Doug Ford won't seek Ontario PC leadership, but don't expect him to disappear

Doug Ford wants you to know that the Ontario Progressive Conservative Party still needs an enema; he just won’t be the one leading the expedition.

The former Toronto city councillor, one-time mayoral hopeful and self-described influence peddler announced on Thursday that, after weeks of contemplation, he would not be running to be the party’s next leader.

But while Ford has closed the door on a leadership bid in spectacular fashion, he in no way implied he would be stepping out of the political arena. Instead, expect the one-term Toronto city councillor to slip into the role of political rainmaker.

“I’ll be out there campaigning aggressively, bringing the Ford Nation base – hopefully as many as we can – over to the PC Party and making sure the PC Party is changing its ways. There are a lot of changes to be made in the province,” he said during a scheduled press conference on Thursday.

It may seem odd for a politician to schedule a press conference to announce they are not doing something, but the Ford family has rarely done things according to a pre-determined script.

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So when Ford, who placed second in October’s mayoral election, ended his weeks-long flirtation with provincial party leadership, it almost made sense for him to do it in the most public venue possible.

“I’m here to announce that I won’t be running for PC leadership. We have five great candidates, I am going to support each and every one of them. I feel they can make the change. I will be instrumental in helping them, day in and day out,” he said.

Political analyst Marcel Wieder told Yahoo Canada News that he didn’t expect Ford to announce a leadership bid. With three-and-a-half years remaining before the next provincial election, and another four-year term before it is likely a new party leader would topple the sitting government, it would be too much time in the shadow for someone who craves the centre ring.

“I don’t see Doug Ford sitting around on the opposition benches for four to seven-and-a-half years. It is not his personality to play second fiddle on the benches,” said Wieder, president of the Aurora Strategy Group.

“He would prefer to be going into government where he can run a ministry and make decisions.”

Doug Ford is a bit of a political enigma. During his four years as a Toronto city council he exhibited spates of arrogance, was prone to outbursts and was frequently combative with colleagues and the public alike. Yet he still commands a strong base of support.

Doug Ford ultimately replaced his brother, outgoing Mayor Rob Ford, in the summer's municipal election when the latter became too sick to continue his campaign.

Following his defeat to John Tory, Doug Ford began hinting at a provincial run.

“We need to clean the PC party out . . . from top to bottom,” he told reporters in October. He has previously said the party needed an "enema."

Ford has long held aspirations for the Ontario premiership, hinting on more than one occasion that his brief political career was destined for Queen's Park. And on Thursday he refused to close the door to a return to the ballot.

“I will not give up on running for office. I want to take a little break,” he said. “I want to play a vital role on whoever is the leader, whether it is Christine or any of the other four. I will stand beside them and support them 100 per cent.”

Doug went on to say he wouldn’t “rule out” a return to municipal politics, but that he’d like to focus on Queen’s Park. With an election little more than three years away, he said there was still a chance he’d have his name on the ballot in Etobicoke North.

Doug said there were “five very capable candidates” and he would support all of them. With his next breath, however, he announced he’d be backing frontrunner Christine Elliott, an eight-year Conservative MPP and the widow of former federal Finance Minister (and Ford family ally) Jim Flaherty.

“Christine, and the late Jim Flaherty, are very close friends,” Ford said. “Loyalty means everything to us. Christine is an extremely, extremely bright individual and she can drive this province forward.”

With Ford officially out of the leadership race, the only question that remains is what sway he will have on Ontario politics going forward.

Wieder said Ford will continue wielding his influence behind the scenes, giving speeches, attending rallies and possibly even returning to his former duties as a talk radio host.

“He has not said that he is going to go into the night. He is still going to be active, he is still going to be part of the political process,” he said.

“There is a number of other things that are available to him to keep Ford Nation active and engaged.”

There remains no question that Ford has a base of support in the Greater Toronto Area. He received 330,000 votes in support of his mayoral pitch - 33.7 per cent of all ballots cast, and vocal supporters reacted with anger when he eventually conceded his loss to Tory.

Shortly after his municipal loss, a website dedicated to "drafting Doug Ford" to provincial politics went live. Its creator has remained anonymous, though the site claims to be the impetus of "grassroots PC members."

The current favourite to replace former leader Tim Hudak is Elliott, MPP for Whitby-Oshawa. Elliot has already received key endorsements from party leaders, including former premier Bill Davis.

A Forum Research poll conducted earlier this month found that 26 per cent of respondents believed Elliot would win a leadership race even if it included Ford; 18 per cent sided with Ford.

Other candidates for party leadership include MPPs Vic Fedeli, Monte McNaughton, Lisa MacLeod and Patrick Brown.

Wieder says it is more than likely Doug will run again someday. A municipal run is possible. Should incoming Toronto mayor John Tory flounder, it would open a window for either Doug or Rob, who won back his old council seat in October, to run again in four years.

And depending who wins PC leadership next May, he could decide the time is right to make the leap. Either way, the Ford influence on the Ontario political scene has not come to an end.

“I think the Ford brand has proved to be very resilient, as we saw in the municipal election,” Wieder said. “I think we have not heard the last of the Fords.”