservatives with their vote.
“My focus, though, is on all the young people, all the parents, the moms, the dads who came to us and trusted us to offer an alternative, a brighter future. We’re going to see that too. We’re going to keep fighting,” Jivani said. “And when the next federal election comes around, conservatives will earn the trust of more voters, and we will bring home a victory nationally.”
He said Poilievre helped develop a new Conservative identity, “a party of dreamers and hustlers, drivers and builders,” which would “crystallize further” after the election.
“Our party will only go up from here.”