Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre called Doug Ford to ask him for “advice” on the upcoming federal election campaign, but the premier told him he’s governing Ontario and staying out of it, the Star has learned.
Federal and provincial Tory sources said Poilievre phoned the premier on Monday to belatedly offer his congratulations for the Progressive Conservatives’ Feb. 27 re-election.
The conversation — 18 days after Ford’s victory, which then-prime minister Justin Trudeau had saluted moments after it was official — lasted almost half an hour.
But those privy to the chat said it was at times stilted and awkward because the two leaders have little personal rapport.
Sources say Poilievre asked Ford for his “opinions and advice” about winning Ontario, not for any endorsement in an election campaign that will officially begin Sunday.
Far from a rapprochement, sources said, it was an opportunity for Ford to flex as the most powerful Tory politician in Canada after his high-profile stance against U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariffs.
It was also a chance for him to express his displeasure to Poilievre at how some federal Tories disparage his three-term government as “not conservative enough.”
Several veteran Tories with strong ties to both the federal and provincial parties helped to arrange the phone call.
One operative confided that Poilievre’s refusal to send out a congratulatory social media post to Ford on his election win last month was churlish.
“It was ridiculous and childish. Conservatives should be happy when Conservatives win,” said one insider, speaking confidentially in order to recount internal discussions.
Ford — a keen student of polls who pores over public-opinion research — was mindful Poilievre was calling him a time when support for the federal Tories is dropping as new Prime Minister Mark Carney’s Liberals surge.
While the premier assured the Tory leader he always casts a ballot for his local Conservative candidate in elections, that would be the extent of his involvement in this campaign.
“I’m staying out of it,” said Ford, repeating what he has said publicly in recent days.
Emphasizing he “will work with anyone” in power in Ottawa, the premier patiently explained to Poilievre that, in Canada’s trade war with Trump, political stripes must be set aside.
That’s why Ford hosted Carney for breakfast last week at Wally’s Grill in Etobicoke, where they discussed strategy for dealing with Trump’s 25 per cent tariffs on Canadian goods.
But the federal Tories were stung when, the morning after the call with Poilievre, the premier was having coffee at his home with Liberal Transport Minister Chrystia Freeland.
Freeland, who posted selfies with Ford on Instagram, was also a special guest at Wednesday’s provincial cabinet swearing-in ceremony at the Royal Ontario Museum.
“It’s no secret I have a great relationship with Chrystia Freeland. I have a great relationship with (Intergovernmental Affairs Minister) Dominic LeBlanc,” Ford said Tuesday.
When reporters asked whether he had “a better relationship with Mark Carney or Pierre Poilievre,” Ford was noncommittal.
“I don’t know either one of them, to be very frank,” the premier said.
When a reporter pressed him on “who would you like to get to know better,” he replied with a shrug, “Either one. I’ll work with anyone.”
But his strained relations with the federal Tories long predate Poilievre’s tenure.
In 2019, when Ford’s popularity in public-opinion polls was plunging, federal Tory leader Andrew Scheer pointedly dissociated himself from the provincial party.
Scheer campaigned just 250 metres from Ford’s Etobicoke home with Alberta premier Jason Kenney — but not only was the Ontario premier not invited to the event, his name was never mentioned from the podium.
Last March, Ford was furious when Jamil Jivani, a Poilievre MP, attacked provincial minister Stephen Lecce.
Jivani, who had worked as the premier’s community opportunities advocate from 2019 until 2022, railed against “the liberal elites who run the Ontario Ministry of Education in this province.”
Ford reminded the MP that “no one even knew who he was” before he worked for him and that he should stick to his own lane.
“To be very frank — and go to root cause — he wouldn’t even be where he is if I didn’t give him that opportunity, ” the premier said.
The Durham MP is among many in Poilievre’s orbit who used to work for Ford — his most-trusted advisers Jenni Byrne, Michael Wilson and Ian Todd all served at Queen’s Park and the federal party’s executive director, Mike Crase, previously ran the provincial PC party.
Despite all those connections, staff at the two parties are actively discouraged from helping one another during byelection and election campaigns.
In the recent Ontario campaign, federal Tories wouldn’t aid their provincial cousins on the hustings except in Eglinton-Lawrence, where PC Michelle Cooper beat Liberal Vince Gasparro by 167 votes.
On Thursday, before a meeting with Quebec Premier François Legault, Poilievre emphasized that he’s “not out seeking provincial premiers’ endorsements.”
That was three days after Ford indicated he wouldn’t be giving one to any federal leader.
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