Is Ontario PC populist Doug Ford a failing businessman?

It’s not clear if Ford is copying the Donald Trump playbook or if the dice just fell that way at birth. But his Trump-like refusal to provide any financial information about his company — or even his own salary at Deco Labels — to refute Renata Ford’s alarming accusations might be a deal-breaker for Ford purists.

The allegations in the $16.5-million lawsuit filed by Ford’s brother’s widow, not proven in court, are that Doug and his brother Randy have been running Deco into the ground while enriching themselves. She says they, as trustees of the estate, have deprived her and her young children of millions of dollars from Deco shares and the late Rob Ford’s life insurance policy.

Doug Ford, turning maidenly, said he was “shocked” at the “heartbreaking” news. His mother Diane, an unusual woman, then accused Renata of having “serious struggles with addiction,” an ill-considered reminder of Rob’s crack videos, his sister Kathy’s drug addiction, and the Globe and Mail’s reporting that Doug allegedly sold drugs in the 1980s.

The Fords reacted with feelings, not facts or numbers. Feeling instead of thinking is the sharp point of populism, and its radiant core is the belief that tough “businessmen” can run a government better than mere unprofitable people can. Doug wouldn’t recognize Margaret Atwood on the street, hates the media, once called a female reporter a “bitch,” prefers SUVs to LRTs, all populism’s standard trinkets.

But more than anything, he wants to be seen as a manly man, a stalwart trustee, a chairman of the board, to use a 1950s meme dear to the hearts of Doug’s older demographic.

Ontario Progressive Conservative Leader Doug Ford is denying allegations from Renata Ford, the widow of Rob Ford, that he mishandled his brother’s estate and destroyed the value of the family business. (The Canadian Press)

But what if Deco Labels, the scrappy little business that grew, is a facade? Maybe political Doug neglected it or black-hatted Randy, international man of mystery, messed it up. Either way, they have been accused of mistreating a widow to whom we wished well after Rob spoke of her so foully in public.

Suddenly, the fact Doug hasn’t provided a detailed economic platform, only vague numbers, suggests not that he won’t, but he can’t. He doesn’t know how. His constant marketing about small business, lower taxes and finding $6 billion in provincial wastage all look dodgy in that light.

People are fed up with politicians and their promises, Ford told Citytv in a disastrous 2016 interview about “blowing smoke where the sun don’t shine.” After they get into power, “You know what it’s all about? Filling their buddies’ pockets full of money, sole-sourced deals, giving contracts. It’s all about the money.”

Renata’s lawsuit alleges that Doug and Randy didn’t have the smarts to produce a business plan, hired unqualified family and friends, fired prudent employees and made ill-advised acquisitions.

Yes, politics is indeed all about the money. Even voters who like Ford or lean his way might envision Ontario being run like an inherited small business, a bait shop always mysteriously running out of petty cash and minnows, and they might blanch.

Everyone presents a version of themselves to the world, politicians most of all. Doug wants to be seen as a folksy purveyor of hometown smarts, competent but not in a fancy way. Above all, he wants to be seen as savvy. Fairly or not, the lawsuit news, coming just before Thursday’s election, tilts this view.

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What if he’s not savvy but stupid, incompetent with money, and sneaky? Rob was a damaged soul, but Doug looks mean and angry. The fault is always yours, not his. This suits some voters in the age of rage but he needs more than that.

It doesn’t help that American state populism has been shown to be bad with money, cutting taxes but spending what’s left in all the wrong places. The White House is full of grifters, Scott Pruitts wanting to buy a used hotel mattress on the cheap, coal barons looking shifty, pedophiles with Confederate flags running for office.

Mendacity is out of fashion, transparency is in. Even if the electorate doesn’t care about a widow and her two children, they care about the allegation that Deco is tanking.

Doug Ford has to release audited statements to the public now. Otherwise voters may not want him in charge of Ontario. It’s all about the money.

Heather Mallick is a columnist based in Toronto covering current affairs. Follow her on Twitter: is a columnist based in Toronto covering current affairs. Follow her on Twitter: @HeatherMallick

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