Doug Ford says he’s not bothered by abysmal approval ratings
Just 27 per cent of recent poll respondents said they approve of how the premier governs the province
It would appear that Premier Doug Ford’s private jet purchase and SimCityesque Ontario Place redesign have caught up with him. Or maybe it was the Greenbelt scandal, or the OSAP cuts, or pushing through changes to Freedom of Information laws in order to severely limit transparency.
Whatever the reason, a recent poll showed that Ford’s approval rating has plummeted, with just 27 per cent of respondents saying they approve of how the premier governs the province. Sixty-five per cent said they believe Ontario is “on the wrong track,” and sixty-five per cent also said they have little or no confidence in how Ford manages tax dollars.
Related: Doug Ford ordered government employees back to the office, then worked from home himself
Speaking with CTV News this week, Ford insisted he isn’t bothered by disastrous poll results. “In politics, you’re up, you’re down,” Ford said. “And you know, we’re still in a strong position, and we’re going to keep moving forward.”
Many felt the province’s $28.9-million private plane purchase signalled that Ford had lost touch with the average Ontarian. He told CTV News that this isn’t the case, and reiterated how often he gives his phone number to members of the public. “There’s no politician in the world that gives out his number and is as accessible as I am, and I call as many people as I can back. I get hundreds and hundreds of messages a day, and I hear the people. No one has ever done that. No one will ever do it,” he said.
“I’m behind 9,323 messages,” he added, reportedly holding out his phone to prove it. Wait a second, can we see that thing?
Related: Doug Ford says only “crazy lefties” don’t like his Ontario Place ideas
Carly Lewis is a journalist whose work has appeared in the New York Times and the New York Times Magazine, Vanity Fair, Wired, Interview Magazine, Pitchfork, Elle, and Maclean’s, where she is a contributing editor. Her work has been recognized by the National Magazine Awards and the Digital Publishing Awards. She reports on city life, culture—including what people do online—politics, art and crime. She received the Dave Greber Freelance Writers Award for “The Murder of Ashley Wadsworth,” an investigative feature about a Canadian teenager who was killed by a man she met on social media, published by Maclean’s.
