As of late, populist leaders have been making waves across the world, from the election of U.S. President Donald Trump to the electoral success of the Five Star Movement in Italy. During the catastrophe of a party leadership race in March, the Ontario Progressive Conservatives (PC) elected Doug Ford as party leader. The new PC leader then had around three months to convince voters in Ontario that he is the best replacement for Liberal Premier Kathleen Wynne.
With Ford’s election to party leadership, one cannot help but think that this is a new Donald Trump north of the American border. Pundits were quick to classify the election as a Hillary Clinton-Trump situation, or say that President Trump and Ford are one and the same.
Upon watching a recent interview with the Globe and Mail, it is true that there are physical resemblances. Ford had switched up his blue tie for a red one, harkening a resemblance to the American president. However, Ford should not be confused with Trump, as their brands of populism are quite different.
Donald Trump’s populism comes from a nationalist and anti-immigration standpoint. Examples of this include the restriction of illegal immigration and the construction of a border wall between the United States and Mexico.
On the other hand, Ford needs the immigrant vote to win the Ontario election. According to the results of a 2016 StatsCan census on immigration, about 29 per cent of Ontario’s population are immigrants. Ford cannot use the rhetoric of other populist politicians that are against immigration. Instead, he will take on the plight of the everyman.
Ford’s populism will take shape in his anti-political and anti-bureaucratic stances. In doing so, he will distinguish himself from Wynne and Ontario NDP leader Andrea Horwath as an everyday guy just trying to do his best. In the slew of interviews that have taken place since his election as PC leader, these ideas have come forth clearly.
Doug Ford has pledged to “clean out the rot” in the Ontario government. In an interview with the Globe and Mail, he classified politicians as “phony” and said that the way they act in public and behind closed doors are different.
Another one of his policy proposals is to shrink government by not re-hiring people who quit or retire, saying that there are too many “supervisors.” In his call to be a regular man in the eyes of the voters, he said, “I’m going to be Doug. I can’t change. I’m just going to be the average person.” This is a direct attempt to position himself as a regular person.
This would not be the first time that Ontario has had a populist premier. Former Liberal Ontario premier Mitch Hepburn was known for his outlandish populist acts in the 1930s. Hepburn shared similar anti-government mentalities, seen through the cutting of MPPs’ salaries, the firing of 1,500 civil service employees and the selling of the province’s limousines. The firing of the civil service employees mirrors Ford’s comments on civil servant retirees.
I believe that Ford will be able to win a majority government come June.
Long-time Liberal voters are going to have trouble deciding whether to vote for Wynne again or for Horwath. Voters are tired of the Liberal Party’s spending and Ford will take advantage of these sentiments to bring them over to the Conservative vote. Others who do not approve of Ford, will be forced to choose the NDP.
Ontarians that are against Ford need to take a lesson from south of the border. Many Americans thought that Trump had no chance of winning. Here in Ontario, the polls suggest that there is a strong possibility of seeing Ford in the premier’s position.
Don’t be fooled into thinking populism can’t happen here—evidence shows that it can.
