New research suggests Rob Ford’s populist appeal could be duplicated across Canada

Rob Ford greets supporters at a party thrown by his family called Ford Fest in Toronto, on July 25, 2014.

photo by Darren Calabrese/The Canadian Press

Stephanie Levitz
The Canadian Press
Published February 4, 2018

Ask whether populist politics could ever gain national traction in Canada and the answer is immediate: well, Rob Ford already did it in Toronto.
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A new study by EKOS Research and The Canadian Press shows that the same world views held among Mr. Trump's supporters still exist in the areas where Mr. Ford found a great deal of support in 2010, the suburbs around Toronto's downtown.

The aggregation of polls covering more than 12,000 Canadians suggests those attitudes are equally in play in the suburbs of Montreal and Vancouver as well – raising the question of whether there too is a fertile ground for the same 21st century populism.

It's what EKOS calls an "ordered" view of the world: people questioning the current political status quo, feeling economically and cultural insecure and believing neither they nor their children have a bright future and perhaps might even be slipping backwards.

ONTARIO

Rob Ford's brother Doug is hoping to tap into those feelings in his current bid for leadership of the Ontario Progressive Conservative party. At a rally to launch his campaign on Saturday night, that message resonated with supporter Kim King who said she doesn't usually vote conservative but will this year.

"The poor is getting poorer, and there's more of us than the rich," she said.

"And while yes, you can say he's a rich man representing the poor, the truth is, he still hangs out in the same places as the poor, and he still hangs out as one of the guys, and I think that's where the appreciation comes from.

Read much more at https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/new-research-suggests-rob-fords-populist-appeal-could-be-duplicated-across-canada/article37849081/

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