Ontario Premier Doug Ford says he doesn’t approve of the Progressive Conservative party reportedly sending an operative to spy on Bonnie Crombie while she was on vacation in Jamaica.
According to reporting by The Trillium and Policorner, the PCs used party money to travel to Jamaica in 2023 for the purposes of keeping tabs on then newly-elected Liberal leader Bonnie Crombie.
Political parties in Ontario are funded by donations and taxpayer subsidies.
Global News has not independently verified the allegations.
At a news conference in Guelph, Ont., Thursday, Ford was asked about the allegations. “I just found out about it yesterday, I’ve talked to the party about it,” Ford said. “It was $3,000 of the party’s money and I didn’t know until yesterday, but talk to the party, I don’t approve of it.”
Global News reached out to both the PC Party and Crombie, but did not receive a response.
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When pressed on not knowing about the expense, Ford said, “I don’t watch every single dollar when I’m in the middle of a campaign … I rely on our team to make sure that they spend it appropriately.”
Ford was pressed on the issue again.
“I wouldn’t do it, but again things happen, it’s no different than myself when the media follows me down to Florida, they follow me to Chicago, New Jersey and so on at a higher cost, but you know something, it’s politics, it was $3,000, I found out yesterday and that’s it.”
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Reaction from the opposition has been swift.
In a statement, interim Ontario Liberal leader John Fraser called the situation “beyond inappropriate” and said that Ford needs to explain “why he thought it was acceptable to orchestrate having a woman stalked out of the country while she was on a personal trip.”
The NDP also weighed in, with Leader Marit Stiles saying on X that “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.”
Stiles added that “heads need to roll.”