Doug Ford

Douglas Robert Ford Jr. (born November 20, 1964) is a Canadian politician and businessman who has served as the 26th premier of Ontario and as leader of the Progressive Conservative (PC) Party of Ontario since 2018. He represents the Toronto riding of Etobicoke North in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario. Alongside his brother Randy, Ford co-owns Deco Labels and Tags, a printing business operating in Canada and the United States founded by their father, Doug Ford Sr., who served as a Member of Provincial Parliament (MPP) from 1995 to 1999. Ford was a Toronto city councillor for Ward 2 Etobicoke North from 2010 to 2014 at the same time that his brother, Rob Ford, was mayor of Toronto. Ford ran in the 2014 Toronto mayoral election, placing second to John Tory. In 2018, Ford entered provincial politics and won the Progressive Conservative Party leadership election held that year. He has led the party to three consecutive majority governments during his tenure as party leader in the 2018, 2022, and 2025 general elections. As premier, Ford decreased the size of the Toronto City Council, responded to the COVID-19 pandemic, granted extra powers to designated Ontario mayors through the Strong Mayors, Building Homes Act, enacted the Your Health Act (Bill 60) to expand the use of private healthcare services, responded to the imposition of U.S. tariffs on Canadian goods, and became embroiled in controversy over the Greenbelt scandal. Ford's rhetoric and policies were characterized as conservative and right-wing populist during his years in Toronto municipal politics and his early years as premier, but since 2020 and with the need to work with the federal Liberal government during the pandemic, the Freedom Convoy protests, and U.S. president Donald Trump's tariffs against Canada, political commentators have noted his gradual shift to the political centre...