TORONTO — The brother of former Toronto mayor Rob Ford visited the Ontario legislature Tuesday, but denied speculation — that he helped generate — that he wants to seek the Progressive Conservative nomination in an upcoming byelection.
Doug Ford spoke to a Toronto newspaper about the Scarborough-Rouge River riding, vacant since Liberal Bas Balkissoon's recent resignation, saying no politician anywhere has fought harder for the east-end Toronto region than he and his late brother.
The former city councillor did not confirm that he would seek the Tory nomination in the yet-to-be-called byelection, but told the Toronto Sun that when he ran for mayor in 2014 after stepping in for the ailing Rob Ford, he won that area with the highest percentage outside his own ward in west-end Etobicoke.
He arrived at the legislature Tuesday for a scheduled meeting with Progressive Conservative MPP Lisa MacLeod and expressed surprise that reporters were waiting to speak to him.
"Somehow this got blown out of proportion," Ford said. The purpose of the meeting was just to have a coffee with his friend MacLeod, he said.
"My priority is to make sure Renata (his brother's widow) and the kids and my mom and the family are taken care of. Just want to keep busy."
PC Leader Patrick Brown said party headquarters told him there is no meeting scheduled with Ford. The Ford family's political base — the so-called Ford Nation — is in Etobicoke, and Brown said he was surprised to hear the former city councillor is interested in Scarborough.
"It will be an open nomination and I understand there is more interest than we've ever seen before," Brown said. "I think there's 10 or 15 candidates expressing interest. Doug has expressed interest in Etobicoke before, but this is the first I've heard of Scarborough."
Last year, Ford endorsed Christine Elliott in the PC leadership race — which he had also at one point considered joining.
Ford was a staunch defender of his brother, who died two weeks ago of cancer, as the one-time mayor was in the midst of an international media maelstrom for smoking crack cocaine. But he also came under fire in his own right, including for reportedly saying a home for developmentally disabled youth had "ruined the community."
