What to know
- Ontario NDP Leader Marit Stiles says her recent confrontations with Doug Ford stem from frustration with what she sees as a lack of accountability and transparency in government.
- Stiles points to controversies including the Greenbelt investigation and the premier’s private jet use as examples of issues she believes deserve greater scrutiny.
- She argues that rising costs, strained health-care services and economic pressures are pushing Ontarians to their breaking point and driving public frustration with the government.
Ontario NDP Leader Marit Stiles has become one of Premier Doug Ford’s most vocal critics, repeatedly making headlines for sharp attacks on the government’s conduct. But the leader of the official opposition says her increasingly confrontational approach isn’t a calculated political strategy; it’s a response to what she sees as a government that has lost touch with the struggles facing Ontarians.
“We’ve had eight years of this government, and I just feel like they’re increasingly out of touch with where people are at,” she said during her Now In Conversation interview, adding that she believes her comments and confrontations with Ford have received so much public attention because they are relatable.
“I think when you’ve got a government under RCMP criminal investigation, a premier under RCMP criminal investigation — people in Ontario play by the rules,” she explained, referencing an ongoing RCMP investigation into the Ford government regarding the premier’s controversial decision to open parts of the protected Greenbelt for housing development.
The criminal probe focuses on whether the land-swap process corruptly favoured specific developers.
“If you break the law, you go to jail, and I think people see this premier and this government getting away with things all the time that just don’t seem right,” she continued. “It could happen. We’ll see what the RCMP decides.”
“But I really do believe that at the end of the day, what people are demanding is more accountability and transparency from government.”
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Now Toronto reached out to the Premier’s office for a comment on Stiles’ comments above but did not hear back ahead of publication.
Marit explained that she believes Ford is not her biggest fan, as she continues to push back against his government. She used Ford’s recent private jet scandal as an example, highlighting when the premier recently came under fire after his government spent $28.9 million on a used Bombardier Challenger 650 private jet.
After widespread backlash and opposition criticism, Ford reversed course and sold the aircraft, though taxpayers were still left covering nearly $200,000 in related costs.
“I think he really wanted this jet really badly,” she explained. “He didn’t like that we brought it up, that we exposed it and that we… kept pushing until he decided to return it.”
She says that while she could tell that Ford was less than happy about this, it won’t affect how she operates.
“But I’m going to keep doing it; I don’t care. We’re elected to serve the people, and I’m elected to serve my community,” she shared. “But as the leader of the opposition, I am elected to hold that government to account. And that’s a really important part of our democracy.”
She says that she believes that the two party leaders should be able to get into a heated debate, but she is frustrated with the Ontario Conservative Party’s actions, while Ontarians struggle to keep up with the cost of living in the province.
“What I get to see out there in communities is a lot of people really struggling,” she said. “It does get me angry and upset, and I am frustrated that the government is making bad choices.”
So with local politicians continuing to make headlines for their interactions with one another, it feels as though the province may be entering a more politically aggressive era. If that is the case, Stiles believes it is because people in Ontario are really at their wits’ end.
“I don’t know how much farther you can push people and how much further they can be stretched,” she explained. “People are working really hard to find a job, to do a job that just doesn’t even come close to paying the bills.”
This is the reality for many people in Ontario, many of whom are also frustrated with government services, according to Stiles.
“Like our healthcare system, you shouldn’t have to wait in an emergency room for 12 hours, or be treated in a hallway in a hospital,” she explained. “We need to invest in our healthcare system, and we need a government that understands that’s a priority for us.”
Now Toronto reached out to the Premier’s office for a comment on Stiles’ criticism over the Ontario government’s stance on healthcare, affordability and other pressing issues driving public frustration, but did not hear back ahead of publication.
