Flipping the script, democratically
If you follow Ontario politics, or even if you don’t, you may have seen this headline going around.
Ford saying something ridiculous in the face of reality is nothing new, in fact, it is intentional and strategic.
I’ve been fighting Ford in various ways since 2013 professionally, when he was at city hall I was part of a grassroots group called Women in Toronto Politics, when he became Premier and cut city hall I was one of the protest organizers, I covered most of his first term as staff for the ONDP, and since then I have had non-profit and union clients impacted by his cuts in catastrophic ways.
The biggest hurdle I’ve seen in every instance is journalists, politicians, and organizations reacting to Ford’s predictable script instead of creating new ones.
Here is the script:
Distract the media and public from substantive policy failures, scandals, or opposition (especially around equity, Indigenous rights, or social services).
Reframe the narrative toward polarizing debates or law-and-order rhetoric, reducing accountability for the government’s actions.
Avoid direct engagement with the root causes of the controversies facing his administration.
The thing is, he often chooses abhorrent things to say that absolutely should be denounced. But collectively, we need to get better at keeping the issues he’s trying to hide front and center.
Here are some examples:
You may remember in 2014 Doug was in the news for saying some despicable things about group homes for children with autism "You've ruined the community... You can't destroy a community like this.". But what you may not remember is that these comments came precisely as the Rob Ford’s crack scandal was escalating. This comment was made right after a second video of Rob Ford smoking crack was released. In May-June Rob Ford took a health leave, when he returned in July council was moving to restrict his legislative power, and Doug came out with back to back headline distracting quotes: “You can be racist against people who have a drinking problem. You can be racist against people that eat little red apples.” regarding a confrontation his brother had during Canada day, and “He can go to hell, I don’t even care. This is not normal in democracy. It is a full out jihad against us right now.” when speaking about a father of an autistic son who filed an integrity complaint against Doug for his threatening behaviour.
In May 2024 Ford blamed immigrants for a school shooting with no evidence or indication from police that immigrants were at all involved. “You’re bringing your problems from everywhere else in the world, you’re bringing it to Ontario and you’re going after other Canadians… Before you plan on moving to Canada — don’t come to Canada if you’re going to start terrorizing neighbourhoods like this.”
He said this at a press conference with Prime Minister Trudeau at the opening of a vaccine plant, days after the school shooting.
At the time he was under fire for Bill 5 and enduring protests, media criticism, and strong opposition. This comment took over headlines and necessitated community organizations to step up and offset his harmful comments.
If you remember Doug Ford saying “If you’re healthy, get off your A-S-S and start working like everyone else is.” and the subsequent - correct - outrage you’re not alone. But did you know that this came up at a press conference about WATER INFRASTRUCTURE? At the time everyone was speculating about the timing of a snap election, and Ford’s government was under fire for its failure to address the housing affordability crisis, with over 1,000 people on waitlists in the area and widespread criticism of provincial housing policy and economic management. This comment and his doubling down on the comments when asked later, shifted media coverage from policy records to covering his behaviour again.
The most recent bike lane comments came up at a press conference about Ford’s eyebrow raising Highway 401 tunnel plan that has been a sore spot multiple times over the years. But it seems like at least some journalists aren’t following his script verbatim anymore, as a lot of the coverage includes the 401 context alongside the bike lane comments.
Ford knows he won’t lose his base supporters for saying insensitive, bigoted, controversial things; in fact he’s echoing their beliefs. That’s why politicians like Ford and Trump are so dangerous, they can distract from the real issues by putting themselves at the center of a media frenzy with no real consequence.
If you’re a politician, critic, journalist, activist, or non-profit worker this is your call to flip the script. Collectively we can disrupt Ford’s script until it is no longer reliable or effective.