Ontario Premier Doug Ford says he doesn’t approve of the Progressive Conservative party reportedly sending an operative to spy on Bonnie Crombie while she was on vacation in Jamaica.
According to reporting by The Trillium and Policorner, the PCs used party money to travel to Jamaica in 2023 for the purposes of keeping tabs on then newly-elected Liberal leader Bonnie Crombie.
Political parties in Ontario are funded by donations and taxpayer subsidies.
Global News has not independently verified the allegations.
At a news conference in Guelph, Ont., Thursday, Ford was asked about the allegations. “I just found out about it yesterday, I’ve talked to the party about it,” Ford said. “It was $3,000 of the party’s money and I didn’t know until yesterday, but talk to the party, I don’t approve of it.”
Global News reached out to both the PC Party and Crombie, but did not receive a response.
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When pressed on not knowing about the expense, Ford said, “I don’t watch every single dollar when I’m in the middle of a campaign … I rely on our team to make sure that they spend it appropriately.”
Ford was pressed on the issue again.
“I wouldn’t do it, but again things happen, it’s no different than myself when the media follows me down to Florida, they follow me to Chicago, New Jersey and so on at a higher cost, but you know something, it’s politics, it was $3,000, I found out yesterday and that’s it.”
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Reaction from the opposition has been swift.
In a statement, interim Ontario Liberal leader John Fraser called the situation “beyond inappropriate” and said that Ford needs to explain “why he thought it was acceptable to orchestrate having a woman stalked out of the country while she was on a personal trip.”
The NDP also weighed in, with Leader Marit Stiles saying on X that “spying on a woman who is one of your political opponents on her private vacation is creepy Trump-style politics that has no place here.”
Stiles added that “heads need to roll.”
Doug Ford was a hash dealer. Not a crack user.
Hey John, maybe lay off the judgment. He used crack once. Plenty of politicians in Canada and the USA have admitted to worse.
For those readers that are unfamiliar with the Jamaica, Crombie was staying in Montego Bay, one of the hotel charges is in Negril which is an 1 hour commuter flight or 3-4 hour bus ride. Pretty difficult to spy on the newly elected Lib party leader from Negril. So Ford’s spymaster decided to add a little R&R on either the Ontario tax payers’ dime or PC parties (as Ford himself claims). Think twice about donating to the PCs when you hard earned money is being used for travel and leisure (unless you are looking to get property in the Green Belt rezoned). Ford must be taking a page out the Trumpsters playing dumb rule book. Pigs at the trough. His brother may have been a crackhead however he did do away with wasteful spending – unlike his older brother.
Ford makes it sound like all parties use spies to get a ahead.All Fords talk about Trump spying on Canadians,Trump,Trump,Trump,yet nothing about China doing the same thing for yrs.they’re the threat
The media is really going to make a deal of this? The liberal media, urged on by lefty councilors, paid people to follow Doug Ford’s brother everywhere even before he was infamous. The man could not even walk into a KFC without being harassed. All that negativity contributed to his future spiral.
Funny way of saying they went on vacay. on our dime of course.
…just like trump, ford pretends it is nothing. Just like trump, he accepts no responsibility nor does he say ANYONE will be held responsible. Just like trump, he deflects and tries to pass it off by comparing it to media that cover him for news services. Poor boy, he is always the victim…just….like…trump.
Dirtbag Dougie at again. The wrong brother died.