doug ford speaking french

Doug Ford tells Ontario to stay home in 22 languages after people make fun of his French

Say what you will about Premier Doug Ford's ability (or inability) to successfully lead a province through the worst pandemic in a century, but at least he knows how to take a joke. 

The premier became the butt of a popular meme this week after he attempted to clarify some of the details surrounding his government's new stay-at-home order by saying the same thing he's been saying repeatedly, but this time in a different language:  "Restez à la maison."

And to say the message didn't quite have the intended effect would be an understatement.

Instead of clearing up the confusion so many were experiencing following the province's vague announcement, Ford's pronunciation gave many Ontarians a good laugh.

And now he's leaning into it. 

Thursday morning, Ford shared a video of himself saying "Stay at home" in 22 different languages, and the clip is accompanied by a caption that reads, "No matter what language you speak — or in my case try to — all of us need to stay home."

Ford then proceeds to say "stay at home" in 22 different languages in the video, including Cantonese, Italian, Spanish, Polish, Farsi, Tamil, Russian, Korean, and more. 

And just as he struggled with the French sentence, Ford's pronunciation in most cases sounds like he typed the phrase into Google Translate and just gave it shot.

But while it's clear that languages aren't exactly Ford's strong suit, it seems most Ontario residents are currently more concerned with the premier's ability to govern than they are with his ability to speak foreign languages.

"How do you say 'paid sick days' in all these languages," wrote one Ontario resident on Twitter in response, referring to the countless calls for legislated sick leave that have gone unanswered by Ford. 

"Y'all will do everything but what people need," wrote yet another frustrated resident. "About that paid sick leave. What are doing about it?"

"We are staying home," wrote Ontario-based musician Jeremy Taggart. "Why don't you do something about our LTC's instead of letting people die?"

Lead photo by

Doug Ford


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