A premier is perhaps all-powerful, but he doesn’t just give orders. He also takes questions.

That’s part of his job description. In our democracy it’s what makes our leaders accountable to the people — not just on election days, but every day in between.

Unless you’re Doug Ford.

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Unlike any premier before him, Ford has taken to not taking questions in the legislature posed by the Official Opposition. Most days, he provides answers only to a higher authority, the Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario — whose obedient backbench MPPs ask of him but also answer to him.

Which means that Ford is now accountable only to himself.

It didn’t used to be this way. It is a cornerstone of parliamentary democracy in Ontario that the leader of Her Majesty’s government faces off against the leader of Her Majesty’s Loyal Opposition for the daily question period.

It is rarely a satisfying spectacle — there is heckling and hissing and squabbling — but it remains a powerful symbol of accountability for the all-powerful. It keeps a premier grounded, it reminds the government that the governed are not compelled merely to obey but entitled also to ask why.

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It is not enough to proclaim yourself a populist. Inviting people to call your mobile phone is not a legitimate substitute for legislative accountability.

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Never mind that Ford soon changed his number, complaining that he grew weary of hostile questions from the public. Forget, for a moment, the public relations gimmick of pretending to humanize a premier by purporting to be at the beck and call (or text) of 13.7 million people in the country’s most-populous province.

Ford never was a call away. Now he is harder to reach and more remote than ever.

It’s not just that he won’t take your calls. He avoids questions from any MPP unless his staff vet them in advance.

It is a far cry from the outwardly friendly face he put forward upon winning election 18 months ago, when Ford immodestly proclaimed himself leader of Ontario’s “First Government For the People.” Perhaps he imagined himself closer to the people than any premier before him, but history shows that honeymoons never last.

And the record shows that past premiers who fell in the polls always rose to their feet and faced their questioners in the legislature: Bill Davis, David Peterson, Mike Harris, Kathleen Wynne — they all had their fleeting honeymoons, but they never shielded themselves from subsequent scrutiny, almost always taking the leadoff questions from the opposition leader.

It’s not that Ford is running for cover. He merely sits in his seat, rising only to redirect almost all opposition questions to a cabinet minister who provides cover for him.

Teachers’ strike? Transit reversals? Autism troubles? Patronage scandals?

The premier almost always refuses to answer. On rare occasions, if poked or provoked, prodded or piqued, Ford deigns to respond personally.

But it is the exception that proves the rule: stonewalling and squirming in his seat are his first line of defence.

Only when reassured that the question period rotation has reverted to friendly queries from his fellow Tories will Ford cheerfully engage. With 73 Progressive Conservatives (including the speaker) in the 124-seat legislature, 40 New Democrats, only five Liberals (now lacking official party status) and a single Green MPP, the majority Tories get to ask a disproportionate share of pretend questions of the premier.

Ford relishes a softball. As the scripted question is being asked by a well-rehearsed PC backbencher, the premier sneaks a peek at the cheat sheet prepared by his staff, refreshes his memory, and regurgitates the pre-arranged reply.

He imagines it a dialogue of the deft — two Tories talking to each other in public on the public dime. But when a New Democrat takes the floor, Ford becomes deaf to any dialogue with the opposition, for whom question period was first conceived.

At his early news conferences, Ford refused to take questions unless reporters lined up obediently. He ended the encounters by basking in the conspicuous applause of his paid PC staff, until journalists shamed him into curtailing the bizarre theatrics.

The applause and cheers followed him to the legislature during his first year in power, with backbench MPPs and cabinet ministers leaping to their feet a dozen times a day for standing ovations that took the breath — and their dignity — away. Only when Speaker Ted Arnott penned a strong public critique about “contrived standing ovations” did Ford’s Tories relent.

Earlier this year, the Tories also tried ignoring all opposition questions by pivoting — passive aggressively — to other topics. When New Democrats asked about problems with ambulance services threatening the health of constituents, the Tories replied by talking up their fizzled “buck-a-beer” policy.

Booed in his public appearances outside the legislature, falling in the polls, the premier has fallen silent — unless shown fealty by his fellow Tories. Ignoring opposition questions is a corruption of the legislature and a disruption of democracy.

But it is more than that. By replacing all those standing ovations with his sitting evasions, Ford is disrespecting the people of Ontario.