Two decades ago, Janet Ecker became the first female finance minister in Ontario history to bring in a budget. Decades before that, she was a communications adviser to Premier Bill Davis. In other words, for the past half-century, she’s had her eye on Queen’s Park and has a pretty good idea of what qualities make for a good premier.
When Doug Ford took over Ontario’s top political job in 2018, I called Janet to get her take on a man who, of Ontario’s 26 premiers, may have been the least prepared to get the job. Ford hadn’t been a cabinet minister. He hadn’t been an opposition leader. He hadn’t been an MPP. His political experience consisted of one term on Toronto City Council, where he was in a constant state of confrontation with most of his fellow councillors, opinion leaders, and stakeholder groups.
So, I asked Janet: “Given Doug Ford’s historic lack of experience, what does he need to do to be a successful premier?”
Her answer: “He has to demonstrate a capacity to learn.”
Ford didn’t come into office with a ton of policy prescriptions for what ailed Ontario. So, Ecker’s admonition that he needed to be a quick study, be open to good advice, and maybe stop picking fights with absolutely everybody all the time seemed like a smart prescription.
More than five years later, what can we say about how well Ford has taken Ecker’s advice? On the truly big items, the evidence suggests he has demonstrated a capacity to learn and even, unlike so many politicians, reverse course when he’s messed up.
Perhaps the best examples of that took place during the COVID-19 crisis, and then again, this past month, over the Greenbelt.
Remember when the premier brought the hammer down on the entire province during the height of COVID? He ordered public parks to be closed. He shut down outdoor tennis courts and golf courses as well, even though all the evidence suggested the risk of contracting COVID outdoors was negligible.
Ford’s caucus got an earful from constituents all over the province. The public rose up at what was widely perceived to be a massive government overreach.
So, what did Ford do? He called a press conference, apologized, scaled back some of the measures, and maintained his popularity.
The same scenario played out over the past month. When the egregious details of the government’s plans to remove lands from the Greenbelt, enriching developers to the tune of more than $8 billion, became known, the public responded with fury. Whatever bridge of trust Ford had established with the electorate came crashing down as details of apparent sweetheart deals and a complete lack of a transparent process offended Ontarians’ sense of fair play.
But rather than digging in deeper, Ford shocked everyone by abandoning his developer friends at the altar and reversing course. Not only did he put those lands back into the Greenbelt, but he also added more land to it, and gave the Greenbelt greater legislative protection from future governments that may want to mess with it as Ford once did.
Almost as quickly as Ford’s popularity ratings tanked with his initial decision, they recovered after his profuse apology and volte-face.
And today, another major reversal: the government is rolling back the urban boundary expansions it imposed on municipalities, citing problems with the "process," just as it did with the Greenbelt.
So, that’s the Ford who, as Ecker put it, demonstrated a capacity to learn.
But there’s another Doug Ford too. There’s the Ford who, as MP Melissa Lantsman once called him, “is a bull who brings his own China shop with him wherever he goes.” That’s the Ford we’ve seen at Queen’s Park since the war in the Middle East broke out. The premier was praised for his initial statements, going on the record to condemn Hamas’ deadly sneak attack on Israel, in distinction to so many other feckless leaders who refused to condemn it, or worse, actually seemed to praise it, such as Ontario CUPE leader Fred Hahn.
But sometimes, Ford can’t hold himself back. After Ontario NDP MPP Sarah Jama issued an ill-timed and tone-deaf statement hashtagged “FreePalastine” (sic), there were plenty of critics coming out of the woodwork to excoriate Jama, so much so that, until today, she had been avoiding Queen’s Park and even closed her Hamilton constituency office.
Ford could have left it there but instead piled on, issuing a statement of his own accusing Jama of having a "long and well-documented history of antisemitism" and "hateful views." Jama has responded by threatening to sue the premier for libel.
(Things got even more intense earlier today. Jama returned to the legislature to give a full-throated endorsement of the Palestinian position, called Israel an "Apartheid" state and was eventually booted out of the NDP caucus by leader Marit Stiles, who'd clearly had enough of Jama's freelancing. As Jama exited the legislature, tempers flared in a clash between her supporters and the media, and a mini-melee ensued. Don't try telling anyone that foreign affairs doesn't matter at Queen's Park.)
Meanwhile, Ford’s statement seemed to be, at the very least, a bad overreach. Whether it’s legally libellous is another matter. This past week, political advisor Warren Kinsella said when your opponent is on fire, you don’t call the fire department. You let them burn. But by piling on, Ford has now put himself at the centre of the story, is now more on the defensive, and has brought numerous defenders of Jama out of the shadows.
At least for now, Ford seems to have beat back the Greenbelt crisis. But by indulging in that other side of his personality, he may have overreached, thrown a lifeline to his political opponents, and reminded Ontarians of the guy who too often goes too far.
Steve Paikin is a member of the TVO bargaining unit of the Canadian Media Guild that is on strike. He is writing a weekly column for The Trillium during the labour dispute.
