doug ford premier ontario

Doug Ford says he's running for Ontario PC leader from mom's basement

Well, it's official. Doug Ford is throwing his hat into the ring for leader of Ontario's Progressive Conservative Party.

This means that he can no longer run for Mayor of Toronto – at least not until the provincial race is over (though, theoretically, he could still jump in again at the last minute.)

Ford announced his provincial leadership bid from his mother's basement in Etobicoke around noon on Monday, vowing to "clean up the mess" and save Ontario's PC party from falling into the hands of "elites."

"The McGuinty-Wynne Liberals have destroyed Ontario's economy," wrote Ford on Twitter following the announcement. "Life in this province is unaffordable... The hardworking taxpayers of this Province deserve better."

Ford, the brother of late former Toronto Mayor Rob Ford, has set up a website for his campaign in which he refers to himself as a "Canadian businessman and politician."

This site doesn't include much at this point aside from an input form for voters to register their support.

Reaction to the idea of Ford as Ontario's Premier (should he win the provincial election this June) has been harsh, swift and filled with talk of basements.

On the one hand, running for provincial party leader news means that Ford won't be focused on running for Mayor of Toronto this spring.

"I had every intention of running for mayor of this great city," he said during his press conference on Monday. But alas, he's chosen provincial politics instead.

On the other hand, the potential leader of our entire province just held a press conference from his mom's basement.

This has largely overshadowed most of everything else being said about Ford on Twitter right now.

Despite the joking, political buffs are taking Ford's move quite seriously.

The former city councilor is seeing his fair share of #FordNation supporters in his own feed, and they don't care one bit about where he runs his campaign from. 

Hey, if a reality TV star can become President of The United States, surely a politician can host press conferences from their mom's basements and win.

We've seen stranger things happen with politicians in this city (and family.) At the very least, this is going to be an entertaining run.

Heck, it already is.

Lead photo by

Bruce Reeve


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