In Toronto, nominations open April 3 in the byelection to replace John Tory as mayor. Nominations will close on May 12, a little over five weeks later.
If Premier Doug Ford would rather be mayor of Toronto, he has plenty of time to resign his seat as an MPP, and officially enter the race. If he would rather keep the job that he currently has, he ought to stay out of the race, as opposed to just saying that he will before offering his opinion publicly on who people should or should not vote for.
When the election was first called, the premier said he would stay out of the election. Given his past instances of becoming very much involved in a Toronto election — to the point of changing the fundamental structure of it — it would have been fair to be skeptical of his devotion to neutrality.
Of course, there was barely time for that skepticism to take hold, seeing as in the same press conference where he vowed to remain uninvolved, he suggested the city was facing disaster if a “lefty” mayor got in.
Ford responded to the initial rumours of former Toronto police chief Mark Saunders running by saying he did a great job as chief and it would be good if he "got in.” It wasn’t clear if Ford meant “got in” to the race for the mayor’s office, but neither seems like a neutral stance because they’re not.
More recently, in response to questions about public safety and violent incidents on the TTC, Ford’s response was to suggest that people should not vote for candidates who want to defund the police.
If this is Ford’s idea of staying out of the race, one wonders what he might consider being involved.
The truth is that Ford's insistence that he will remain neutral while doing anything but is less than surprising. No doubt, in the premier’s mind, as long as he doesn’t come out and actually endorse one specific candidate, then he has stayed out of the race. That is a narrow understanding of neutrality, but would align with his past views on conflicts of interest.
He did not see an issue with land developers donating to his daughter’s stag and doe, because it was at a private event. He did not see an issue with appointing guests at her subsequent wedding to board positions on provincial agencies, because the wedding was a private event.
Unlike conflicts of interests relating to donations or appointments, there is no legislation that governs a premier’s conduct during a municipal election. If Ford wanted to come out and endorse a candidate or actively campaign against another one, there is nothing in law preventing him from doing so.
Premier Ford — whose political instincts are better than he often gets credit for — likely understands that such blunt participation might not sit well with voters. Instead, Ford is trying to have it both ways, coming as close as he thinks he can to being involved while still being able to say he never endorsed or discredited a specific candidate.
Ford of all people would do well to remember the importance of working with whoever is elected in Toronto. His own collaborative and at times cordial relationship with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and federal Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland is good for politics and good for policy.
There are plenty of ways for Ford to be credibly involved in the campaign. He can talk about how city issues relate to provincial priorities, he can encourage people to vote and to research the candidates and issues before they do, he can use his considerable media profile to raise issues that he doesn’t think are getting enough attention. He can do all of that without once mentioning a single candidate or trying to influence the electorate to vote for or against any of them.
He can also resign and run himself if he must.
If neither of those options are appealing, there is what would be the most unlikely choice for Doug Ford. He can keep his opinion to himself, and allow the voters of Toronto to make up their own minds.
Andrew Tumilty has crafted strategic communications and advice for federal and provincial Liberal campaigns, and for John Tory’s 2018 and 2022 mayoral campaigns. He is a senior consultant for strategic communications and issues management with Enterprise Canada in Toronto. Follow him on Twitter at @AndrewTumilty
