Ontario PCs gather this weekend, as some conservatives push for change in government’s direction

Ontario’s Progressive Conservatives will huddle behind closed doors at a policy convention this weekend as some Tories question the party’s direction after nearly eight years in power.

The PCs will hold the event in Toronto, focusing on broad themes that helped Premier Doug Ford secure a third-straight majority government nearly a year ago. But an organized group of provincial conservatives are urging their fellow party members to use the event to think critically about where the party is headed.

Project Ontario launched last year to drive policy conversations it says the party isn’t willing to have. The group consists of 11 strategists and writers known in conservative circles, some of whom have worked in both federal and provincial governments. They include conservative activist Ginny Roth, writer Adam Zivo and public policy analyst Brian Dijkema.

Matt Spoke, a founding contributor to the group, said he wants convention delegates to ask themselves what good power is if it isn’t backed by an ideological foundation. The group supports a number of traditional conservative positions including cutting taxes, lowering government spending and more choice in Ontario’s school system.

“Is winning enough if you don’t know what you want to accomplish once you’re sitting in that office?’” Spoke said in an interview with CBC News.

“The biggest criticism that I’ve had of this premier is that there seems to be an absence of clarity in principles and vision.”

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Project Ontario contributors have criticized the government’s handling of a number of files, including on the economy, education, housing and child care. Spoke said the group initially tried to raise its ideas and concerns internally with Ford’s government, but decided to speak publicly when it was unsuccessful.

Their work has earned them the rancour of Ford and some of his supporters, with the premier branding them “yahoos” and “right-wing radicals”. 

“I’m tough on crime and a prudent fiscal manager,” Ford said last September, when asked about the group’s criticisms of him. “I don’t know who these yahoos are. It sounds like some radical right group probably tied to maybe a federal party or something.”

Spoke said the group’s ideas aren’t radical at all, and are pulled from other Canadian provinces, including some not governed by Conservatives.

On housing, it says it’s advocated for changes to incentivize more construction, such as lower fees and regulatory burdens for builders, including a reduction in development charges.

It’s also urged broader debate on the education system, and wants to see more options for parents and students, like charter schools. In some jurisdictions charter schools receive government funding, but operate independently of the state system.

Spoke has found the pushback surprising, he said.

“It’s very unique to Ontario that the PC Party sees themselves as sort of like monopoly owners of conservatism in Ontario,” he said. “I think that just ultimately leads to weakness.” 

Spoke questions if convention delegates will actually get to have thoughtful debates about policy. That hasn’t been his experience at past Ontario PC events, he said.

“They want to give the perception that they’re listening and creating room for members to raise their questions or their ideas,” he said. “But in reality, what you get back from the party is pre-scripted talking points.”  

A spokesperson for the PC Party said convention delegates “always have and will continue to have” the opportunity to ask questions and bring forward ideas at the event. 

“It is because our party listens to our members that we were afforded a historic third majority in the last election and we will continue to deliver on our promises to protect our economy, cut red tape, create jobs and invest in building our province,” Peter Turkington said in a statement.

Conservative strategist Sam Duncan said party policy debates can’t always be reflected in government policy. But the convention is a good way for the premier to read the grassroots and that in turn informs policy, he said.

“The premier and the government has to govern for all Ontarians, not just PC Party members,” said Duncan, vice-president at Wellington Advocacy and a former policy advisor in Ford’s office.

He said part of Ford’s objective this weekend will be to motivate supporters. Nearly eight years in government, complacency can be the enemy, he said.

Spoke says while Project Ontario is critical of some government policy, it is not pushing for renewal at the top. But it may be time to think about what comes next, he said. 

“It’s an opportunity to question the more fundamental purpose — what does this party stand for?” he said.

Ford has spoken little about his political future since winning last year’s vote, but was asked in the final days of the campaign if he planned to run in another provincial election.

“I want to be premier forever,” he said last February.

Duncan thinks Ford could stay on to run for a fourth term, but that decision is still likely years down the road. There are no obvious contenders to replace him agitating in the background to usurp his leadership, he added.

“As long as Trump is threatening our sovereignty and our economic future, I think the premier is going to be pretty motivated,” Duncan said. 

Former Ontario Liberal cabinet minister John Milloy said Trump has thrown political conventions out the window, and the premier could continue to win support from voters by pitting himself against the president. But the mistakes and political baggage of eight years in office will begin to catch up with the Tories at some point, he said.

Milloy said the longer a government stays in office the more prone it is to losing key ministers and staff and scandals emerge. Enough time has also passed so it can no longer credibly blame its predecessor for problems, he added.

“Mr. Ford scored big in the last election by running against Donald Trump, and I suspect that he, and his caucus, are feeling a little bit invincible,” Milloy said. “And that’s the time when you start to make mistakes.”

University of Ottawa political science professor Geneviève Tellier expects Ford will use the convention to tout his accomplishments in the election, and the year since, and rev up support for fights to come.

“Over the long term, being in power makes you lose your reflexes and you take things for granted,” she said. “But thinking of Doug Ford winning a fourth term is not impossible.”