Feb. 1, 2026
By Matt Spoke Contributor
Matt Spoke is a founding contributor to Project Ontario, a grassroots political initiative focused on renewing and strengthening conservative leadership in Ontario. He is also a husband, a father of three, and a homebuilder.
Ontario Premier Doug Ford empties a Crown Royal bottle of whisky at a press conference in Kitchener, Ont., on Tuesday, Sept. 2, 2025. Sammy Kogan The Canadian Press
When Premier Doug Ford first swept into office, he promised to clean up the mess. Ontario had endured years of Liberal scandals: gas plants, eHealth, hydro costs, etc. Reminders of how insider politics corrodes public trust.
Ford did not run as an ideologue. His pitch was simpler. He would look out for the little guy, spend tax dollars wisely, and restore trust, accountability and common sense at Queen’s Park.
For many Ontarians, myself included, that message resonated. Eight years later, it’s increasingly difficult to argue that those promises have been fulfilled.
Over the time of the Ford government, a concerning pattern has emerged for anyone who believed Ontario’s Progressive Conservatives would govern differently than the Liberals they replaced. The Greenbelt controversy was the clearest signal. Decisions framed as necessary to accelerate housing supply instead raised questions about government lobbying and special interests.
Read more at the Toronto Star (pay wall)
