Doug Ford tells crowd in Lindsay he will be back, as Premier

KAWARTHA LAKES-“I love Lindsay,” Doug Ford told the crowd. “I can’t wait to come back when I’m Premier.

Ford was speaking at the Howard Johnson Inn in Lindsay where about 150 people gathered to hear his vision for the party and the issues he will run on in the upcoming eleciton if he wins the leadership race.

Ford said he would “sanitize Queen’s Park from top to bottom.” “Kathleen Wynne has zero respect for the taxpayers” Ford told the crowd. ” She’s more concerned in Queen’s park about making sure all her buddies are taken care of than she is about the taxpayers.”  He went on to say Queen’s Park is “politically corrupt” from top to bottom.”  “We will get rid of the establishment that’s running the province, that includes our party by the way, be it the PC’s or the Liberals or the NDP.”

Former PC Leader Patrick Brown resigned amid allegations of sexual impropriety. He denied the allegations.  He is now in the running for his old job, one of five people vying for that same position.

“We are going to clean house, we are going to bring accountability and hold the bureauocrats and the politicians, the establishment the elites, accountable. As soon as I get down there, they they are done.”

And he’s going to start cleaning house with the Sex Ed curriculim, saying he would repeal it. “Sex ed should start at home, it shouldn’t start with the Liberal ideology breathing down our back day in and day out. That is going to be done immediatley.”  Ford says he would consult with parents about what they would like to see taught in schools.”  The sex ed curriculim has been a source of controversy since the Liberal government introduced an updated version of it in 2015.

28 year old Jocelyn Donaldson’s dad is a card carrying member of the PC party. She said they’ve been getting calls all week from leadership hopefuls asking for their vote. The family came all the way from Harcourt, two hours north of Lindsay, to hear what Ford had to say.  “I actually really quite liked him. I really need to do more research on everything but he sounds like he actually cares about us as people, that’s a huge asset for me.” she told Kawartha 411.”I’m looking for a leader to make improvements and make this a better place to live.”

Ford says Kathleen Wynne is on the way out, now the only decision these voters have to make is who is going to lead the PC party. “I respect all of my opponents, I really do. I don’t know Caroline (Mulroney) well but she is going to have a great future. I am very close friends with Christine (Elliott), very nice person. But we are going to have a clear choice, we are going to have Kathleen Wynne with all the insiders still same bureaucracy, same insiders as Kathleen Wynne.”  Ford explained. “We cant have that, we need a principled leader who is going to do what the people want, not what the polls want not what the Toronto Star says, that’s been dictating policy for years.”

Dora Burke came from Port Hope to hear Ford speak and she liked what sh heard. “He is the best person to be the Premier of Ontario for sure.” Burke told Kawartha 411. “I think he’s a strong leader and I think he works for the people, not for Queens Park.

“He stands for the people and it’s time Ontario had a change” said her husband Brian Burke.

The potential party leader also took a swipe at our healthcare system saying it is “broken”  He told the story of his mother having a slip and being taken to hospital. Ford said she waited for hours in the hallway.

Ford says he would do something with the provinces mounting debt load. “We are facing right now $12 billion dollars of interest every single year. That’s $320 billion dollars of debt, that’s the most indebted region for any state or province in the entire world.”  That money could be used to health care and infrastructure According to Ford.

He then gave everyone his direct phone line “If you ever have an issue please call me, I will return your call, just give me a few days.”

As he left the podium Ford told the crowd “This isn’t a nomination, it’s a movement, a movement of the people and with your support we can take back the province.”

Tanya Granic Allen is the newcomer to politics, throwing her hat in the ring near the end of the process.

A new leader for the PC Party will be chosen on March 10th.