Ontario Progressive Conservative Leader Doug Ford is repeating comments about judges on the campaign trail that triggered a barrage of complaints from the legal community when he made them last year as premier.
After leaked audio emerged of Ford expressing his support for the death penalty at the beginning of the campaign, the PC leader has been forced to defend his comments as a “poor-taste” joke.
Speaking on Thursday, Ford said his death penalty comments — where he said home invaders who kill people should be sent to “sparky” — were a joke borne of frustration.
“You know what my frustration is? And everyone’s frustration behind me too is (when) their door gets kicked in, someone puts a gun to their head, threatens their family, steals their car, terrorizes neighbourhoods — we’re done with that,” Ford said, in response to a question about his comments.
“We’re done with weak-kneed, liberal JPs — justices of the peace and judges — letting people out not once, not twice, not three, four, five times but eight times.”
The comments mirror a series of controversial statements Ford made last March when he said he wanted to appoint “like-minded” judges who would enforce tougher bail rules.
“I’m not going to appoint some NDP or some Liberal,” Ford said in March 2024.
Those comments were met with public outrage from his political opponents as well as groups in the legal community.
Documents obtained by Global News using freedom of information laws show those words, which he repeated multiple times, also triggered a mini barrage of complaints sent directly to Ford’s office and to his Attorney General, Doug Downey.
Five different groups all penned letters complaining about the comments and, in one case, asked Ford to publicly clarify he still believed in an independent judiciary.
The Society of United Professionals, which represents lawyers, wrote to Ford and urged the government “in the strongest terms to appoint principled, impartial judges of the highest qualifications regardless of political affiliation.”
The Federation of Ontario Law Association, which made a series of public complaints about the comments, invited Ford to a roundtable to “discuss these issues” and outlined “concerns from the legal community about the government’s public comments about judicial appointments.”
Another letter, this time from the Advocates Society, registered “serious concern your recent comments about the objectives guiding” judicial appointments and said any comments that suggested judges should hold “the same beliefs as the government of the day” would weaken confidence in the independence of judges.
The County of Carleton Law Association said in its own letter that it was “compelled to express profound concern over recent statements and actions suggesting a politicization of judicial appointments” and demanded that Ford “publicly reaffirm the government’s dedication to a judicial appointment process that priorities merit and independence over political considerations.”
Despite the mini-wave of controversy Ford’s comments caused, both he and his campaign doubled down during the current snap election campaign.
In response to questions from Global News, the Progressive Conservative party reiterated Ford’s comments about “weak-kneed” members of the judiciary.
“We can’t have judges and JPs who are weak-kneed and let these dangerous criminals out on the street, often the same day they’re arrested,” a campaign spokesperson said.
“People have had enough of our catch-and-release justice system. A re-elected PC party will press the federal government for real bail reform, including mandatory sentences, along with new resources for police across the province to keep our families and communities safe. And we expect judges and JPs to do their part.”
Ford is in the final days of Ontario’s election campaign, seeking a third majority government and running against Liberal Leader Bonnie Crombie, NDP Leader Marit Stiles and Green Leader Doug Ford.
The Liberals are promising to create bail courts for high-risk repeat offenders, if elected, and to offer rebates for homes and small businesses that invest in security equipment like cameras. The NDP has pledged to hire more court staff and increase their pay so courtrooms can stay open longer to deal with backlogs.
The election will take place on Feb. 27.