WATCH: Ford calls conservative policy group “radical right,” “yahoos”

Ontario Premier Doug Ford called long-time policy experts involved in the Project Ontario initiative, “radical rights” and “yahoos.”

Ontario Premier Doug Ford called long-time policy experts involved in the Project Ontario initiative, “radical rights” and “yahoos.” The initiative aims to push Ford to be more fiscally responsible, boost the economy, and fix other issues, such as long wait times in the healthcare system.

Ford was asked during a press conference on Monday if he would be open to any of the group’s ideas, as he has repeatedly said he is open to ideas across the political spectrum. The premier responded, saying they “sound like a bunch of radical rights.”

“We’re prudent fiscal managers. First of all, I’m tough on crime. I’m a prudent fiscal manager. I don’t know who these yahoos are, some radical right group probably tied to maybe a federal party or something,” Ford said. “I don’t have a clue… I’m just saying, who knows who they’re tied to.”

Ford continued by saying that he’s going to focus on his government’s agenda, which he said was protecting “the people”, protecting the economy, creating jobs, building infrastructure and building the healthcare system.

Project Ontario’s website is promoting an event in Toronto on Tuesday, featuring key speakers such as Adam Zivo, a drug policy expert; Josh Dehaas, a Toronto-based lawyer and former journalist; Ginny Roth, a public affairs strategist at Crestview Strategy and Pierre Poilievre’s former Director of Communications; and several commentators who work with the Macdonald-Laurier Institute.

The page outlines some of the key policy issues the conference aims to address, including Ontario’s low ranking in productivity growth among provinces, its low GDP compared to other countries and U.S. states, and housing costs.

The group advocates for cutting overregulation and high taxes in housing, and is promoting “meaningful and affordable” school choice in the province. It also notes the Ford government’s substantial healthcare spending, despite being one of the worst-performing universal healthcare systems in the world.

Zivo, one of the speakers of the event, told True North that he doesn’t view Project Ontario as a “radical right” group in “any sense.”

“The people involved tend to be more on the moderate side, and all they want is some sense of principles from this provincial government, which seems to lack any principles at all,” Zivo said. “Ford claims that he doesn’t know who these people are. I think that doesn’t seem very genuine, because there is a website, and the website clearly lists the people who are involved, and these are not random Canadians.”

He noted that many of the people who are involved in Project Ontario are leading commentators within mainstream Canadian conservatism.

“We are not talking about random political commentators who only have a podcast. We’re talking about seasoned policy and communication professionals who have been trusted voices on conservative politics for quite some time,” Zivo said. “I think Doug Ford’s decision to attack Project Ontario rather than to listen to their very legitimate concerns underlines his flawed approach to governance and his inability to follow any consistent principles in the long term.”

He said Ford’s decision to vilify rather than listen to the policy experts will not be “conducive” to a better provincial policy environment. Zivo said Ford’s response will likely lead him to “double down” on many of the “failed policies” that he’s pushed that do not align with moderate conservative values.

Zivo noted that the Ontario government has fewer regulations around the distribution of “safer supply” drugs than B.C.’s NDP government. He added that Premier David Eby’s government in B.C. is also building more housing than Ontario’s so-called “progressive conservative” government.

Dehaas expressed that the speakers are all either “small c-conservatives,” libertarians, or from non-partisan policy groups who just believe the province needs “fresh ideas.”

“The goal is just to spark a discussion about potential policies that the province could use to get out of its current funk. For example, while Premier Ford has been tough on crime, the justice system isn’t working very well, and there’s a lot more the province can do about that,” Dehaas told True North. “We’re really just focused on putting forward ideas for anyone who will listen.”

Alexander Brown, the director of the National Citizens Coalition, a non-profit conservative taxpayer advocacy group and contributor to Project Ontario, told True North that he found Ford’s comments “unfortunate” and “unbecoming” and that they explained why groups such as Project Ontario have organized in the first place.

“This assembly of experts, and those worried about the direction of the province and the failure to course-correct on troubling trends like the world’s largest sub-sovereign debt, soaring youth unemployment, and flat-lining economic metrics—they’re no radicals,” he said.

“I’d encourage and remind these entrenched interests that they do not own the conservative movement in Ontario, despite what their electoral record may say,” Brown said. “They should be commended for their record at the ballot box; no one is litigating that success. But on policy and performance, no government should ever be above scrutiny. Even one that claims to be conservative.”