This article is more than 2 years old

This article is more than 2 years old

Doug Ford – the frontrunner in the race to become premier of Canada’s most populous province – has admitted that hired actors posed as supporters ahead of a high-profile debate, but denied his campaign was responsible for recruiting them.

“A local candidate made a decision to engage a casting agency. This was unnecessary and a mistake. It will not happen again,” said Ford’s spokeswoman, Melissa Lantsman, in a statement on Tuesday.

Ford, the brother of the late Toronto mayor Rob Ford, who confessed to smoking crack while in office, initially denied any knowledge of the incident. “We don’t need to pay anyone. We have events. We’re packed. We have standing room only,” he told reporters.

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Before the debate between three party leaders on Monday night, members of the public filled the space near a television studio in Toronto, holding campaign placards in a show of support for the candidates.

Ford is currently leading in polls for the premiership of Ontario, widely considered one of the most powerful positions in Canadian politics. The election is on 7 June.

Ford later appeared to direct blame towards fellow Toronto candidate Meredith Cartwright, a human rights lawyer. “I can assure you I will be asking Meredith and ask what’s going on,” Ford said.

Cartwright’s campaign did not respond to a request for comment.

The Guardian obtained copies of a casting email from a local agency, in search of 20 people actors to play “real people”.

“You will be wear T-shirts of the [Progressive Conservative] candidates (Ford and Cartwright),” said the email, which said the actors would need to stay in character from 2pm until 8pm – for a fee of C$75 (US$58).

Devanshu Narang, a background actor who received the email, said it was the first time in his career that he had seen an advert for paid political supporters.



“I was shocked,” he told the Guardian.

Narang, who is Indian, said: “We expect this kind of stuff from places like India, where crowds can be bought, but not here. This is very troubling.”

Narang turned down the job, but said he didn’t fault others for taking it: “These are not rich people. Many need whatever job they can get.”

Ford served as a Toronto city councillor for four years, but his campaign has cast him as an anti-establishment political outsider. His candidacy has drawn comparisons to the US president, Donald Trump, although Ford has resisted the parallel.



Trump’s campaign reportedly offered actors $50 to cheer and carry signs when he launched his presidential bid in 2015.

Narang said that, while he disliked the idea of buying political support, he was outraged at the fee the actors were offered. “They say care about the workers,” he said, refering to one of Ford’s campaign themes. “But this doesn’t even add up to minimum wage.”