Doug Ford says he is focused on post-election unity, after MP accuses him of sabotage

TORONTO — Ontario Premier Doug Ford said the day after the federal election that he wants to focus on unity, refusing to shoot back at a rant from a Conservative MP calling the premier a “problem,” an opportunist and a Liberal “hype man.”

Jamil Jivani, who won Bowmanville-Oshawa North, said in an interview with CBC on election night that Ford inserted himself in the federal campaign and Conservatives should not be taking advice from him.

“I see Doug Ford as a problem for Ontario and for Canada,” Jivani said.

“I think he’s not doing a great job in running this province, and now he’s trying to exercise his influence over other levels of government, and it’s not like this guy is doing anything particularly well.”

During the election, Ford’s campaign manager Kory Teneycke publicly slammed Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre’s campaign for failing to pivot to focus on the tariff threat from U.S. President Donald Trump, and Ford chimed in to say “sometimes the truth hurts.”

Ford would not take Jivani’s bait in the wake of Poilievre’s loss, saying only that all Canadians have to stand together against the real threat, which is the economic harm that will be caused by Trump’s tariffs.

“I’m focusing on unity right across this country,” Ford said when asked about Jivani’s comments.

“We have to bring this country together like we’ve never had before. Each other are not the enemies. There’s one person that’s causing a real problem, not just here (but) around the world, and that’s President Trump.”

Jivani, who once worked as a special adviser to Ford, has also lashed out at the provincial government before, using his byelection victory speech last year to slam “liberal elites” in the Ministry of Education. Jivani said in the Monday night interview with CBC that his criticisms stem from personal experience.

“I tried to fix problems in this province, and he kept getting in his way, and all his goons around him all the time, they wouldn’t make anything better,” Jivani said.

“This guy’s a political genius, because he beat (successive Ontario Liberal leaders) Bonnie Crombie and Steven Del Duca? And now we’ve got to sit around getting advice from him? No, no. He has taken the provincial Conservative party and turned it into something hollow, unprincipled, something that doesn’t solve problems. He’s glad-handing with Chrystia Freeland, having coffees and lattes with Mark Carney, and I’m sitting here saying we need to be fighting for change and something new and something different, not being a hype man to the Liberal party.”

But Ford said he doesn’t care about political stripe and will work with anyone who has Ontario’s best interests at heart.

“It’s hard to run a federal campaign,” he said. “You work very, very hard. The people have spoken. The people are never wrong. They have a reason why they vote the way they do, and I just want to move the province forward, fight against these tariffs, no matter what it takes, protect the people of this province.”

Ford also called on Carney to make good on promises to help tear down internal trade barriers and speed approvals for resource development projects, including in the mineral-rich Ring of Fire region in northern Ontario.

The premier is urging the new Liberal government to get infrastructure such as pipelines, highways and rail lines built to help Canadian goods get to market and reduce reliance on the United States.

Ontario NDP Leader Marit Stiles said she saw the sniping between Ford and the federal Conservatives during the campaign and believes it should end.

“This is not the moment for that kind of division,” she said. “I think Ontarians and certainly Canadians want to see us come together, unified, and that means putting aside, frankly, silly rivalries and actually getting to work.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 29, 2025.

Allison Jones and Liam Casey, The Canadian Press