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By Canadian Press

TORONTO — Doug Ford is blaming the “mess” he inherited from his predecessor for his decision to appoint about a dozen Tory candidates in ridings across Ontario.

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The Tory leader says the appointments — announced over the weekend — were necessary because of the short time left before the province’s spring election campaign begins in early May.

Ford, who criticized former Tory leader Patrick Brown for making appointments in the past, said he loathes the practice.

“I want to emphasize, I hate, hate appointing people,” Ford said Monday. “Unfortunately, the mess that we handed to us from the previous leadership was quite the disaster, to be frank with you there.”

Ford said there were 28 ridings without Tory candidates when he took over as leader in March, and his team was able to fill 17 through traditional nomination races. Appointments were made for the remaining 11 ridings on Saturday.