TORONTO — Premier Doug Ford is criticizing Ontario NDP Leader Marit Stiles after she suggested he could face imprisonment at the end of his current mandate, calling the remark “Trump-style” rhetoric that has no place in provincial politics.The exchange stems from comments Stiles made Monday while speaking with the Queen’s Park Press Gallery, where she outlined her intention to launch a public inquiry into the Ford government if the NDP forms government after the next provincial election.“Don’t worry about it Doug, when I’m premier, I’m going to call a public inquiry into all of this,” Stiles said. “Maybe you don’t get another mandate because you’ll be in prison, Doug.”The remarks prompted immediate backlash from Progressive Conservative members, who argued the statement crossed a line.Government House Leader Steve Clark described the comments as inappropriate and accused Stiles of adopting divisive political language.“Yesterday we saw the Leader of the Opposition invoke dangerous American-style Trumpian rhetoric that quite frankly has no place in this Legislature,” Clark said. “That type of rhetoric lowers the tone in this House. It has no place in this Legislature, our province, or our country.”Ford also condemned the statement, calling it “unacceptable” and drawing comparisons to rhetoric associated with Donald Trump.“She doesn’t have to apologize, whatever she wants to do,” Ford said. “But we aren’t going to lower ourselves to the Trump-style rhetoric she’s feeling right now.”.The premier has previously faced criticism for his own language in political settings. During the 2018 election campaign, former premier Kathleen Wynne accused Ford of using rhetoric similar to Trump’s after he suggested more Liberals could end up in jail. Ford has also made pointed remarks about political opponents, including former NDP leader Andrea Horwath and Liberal MPP Stephanie Smyth.Asked about his own past comments, Ford said that while heated exchanges can occur in the legislature, Stiles’ remarks went too far.“Words get said inside the legislature, but she stepped over the line,” he said.Stiles rejected calls to apologize and defended her comments, accusing the government of hypocrisy.“I think it’s very rich for this government to talk about this being Trumpian or MAGA,” Stiles said. “They’re clutching their pearls when this government is under RCMP criminal investigation for matters related to the carve out of the greenbelt.”The reference relates to an ongoing Royal Canadian Mounted Police investigation into aspects of the government’s Greenbelt land decisions.According to Global News sources within the NDP said Stiles’ remarks were not pre-planned and reflect questions the party has raised with the RCMP about whether changes to Freedom of Information laws could constitute obstruction of justice in the Greenbelt probe.Stiles added that her comments mirror concerns she believes are held by some voters.“I think I’m saying out loud what a lot of people are saying quietly,” she said.Other parties also weighed in on the exchange, with Mike Schreiner cautioning against escalating rhetoric.“The Ontario Greens don’t engage in that kind of polarizing rhetoric, because I think it drives engagement in politics down,” Schreiner said.
