What a difference a year makes.

This time last year, Doug Ford was probably best known as the late Toronto mayor Rob Ford’s older brother.

Ford was a former one-term Toronto city councillor gearing up for a second mayoral bid against John Tory, who had defeated him in 2014 thanks largely to his kid brother’s controversial legacy.

Patrick Brown was the leader of the Progressive Conservatives and, with polls suggesting voters were fed up with Kathleen Wynne’s Liberals, the presumptive next premier of Ontario .

Fast forward 12 months and Ford, 54, is the rookie of the year in Canadian politics after Brown was forced to resign following an alleged sex scandal.

A first-time MPP for Etobicoke North who became premier on his first foray into provincial politics, Ford led the Tories back to power after almost 15 years of Liberal rule.

While Ford didn’t do any year-end interviews — “It wasn’t my tradition,” he said when asked why — he did share his thoughts on his eventful 2018 at a year-end news conference, calling it a “great year.”

Ford emphasized that his proudest achievement of the year — even more than his come-from-behind victory over front-runner Christine Elliott in the March 10 Tory leadership race and his massive majority win in the June 7 election — was “saving taxpayers money.”

Indeed, he was on form when tackling affordability issues like reducing gasoline prices, lowering the minimum legal price of beer to $1 a bottle and scrapping Drive Clean emissions tests for passenger vehicles.

Ontario’s unemployment rate, the lowest in Canada since last year under Wynne, is also a source of pride for the new premier.

“For anyone who is physically and mentally capable, they can get a job. There’s thousands of jobs. That’s all I hear. Everywhere I go: jobs, jobs, jobs. Everywhere, people are hiring. My friends, there’s huge opportunities to get out there,” Ford said.

But there have also been missteps for the fledgling leader of the country’s second-largest government.

His decision to unilaterally slash the size of Toronto’s city council from 47 members to 25 — and to cancel regional chair elections in Peel, York, Niagara and Muskoka — in the middle of the municipal campaign was roundly criticized.

Compounding the controversy, Ford threatened to override a court ruling that struck down his legislation by invoking Section 33 of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms — the “notwithstanding clause” — for the first time in Ontario’s history.

The rarely used provision is designed to give the provinces and Ottawa the power to supersede charter rights that conflict with a legislative agenda.

In the end, an Ontario Court of Appeal ruling allowed the premier to proceed with cutting council down to size without using the nuclear option.

Despite the backlash, Ford warned last summer he “won’t be shy” about invoking Section 33 again to prevent judges from thwarting his plans.

Another potential miscue that will continue to haunt the premier over the holiday break is the attempt to appoint his longtime pal, Toronto police Supt. Ron Taverner, 72, as commissioner of the Ontario Provincial Police.

Taverner’s posting is now in limbo as J. David Wake, Ontario’s integrity commissioner, probes whether it was a politically motivated patronage plum. But Ford has remained unrepentant, even following the revelation that Taverner was only able to apply for the job after the experience threshold for applicants was lowered.

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“There has never been a more popular police officer in this province than Ron Taverner. Let’s be very clear about that. Everywhere you go, you hear nothing about positive things, accolades coming through like I’ve never seen before,” Ford told the Dec. 18 news conference.

“So I look forward to Ron Taverner becoming the commissioner and the front-line police officers, the OPP are more excited than anyone. They’re looking forward to actually having a commissioner that cares about the front-line people.”

While the Taverner debacle may have ended Ford’s remarkable year under a cloud, no one can deny he made a splash in 2018.

Robert Benzie is the Star’s Queen’s Park bureau chief and a reporter covering Ontario politics. Follow him on Twitter: @robertbenzie

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