A Populist in Canada Gets Virus Reboot, Helped By Cheesecake
- Ontario premier who ridiculed Trudeau has 76% approval rating
- Calm crisis management strikes the right tone, experts say
Doug Ford, in Toronto.
Photographer: Cole Burston/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
With his bombastic demeanor and populist agenda, Ontario Premier Doug Ford has often been compared to Donald Trump. That was before Covid-19.
Ford’s handling of the coronavirus crisis has turned his political fortunes around. At his daily news conferences, the 55-year-old leader of Canada’s largest province delivers a calm, factual assessment of the pandemic and the government’s efforts to combat it. He defers to experts. Sometimes he cracks a joke. Occasionally, he chokes up.