Ontario Premier Doug Ford said he was unaware until Wednesday of his Progressive Conservative Party spending money to allegedly surveil former Liberal leader Bonnie Crombie in Jamaica in 2023.
The Trillium and POLICORNER reported on Thursday that the provincial party allegedly spent nearly $3,000 in donor and taxpayer dollars on two five-star resorts in Jamaica “to spy on” Bonnie Crombie as part of opposition research work. The story cited the claims to anonymous sources familiar with the plan.
The alleged surveillance took place six days after Crombie won the Liberal leadership in December 2023, when she was on a three-day vacation in Jamaica, The Trillium and POLICORNER reported.
CBC News has not independently confirmed The Trillium and POLICORNER’s reporting.
However, in a statement on Thursday, the Ontario PC Party said: “The Ontario PC Party, like other political parties, conducts opposition research. In this instance, that work included travel to Jamaica in December 2023.”
Ford said at an unrelated news conference Thursday that he does not approve of the alleged spying and he spoke to the party after hearing the claims Wednesday.
Ford said it was party money spent on the expense. Political parties in Ontario receive a per-vote subsidy, so party budgets are partly made up of taxpayer money.
“Things happen” in politics, Ford said, adding the trip was “no different” than when members of the media follow him on trips to the U.S.
When asked if being unaware of the incident absolves him of any blame, Ford said he relies on his team to make sure money is being spent appropriately.
“I don’t watch every single dollar when I’m in the middle of a campaign,” he said.
Ford was also asked if these tactics would continue, to which he replied, “I hope not.”
“Let’s just have fair and balanced elections,” he said. “Stuff happens during elections.”
Crombie said she is not commenting at this time, but confirmed to CBC News that she did take a vacation in Jamaica after the leadership race in 2023 and stayed at the Ocean Eden Bay resort.
CBC News obtained a copy of the PC Party’s 2023 annual financial statement from the NDP. It showed office and administration expenses of $1,000.05 at the Ocean Eden Bay and $1,971.67 at the Royalton Negril Hotel, another resort in Jamaica.
The statement did not have information on when these expenses were incurred, for how long, or who claimed them. There are also no details on what the spending at the Royalton Negril Hotel was for.
In a post on social media platform X, NDP Leader Marit Stiles said the alleged spying is “disgusting” and that Ford should not be allowed to “shrug it off.”
“Spying on a woman who is one of your political opponents on her private vacation is creepy Trump-style politics that has no place here,” she said.
Stiles said someone within the party had to sign off on the expense and that Ford will know exactly who it is.
“Heads need to roll,” she said.
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John Fraser, interim Leader of the Ontario Liberals, called on Ford to explain why someone was allegedly sent to follow Crombie to Jamaica and who exactly was involved.
“This isn’t politics. This is creepy, disturbing behaviour and a complete abuse of power,” said Fraser.
He said it was “extraordinary abuse of public money” to use donor and taxpayer funds to follow an opponent.
“It raises serious questions about how far Doug Ford is willing to go to target his political opponents, and whether this has happened before.”
