Premier Doug Ford pressed rebel MPP Amanda Simard to stay with the Progressive Conservatives after she called his moves to scrap an independent French-language watchdog and university “a big mistake.”

Ford appeared frustrated Wednesday, saying his office called the party’s lone francophone MPP “a dozen times” with no response in the last week. There has been speculation she could bolt to the Liberals in a high-profile defection.

“I want her part of my team,” the premier told reporters after Simard (Glengarry-Prescott-Russell) spoke in favour of a non-binding New Democrat motion to reinstate the French services and voted against the government’s fall economic statement in a double-edged show of defiance.

“She wants to side with the Liberals and NDP, that’s MPP Simard’s choice….I’d rather her be part of the team,” Ford added. “You can’t have someone that wants to be part of the team that doesn’t want to talk to anyone.”

Simard, whose eastern Ontario riding is 70 per cent francophone, accused the PCs of trying to muzzle her from speaking in favour of the NDP motion by not putting her on the speaker’s list. But she eventually got a chance to speak.

“We are always forced to protect our rights,” Simard said in her address to MPPs.

The university and the watchdog are “a necessity, not a sign of largesse,” she added in a shot at Ford, who maintains the province must cut costs as it fights a $14.5 billion deficit and blamed former premier Kathleen Wynne for the “unaffordable” university promise in the spring election campaign.

Simard got a standing ovation from the opposition side of the house, with New Democrat MPP France Gelinas (Nickel Belt) praising her for “courage,” adding in French “I know it has not been easy.”

The issue has dominated news coverage for Ontario’s 600,000-strong francophone community and made headlines across the country — particularly in Quebec where observers say Ford’s moves undermine federal Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer as next fall’s election approaches.

As it turned out, Simard missed her chance to vote for the NDP motion by standing up a “split second” too late and blamed the Conservatives for not allowing a re-vote so her view could be counted.

“That’s unfortunate,” Simard told reporters later. “Everybody should know that I was in favour of this.”

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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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