Progressive Conservative Ontario Premier Doug Ford has expressed some advice to Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre — don’t romance the “extreme” right.Ford, speaking to Rick Bell of the Calgary Herald, weighed in on how he thought the federal Conservative leader could rack up more votes.“It can't be one extreme or the other extreme,” said Ford.“You can’t be far left or hardcore right.”“Sometimes the truth hurts.”Poilievre, who lost his seat in Carleton after the April 28 vote but continues to lead the party from outside Parliament, is running in the rural riding of Battle River-Crowfoot in a byelection on August 18. The Conservative MP elected in the riding with an 80% finish, Damien Kurek, stepped down after the election to make room for Poilievre to run.Poilievre will also be facing a Conservative leadership review in January..WATCH: Smith, Ford give Carney ‘benefit of the doubt’ on pipelines — but one is not enough.Ford, speaking to Bell as they serendipitously found themselves sitting beside one another at an event, upheld his own conservative values, which he says he and his whole family have had since birth. He said it’s all well and good to be a “fiscal conservative” — but warned about being too socially conservative.“First of all, our family has always been staunch Conservatives. We joke around. When we were all born, my four siblings, we had a ‘C’ stamped on our forehead. We’ve never voted anything but Conservative,” said Ford.“I would always promote being a fiscal conservative but you’ve got to have a social heart too. You can’t be hardcore right. That’s not Canada, hardcore right.”“And you can’t just govern based on your personal beliefs. You have to govern based on what the people want. That’s how you get elected. You can’t be radical left or radical right.”“Everyone agrees we’ve got to be prudent fiscal managers because, if we’re prudent fiscal managers, all of that money we’re saving or creating we invest it into healthcare, into education, into infrastructure. People want to make sure we have enough money to take care of healthcare, social services, and other areas.”.WATCH: Poilievre calls on Carney to explain financial 'falsehoods,' sell conflict holdings.Ford also took the opportunity to gush about Prime Minister Mark Carney, who he expressed confidence in both during the election and after the dust had settled.“There should be a law you can’t be prime minister unless you’ve been involved in a business at a high level, running it,” said Ford.Carney has been under intense scrutiny for his 100+ potential investment conflicts, which he refused to disclose before the election — most glaringly investments linked to Brookfield, an investment firm which he chaired prior to running as Liberal leader.The prime minister will undergo screening with the Ethics Commissioner to determine if the conflicts are unlawful.Ford believes Carney’s business background makes him a better leader.“You have to be able to understand meeting a payroll, meeting expenses, putting a marketing plan together. You have to understand procurement.”“He’s going to bring private sector people in there and he’s going to clean house.”.'I OWN NOTHING!': Carney grilled on Carney’s Brookfield holdings, using Bermuda as tax haven
