Doug Ford says he will begin campaigning for mayor Friday, bringing an end to a week of relative silence from his campaign.
Ford made the announcement to reporters outside Mount Sinai Hospital Thursday afternoon, where his brother, Toronto Mayor Rob Ford, is undergoing chemotherapy for a rare and aggressive form of soft tissue cancer.
The news came as a flyer circulated promoting a campaign fundraiser at the Woodbine Banquet and Convention Hall next Thursday. Guests will have to pay $125 each for tickets.
“What makes Rob feel better is me out there campaigning,” Doug Ford told reporters. “I am going to go up there to his hospital room right now and he is going to give me heck for going in there and not going out door knocking. He wants me to focus on this election and we our ready to go. We already have a solid team from what Rob has built and we are just looking forward to starting this campaign and getting out there.”
Earlier on Thursday, the mayor released an audio statement in which he said that he was encouraging his brother to jump into the race “wholeheartedly” and urged Torontonians to support him.
Speaking with reporters, Doug Ford provided few details on his platform or any upcoming campaign events but did say that it is “all about saving taxpayers money.”
Ford also noted that campaign offices in Scarborough and Etobicoke have already opened.
On Wednesday night, Ford’s councillor website was also revamped to reflect his candidacy for mayor.
“I just want to get out and meet the people. I am enthused about it,” he said Thursday.
Mayor’s role in campaign unclear
Mayor Ford is expected to undergo three days of chemotherapy and then return home for a 17-day “washout” period before going back to the hospital for another round of chemotherapy.
Though it remains unclear how much of a public role Ford will be able to play in the campaign, Doug Ford told reporters that his brother is already giving him pointers behind closed doors.
“He gives me a pep talk every time I go up there,” he said. “It is comical to me because the roles have kind of flipped. He has the best political instinct out of anyone, though. He talks to 80 or 90 people a day and he is asking for his clipboard to make calls and I am telling him you can’t make calls right now. Rob is unique.”
Mayoral candidate Olivia Chow was asked about Ford’s decision to beginning campaigning as she attended a No Jets TO event Thursday afternoon. She welcomed him to the race while attempting to lump him in with frontrunner John Tory.
“Mr. Tory’s and Mr. Doug Ford’s policy have left a lot of people behind. People who take TTC are getting packed like sardines and yet they are paying more and parents now have to pay more for recreation fees because those too have gone up. I am looking forward to contrasting the difference between me versus Mr. Doug Ford and Tory."
Elsewhere on the campaign trail Thursday, Tory told a Toronto Region Board of Trade luncheon that he knows “Rob Ford is a fighter” and will face his health challenges “with his head more importantly his heart.”
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