Ontario Premier Doug Ford says he doesn’t condone his Progressive Conservative party sending someone to a resort in Jamaica where then-newly minted Liberal Leader Bonnie Crombie was vacationing.
But he did not harshly condemn the actions, saying he wouldn’t do it but “things happen.”
Media outlets the Trillium and Policorner report that the Tories spent nearly $3,000 in 2023 on two resorts in Jamaica.
They cite sources saying someone was sent there as part of opposition research because Crombie was there for a short stay after winning the Liberal leadership.
Opposition parties say it amounts to spying and stalking.
Liberal MPP Stephanie Smyth said this “goes beyond ordinary political opposition research that we know parties do.
“It really raises serious questions about the political culture inside the PC Party,” said Smyth.
“The kind of research that we do is what is happening to our taxpayer dollars, how are they best being spent, and we found out through various measures donors and friends of the party and how have they had influence. That is fair opposition research, this is not. This is a violation,” she added.
At an unrelated press conference today, Ford said he just found out about it a day prior and that he disagrees with those actions.
