Living up to the hype (or not)
Victory laps?
Presented by your favourite childhood destination, reimagined
DOUG FORD is “disappointed” he didn’t get the bigger blue blowout he was angling for. BONNIE CROMBIE is shoring up supporters as some wonder how long she can survive as leader. MARIT STILES is laying low for now, but one of her MPPs is making waves with a bold anti-Ford proposal.
Here’s how last week’s election is rippling out.
It’s been a relatively quiet few days since Thursday’s vote, but Ford will be front and centre this morning at a mining conference in Toronto.
Reporters are champing at the bit: Unlike in 2018 and 2022, Ford didn’t hold a post-election presser this time — though he did swing by a WWE event and got a ceremonial belt from TRIPLE H (meanwhile his office insists he wasn’t on that chartered flight to Florida).
Ford may not have been feeling very chatty because it turns out he was “disappointed” that his historic third-majority win didn’t result in the bigger mandate or the 90-plus seats he was hoping for. I suggested as much on Friday. Insiders then confirmed it in the Star:
“‘It was all about expectations,’ said one senior Tory…Adding insult to injury, they lost two incumbents, including in Etobicoke, the heartland of the so-called ‘Ford Nation.’”
Indeed, PC pollster NICK KOUVALIS seemed relieved after “a lot of winning and a bit of losing.” He posted: “Thank God it’s over” and that “it’s time to hang up the skates.” (Things got pretty heated between pollsters online during the campaign.)
Labour pains: While a third consecutive majority is a rare feat in Ontario, some Tories are feeling that same disappointment — especially because they failed to nab the labour vote from New Democrats. “We went hard in the union-belt — Windsor, Niagara, London, Hamilton, Thunder Bay — and we came back with Hamilton Mountain” only, one senior campaign organizer told me.
Can Crombie carry on?: BONNIE CROMBIE is vowing to stay on and shoring up supporters as some vultures in the party start circling.
A good-news-bad-news situation: The Grits may have gained recognized party status and nearly $4 million in the annual taxpayer-funded per-vote subsidy — but she didn’t win her seat in Mississauga East-Cooksville, and that has some questioning how long she’ll last at the helm.
While you were weekending: Crombie met with the party’s executive council, candidates and caucus (scooped here) and received unanimous support as leader.
But, and it’s a biggie: She’s expected to face a leadership review before the year is up, so, if you’re a card-carrying Liberal, expect Crombie to come to a riding association near you in a bid to keep her gig.
As one Crombie-supporting strategist put it to the Star: “The biggest challenge Bonnie faces is explaining how a year of preparation for an early election yielded no significant results. How can the former mayor of Mississauga lose every seat in Mississauga, including her own, and still expect party members to support her continuing as leader?”
Over in NDP world: We’re expecting to hear from MARIT STILES later in the week.
Another good-news-bad-news deal: The NDP held on to Official Opposition status despite placing third in the popular vote — and that’s got one of their MPP-elects pitching a progressive coalition.
“I’m not interested in running in another election against other progressives when we are competing with each other,” Waterloo rep CATHERINE FIFE told The Spec. She’s appealing to Liberal and NDPers to stop splitting the anti-Ford vote.
A message from Therme Canada:
Have you heard the news? Exciting plans are on the horizon for Ontario Place!
Therme Canada is working alongside multiple stakeholders and partners to create the ultimate family-friendly, tropical oasis right in the heart of our favourite city.
Therme is helping to reimagine a new Ontario Place. One that will give millennials all the 90s nostalgia feels. After all, if bike shorts and fanny packs can make a comeback, so can a waterpark at Ontario Place.
Of course, we’re not just a waterpark. A lot of those millennials are parents now, and sometimes Mom and Dad just need some “me time”. So, get ready to Play, Relax and Restore at Therme Canada Ontario Place and choose your own wellness adventure.
Bomb down the waterslides with your kiddos — or your friends’ kiddos for peak auntie and uncle goals. Forget there's a blizzard outside while you hang out poolside with your bestie, sipping your favourite drink and capturing the perfect shot for the ‘gram. Feel the stress of your last meeting melt away in a soothing sauna session. Craving outdoor space? Therme’s got you. We’re building a 16-acre public park and sandy beach that will be free for everyone to use.
TL;DR: Therme Canada Ontario Place will be the perfect spot to reminisce about your childhood while making new memories with your own kids. Full circle moments for the win.
Ready to unlock those memories? Sign up for the Therme newsletter and be automatically entered to win 1 of 3 free annual subscriptions to the Queen’s Park Observer:
HAPPENING TODAY
DOUG FORD’S MONDAY — 11 a.m.: The Premier-elect will address the big mining convention, put on every year by the Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada, in Toronto. And yes, he will take reporters’ questions after.
The House is out — but not for much longer. MPPs are expected to return by the end of the month. Before they can be sworn in, their names have to be printed in the Ontario Gazette. Getting Gazetted typically takes about two weeks, so swearings-in could start as soon as March 17 (a lucky day!).
There will be a Throne Speech after that and it’s expected to be a whirlwind session with a budget coming in short order — it wouldn’t be the best optics for the Ford government to delay after campaigning on the urgency of DONALD TRUMP’s tariff threat, the deadline for which is tomorrow.
CLIPPINGS
—POST-MORTEMS APLENTY: Much ink is being spilled on last week’s election results…
Over at The Hub, Sean Speer is hungry for some big legacy-making policies from the Tories, because “what’s the point of winning a mandate if you don’t do anything with it?”
The Globe and Mail’s Adam Radwanski lays out “How Doug Ford has overcome his liabilities to own the moment.” Marcus Gee notes how “Doug Ford’s Ontario election win puts him in a class of his own.”
In the Star: Martin Regg Cohn dissects “why all the leaders are licking their wounds”… Meanwhile, “Ford wins! But did everyone kind of lose?” muses Edward Keenan.
— HOW SHE DID IT: The Canadian Press talks to BOBBI ANN BRADY, the Independent who trounced the PCs for a second time in Haldimand-Norfolk. She scored the second-biggest-margin victory last week, behind Liberal TED HSU in Kingston and the Islands.
— CODE RED: “Nurses in the Niagara Health System are facing overwhelming patient loads that are undermining care and risk triggering staff burnout, according to internal hospital documents obtained by the Star and Investigative Journalism Bureau.”
SPOTTED AT THERME:
How to spend the day at Therme
ALSO SPOTTED:
At least one MPP-elect already soliciting donations…DOUG FORD’s election victory in lego form…Federal props from JUSTIN TRUDEAU, but no word yet from PIERRE POILIEVRE…MIKE MYERS takes a sartorial cue from Ford and dons a “Canada Is Not For Sale” t-shirt on SNL…CHAPPELL ROAN makes another appearance on the campaign trail (she’s also on Crombie’s playlist).
🍽️ LUNCH SPECIAL: The basement cafeteria is slinging butter chicken with rice and vegetables.
Are you a newly elected MPP? Let’s get to know each other! Drop me a line: sabrina@qpobserver.ca, or just reply to this email.
Cover image: @fordnation