Premier Kathleen Wynne took aim at her new rival Doug Ford Friday, skewering the Progressive Conservative leader's more laissez-faire stance on rent control measures imposed by the government in May.
The criticism capped off a week-long barrage against Ford by the Liberals on issues ranging from the marijuana rollout to the minimum wage hike to cap-and-trade.
In the face of skyrocketing home and rental prices last spring, the Liberal government passed legislation to expand rent control to all private units — including those built after Nov. 1, 1991, which were previously exempt — impose a 15-per-cent foreign-buyers tax and beef up other protections for tenants.
"I just don't like it. I like having the market dictate," Ford <a href="https://www.theglobeandmail.com/politics/article-doug-ford-open-to-privatizing-liquor-sales-and-dropping-foreign-buyers/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">told</a> the Globe and Mail this week, referring to rent control.
On the foreign-buyers tax, he said: "I just don’t like the government getting involved ... The market, no matter if it’s the stock market or anything, and it will always take care of itself."
Wynne hit back Friday.
"Under Doug Ford the free market would be a long way from free for the millions of people who would end up paying more if he were allowed to end rent control," she said, addressing students at Humber College Friday morning.
The premier zoomed out to Ford's broader view of government.
"In every interview, at every opportunity, Doug Ford talks about running government more like a business, about boosting profits, cutting taxes. And that will be taxes for the richest among us. And I fundamentally disagree with that approach," Wynne said.
Ford has <a href="http://www.qpbriefing.com/2018/03/15/labour-minister-rips-doug-ford-pcs-mean-spirited-minimum-wage-plan/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">proposed a tax cut</a> for workers who earn less than $30,000 per year, pledged to freeze the minimum wage at $14 — versus the Liberal plan to hike it to $15 on Jan. 1, 2019 — promised to end cap-and-trade, and suggested a privatized approach to marijuana retail.
Ford, elected party chief by a razor-thin point margin last weekend, did not respond immediately to requests for comment.
So far, Ford's professed policies mark a break with his predecessor Patrick Brown, particularly around carbon pricing, the sex-ed curriculum and a balanced budget; Ford opposes the first two and aspires to the latter. Brown's relatively centrist platform, on the other hand, pushed for a carbon tax, turned away from sex-ed qualms and proposed a $2.82-billion deficit for 2018-19.
Earlier this week, Labour Minister Kevin Flynn tarred Ford's minimum wage plan as "mean-spirited," Environment Minister Chris Ballard said he doesn't understand cap-and-trade — and that he would be happy to send him reading material — and Wynne called his marijuana policy "reckless."
Ford tempered his views on privatizing cannabis sales in an interview with Global News' Alan Carter Thursday. "I just believe in the free market ... but at the beginning, it has to be controlled," he said.
Housing Minister Peter Milczyn added to the pile-on Friday.
"Doug Ford is out of touch if he thinks the 'market' will protect renters and homebuyers in Ontario," said Milczyn, who appeared alongside Wynne at Humber College. "Now is not the time to cut and run when families need it most – now is the time to invest in care."
With files from David Hains.

Kathleen Wynne strikes again at Ford, hitting him where he lives — housing

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