Ontario Progressive Conservative leader Doug Ford has been busy attempting to appeal to all demographics ahead of Thursday’s election, from his go-to cheap alcohol campaign to worshiping at a Sikh temple.
Premier Ford on January 28 called a snap election, stating at the time he believed he would gain an even stronger mandate to square off with President Donald Trump in an imminent trade war.
Yet, rather than focus on the issues Ontarians are concerned with such as high taxes, expensive housing and a tanking economy, Ford falls back on his alcohol-based campaign.
Ford won a majority government in the 2018 Ontario election after campaigning on a “buck-a-beer” promise. On Monday he promised to lower the minimum price on liquor.
“That’s like a tax break,” said Ford at a press conference.
“We're going to make sure that we reduce the cost of these taxes on alcohol.”
Ford’s remarks came after he spent the weekend cosplaying as a Sikh worshipper at the Gurdwara Guru Nanak Sikh Mission Centre in Brampton.
As Sikhs don’t drink alcohol, Ford apparently attempted to appeal to them through other means.
Video footage shows the premier bowing twice and offering money at the altar of the Sikh god, wearing a yellow turban, or a “basanti dastar.” According to Wikipedia, the yellow colour symbolizes a “revolutionary movement.”
Federal Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre last August visited the same temple, wearing a blue "dastar," which traditionally symbolizes preparing for war and fighting prejudice.
Democracy Watch on Tuesday posted a 2022 to 2025 “report card” on Ford’s governance — rating him an “F” across all categories and publishing “Dirty Dozen” list of what the group calls “seriously unethical, secretive and undemocratic actions by Doug Ford’s PC government.”
Democracy Watch shined the light on Ford calling a “self-interested snap election for no good reason,” refusing media questions, the “Greenbelt scandal” in which Ford wants to build houses on Crown land, election campaign funding and lobbying rule changes, illegally hiding records, “weakening Ontario’s judicial appointment system” and “violating charter rights,” and plans to redevelop Ontario place as a foreign-owned private spa that would cost taxpayers and additional $1.8 billion.
Democracy Watch provides receipts for each claim on its Ford report card.
