TORONTO (NEWS 1130) – Conservative Leader Stephen Harper has Doug Ford’s full support in the upcoming federal election.
That is, unless he has the chance to replace him.
Ford told Bloomberg News on Friday that he hopes Harper will be “prime minister for the next 20 years.”
But if Harper had to step down?
“I never say never in politics. But as of right now I am supporting the prime minister 100 per cent. I’m going to be out there – and have been out there – door-knocking and helping out every which way I can.”
His comments came after his younger brother, former mayor, and current city councillor Rob Ford said Doug Ford would run if Harper stepped down.
“Doug said if it’s a minority government, Harper’s going to step down. He wants to run for leadership,” Rob Ford said in an interview Thursday.
“If it’s one member, one vote, he said, you know, he’s as popular as anyone else across Canada.”
Doug Ford finished second to John Tory in the 2014 mayoral election and is not on city council. After the loss, he said he would represent the Ontario PC party. He quickly backed away from those statements, saying he would not make a leadership bid. Rob Ford, who was battling cancer and a crack cocaine scandal, did not run for mayor in 2014. Instead, he ran for and won the Ward 2 councillor seat.
Tensions between the Fords and the federal Conservatives have been strained in the past, which could hurt Doug Ford’s chances to represent the party. In 2013, at the height of Rob Ford’s crack cocaine scandal, prominent federal Conservative Jason Kenney said Ford should step down.
Harper is currently embroiled in a scandal involving Sen. Mike Duffy, his former chief of staff Nigel Wright, and whether the prime minister knew about a $90,000 payment.
Doug Ford called Harper “as honest as the day is long” and said average voters believe him on the Duffy issue, Bloomberg News reported.
“I think it’s pretty clear, even to the common folk I speak to, the prime minister didn’t know,” the elder Ford brother said. “It’s very simple. This guy – the prime minister – is a straight shooter. He definitely does not put up with garbage like that.”