While announcing he would advocate for bail reform and a tough-on-crime approach from courts and the federal government, Ontario Premier Doug Ford attacked federal Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre again.
During a Wednesday press conference, Ford was asked why he didn’t publicly support Poilievre since he’s announcing a commitment to the same policies Conservatives ran on during the election.
“I shouldn’t interfere in the federal election. Last time I checked, Pierre Poilievre never came out in our election. Matter of fact, he or one of his lieutenants told every one of his members, Don’t you dare go out and help the PCS,” Ford said at the press conference.
This comes after newly elected Conservative MP Jamil Jivani criticized Ford during the election, having won in his Bowmanville–Oshawa North riding in Ontario. Jivani unleashed on Ford, saying he “sabotaged” the Conservative campaign and acted as a “hype man” for the Liberals.
Jivani referenced comments made by Ford’s campaign manager, Kory Teneycke, which Ford echoed in the middle of the election, saying Poilievre had blown a 20-point advantage over the Liberals and that his campaign was mismanaged.
Jivani said the federal conservatives stayed out of Ford’s campaign out of respect, and Ford should have done the same rather than sharing negative opinions about the Conservatives and meeting with Liberal leaders.
“I’m not going to dig deep into this. The people spoke, and I have no say in who people vote for, but I’ll tell you one thing, we have a democratically elected government. I will hold them accountable,” Ford continued. “I’ll hold them accountable like I would, no matter if it’s a Conservative government or Liberal government.”
Ford continued to blast Poilievre, saying he could have made a phone call to Ford and his government.
“I like a lot of the (Conservative) MPs, but the people spoke, and they spoke loud and clear. They spoke loud and clear in our election, they spoke loud and clear on the federal election,” he said. “And so, that’s democracy. They elect who they want.”
“Let’s see what happens. But again, I’ll be on them like an 800-pound roller, like I’ve never been on them before, because people are fed up. They’re done with this,” he said, referring to out-of-control crime in Ontario.
In response to Ford’s comments on Wednesday, Jivani shared an AI meme image of Doug Ford’s face edited onto Hulk Hogan’s body ripping up his Ontario PC shirt to reveal a Liberal Party of Canada endorsement.