Former city councillor and MPP Michael Ford, nephew of Premier Doug Ford, says he has been consulting Torontonians for “months” about a potential mayoral run on issues such as low property taxes, public safety and fighting traffic gridlock.
In a statement to the Star on Friday, Ford also seemed to take a veiled swipe at Coun. Brad Bradford — a potential mayoral rival on the political centre-right, with similar stated priorities — noting that as a city councillor Ford always “firmly opposed to calls to defund the police when some believed it was politically popular.”
Bradford voted with some colleagues in 2020 for a failed motion to redirect some police funding to social programs. He later said he was reacting to a “particular moment in time,” following the Minneapolis police murder of George Floyd, and as Toronto’s next mayor would boost public safety and policing, including putting officers at every TTC station.
Ford’s musing a campaign curveball
Ford’s public musings about returning to politics, after low-profile stints at city hall and Queen’s Park, and now as a lobbyist, toss a curveball into a campaign that doesn’t officially start until May 1 but which has unofficially raged for months.
The spectre of another Ford at city hall comes shortly after former mayor John Tory abandoned thoughts of trying a comeback via a right-flank challenge to progressive Mayor Olivia Chow, who is expected to seek re-election.
It could also split the centre-right vote and present a serious challenge to Bradford, recently photographed meeting with Ford after the latter confirmed a potential candidacy.
Ford, noting he is giving “serious consideration” to a run, told the Star that “over the past several months, I’ve been meeting with people from across the city, including community leaders, representatives from Toronto’s diverse cultural communities, business leaders, and current and former elected officials.”
Calling such discussions “incredibly valuable,” he said they will also continue with “family and close advisers.”
Name recognition a factor
If Ford does run, he’ll capitalize on name recognition but position himself as more collaborative and less confrontational than his famous uncles — Doug, a former councillor, and Rob, who died in 2016 after a long council stint and one scandal-plagued mayoral term — say people familiar with his deliberations but not authorized to discuss them.
Ford, they said, would “create some space between himself and the province,” rather than run as a city hall proxy for his outspoken and hard-charging Uncle Doug who, as Progressive Conservative premier, frequently intervenes in local Toronto issues such as keeping bike lanes off major arterial roads — a position Michael Ford says he shares.
The premier, for his part, has not appeared to be keen on the notion of his sister Kathy’s son taking a run at Chow, with whom Doug Ford has forged an unlikely political partnership. “That’s going to be strictly up to Michael,” Doug Ford recently told reporters when asked about the potential candidacy that would continue a family tradition.
The premier’s nephew legally changed his surname from Stirpe in 2014, saying he had no relationship with his father who was earlier jailed for killing his mother’s boyfriend.
Ex-colleagues caught off-guard
While the mayoral musings caught former colleagues off guard, a little more than a year after he decided to not seek re-election to Queen’s Park following a health leave, the fact that he would present as a kinder, gentler Ford is no surprise.
“Michael Ford is a really nice guy — amicable with everyone and earnest, and he tries to be very helpful, cordial, collegial,” said Liberal MPP Mary-Margaret McMahon, a former city council colleague who later, at Queen’s Park, sat in opposition across from Ford when he was citizenship and multiculturalism minister.
“He had a good track record as school trustee and he really seemed to like being a city councillor.”
Centre-right Coun. Jon Burnside said Ford’s name immediately makes him a contender.
“He’s every bit as passionate about public service, about the community, but he presents a little quieter,” than his uncles, Burnside said, adding that Ford “would definitely be starting from behind” Bradford and Chow.
Doubts raised by critics
Coun. Gord Perks, a Chow ally, called Ford “profoundly arrogant” for thinking he could lead Canada’s most populous city based on his track record at city hall as a one-term councillor.
“I can’t think of a single thing that he actually accomplished when he was here,” the longtime Parkdale representative said. “On the occasions when he did get up to say something at council, mostly it was just to talk about how great his uncles were.”
NDP MPP Kristyn Wong-Tam, who sat on council with Ford, called him “friendly … extremely cordial and quite approachable,” but said she doubts he can handle the demands of being Toronto mayor — a job that sometimes requires standing up to the premier.
“Michael’s mayoral candidacy cannot be a surrogacy for Doug to hold a mayorship and to do the bidding of the premier,” Wong-Tam said. “I think he would actually have to explain … his bill of health to (Torontonians) to take on a job that requires a lot of energy, time and emotional, physical and intellectual commitment.”
Ford rejects criticisms
Ford rejected the notion of meagre accomplishments or fragile health. He said during his 2016-2022 council tenure he fought for “practical transit solutions” including light-rail lines, helped advance approvals for a major redevelopment of land around Woodbine race track and voted to keep property tax hikes as low as possible.
Noting he returned to Queen’s Park after a two-month health leave, Ford said: “I made the personal decision not to seek re-election at that time, which also allowed me to consider future opportunities, including a potential mayoral run.
“Following my time at Queen’s Park, I spent approximately three weeks in Thailand where I travelled and participated in a fitness retreat.” Ford’s friends told the Star that he does indeed appear healthier and happier, with a fitness regime.
Political observers say his future success in politics, however, comes down to platform and performance after being out of the public eye since leaving Queen’s Park.
What the polls show
Randy Besco, a University of Toronto political scientist, said that with no political parties at city hall “name recognition matters a lot,” and that’s why Michael Ford is already polling at 16 per cent support — a number that took Bradford a couple of years of unofficial campaigning to reach before hitting 26 per cent following Tory’s decision not to run.
This is despite “people having no idea what Ford has done or what he stands for,” Besco said. “Even though Bradford has been around for a long time, still lots of people have never heard of him.”
David Valentin, principal at Liaison Strategies, which conducts municipal polling at times in collaboration with the Star, said he thinks the concern for people on the centre-right of Toronto politics is splitting the vote, especially since Chow, who’s polling at 44 per cent, might be the only left-leaning or progressive name on the ballot.
“I think in the long term the question is whether Michael Ford, unintuitive as it may be, can not only claw points away from Bradford but also claw points away from Chow,” Valentin said. “Is (Ford) going to eat into her voter base … or is he just going to play spoiler for Mr. Bradford?”
