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Ford election trip to Washington, D.C. cost taxpayers over $100K, docs show

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Ontario taxpayers were on the hook for a six-figure bill covering Premier Doug Ford’s high-profile trip to Washington, D.C., during the snap winter election campaign, Global News can reveal, reviving accusations that the Progressive Conservative Party relied on government resources during its re-election bid.

Ford faced criticism in February after the PC Party appeared to disregard the government’s caretaker convention by taking two separate trips to the U.S. capital after the writs had been drawn up.

His political opponents said Ford — who had chosen the timing of the election — was using the threat of tariffs from U.S. President Donald Trump to justify publicly-funded events during the campaign, which blurred the line between party and government.

Both the NDP and the Liberals filed complaints to election officials and legislative watchdogs claiming the trips to D.C. were a violation of longstanding rules, which say campaigning premiers and cabinet ministers should strictly limit any functions linked to government.

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While the Progressive Conservative campaign said the trips — from Ford’s travel to accommodation and campaign staff — were funded by the party, new invoices and payments obtained by Global News show parts still relied heavily on public funding.

The documents, accessed using freedom of information laws, reveal events starring Ford in the United States cost the public close to $100,000 — plus thousands more which was spent to bring civil servants to the U.S. to coordinate Government of Ontario events.

The invoices seen by Global News covered promotional material, catering, sound and display systems, as well as venue hire.


Ontario Liberal MPP John Fraser said he felt the trips were a violation of traditions which forbid sitting governments who are campaigning for re-election from using public resources or titles.

“There’s such a thing as the caretaker convention,” he said. “I don’t think you’ve seen any other political leader in my memory and history — in history — go to another country in the middle of a campaign.

The premier’s office said some expenses were covered by the Progressive Conservative Party, others were paid by the province.

“As is the case for any official trip by the Premier, the Government of Ontario covered expenses for the event and any support provided by public officials,” a spokesperson said in a statement.

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“The PC Party paid for all expenses incurred by political staff who accompanied the Premier, including accommodation and flights.”

Ford flies to Washington, D.C.

Almost two weeks after calling a snap winter election, Ford and his campaign team chartered a plane to fly from Toronto to Washington, D.C., for the PC leader and caretaker premier to take part in a meeting with Canada’s other first ministers.

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Along with his meetings with other premiers, Ford headlined two events in the capital designed to drum up political and business support for Ontario and the premier’s vision of an integrated energy and critical mineral plan.

On Feb. 11, Ford appeared at an event hosted by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, where he discussed his plan to sell more electricity and critical minerals to companies in the United States.

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The pitch was government policy before Ford dissolved the legislature, and simultaneously a central plank of his election campaign.

Documents show the fireside chat, where Ford took questions from travelling media and discussed his Fortress Am-Can vision, came at a substantial cost to the public purse.

Printing just over 1,000 bound copies of the Fortress Am-Can plan cost taxpayers $13,158.58. The order was put in with the printers on Jan. 24, the day Ford publicly confirmed he would be calling an early election.

The Ontario government also shelled out $23,055.54 USD (equivalent to around $31,000 CAD) to rent out the venue where the fireside chat was held. The chamber of commerce previously confirmed to Global News it did not charge the government anything for its role in moderating the event.

Later that day, Ford held a reception at the U.S. Library of Congress to meet with senior American politicians in an effort to boost his message.

That event cost just over $11,500 in audio and visual services and $18,222.50 in drinks and catering costs. Renting out the venue came to almost $6,000, according to the documents. Roughly converted from U.S. dollars to Canadian, the second event cost $48,500.

The documents obtained by Global News also show as many as 13 civil servants — ranging from senior diplomatic staff to IT support — were involved in the mission.

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Some were already based in Washington, D.C., while others were flown from Toronto, put up in hotels and reimbursed for meals and travel. Those costs added thousands more to the public tab for the first trip.

Critics say Ford used event to run election against Trump

Fraser said Ford had relied on his role as caretaker premier to run his re-election bid against Trump, instead of on domestic issues.

“Mr. Ford thought that was advantageous — they filmed a commercial down there, they appeared on multiple television shows, which were rebroadcast or promoted to by watched by the premier himself through his social media channels,” he said.

“I don’t think the premier has a problem spending taxpayers’ money on himself or his party.”

The premier’s office said the purpose of the mission was to explain Ford’s vision of integrated Canadian-American business to various leaders in Washington, D.C.

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“President Trump’s tariffs will cost the economy and families on both sides of the border billions,” the spokesperson said.

“With the threat of tariffs looming, Premier Ford brought his vision of Fortress Am-Can directly to key administration officials, business leaders and decision-makers in Washington. This included deepening Ontario’s relationships with key senators and governors who can influence trade policies toward Canada.”

Fraser questioned what Ford had achieved during his trip to D.C. in February.

“What did the premier come back with? What’s the evidence of that being an effective way to tell our story?” he asked.

“I think it’s arguable to say he came back with nothing. I think it was highly unusual to do that in the middle of a campaign; the premier clearly thought that was advantageous to him during the campaign.”

Fraser also pointed to $103.5 million the province spent on commercials last year, which the auditor general found were “designed to promote the governing party.”  They were paused once the campaign began.

Questions during the campaign

The revelations of exactly how much the public spent on Ford’s trip to Washington, D.C., come after a campaign in which Ford’s opponents cried foul, claiming the Progressive Conservative Party leader was using the U.S.-Canada crisis to blur the lines between government and campaign.

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At the time, Ford said he had cleared the mission with the legislature’s watchdog and that the premier and campaign team’s travel had all been paid for by the party.

“I got cleared by the integrity commissioner but that’s (neither) here nor there,” Ford said on Feb. 11 in Washington. “The Canadian people want us here, not just Ontarians, Canadians. They want all the representatives, all their premiers here.”

Ford, however, did find himself on the wrong side of Ontario’s top civil servant, who issued a stern warning after his campaign sent a videographer on the trip and used the footage in an election video.

Shortly after returning, the PC Party pushed a new campaign commercial to social media highlighting Ford, along with Progressive Conservative candidates Vic Fedeli and Stephen Lecce, walking through Washington, speaking with the Chamber of Commerce and meeting with premiers.

The commercial, which ended with the PC party logo and campaign slogan “Protect Ontario,” immediately caught the attention of Michelle DiEmmanuel, Ontario’s Secretary of Cabinet, who ordered its removal.

She published a frosty letter, in which she said she had reached out to the Progressive Conservatives and told them to remove the video.

The video was quickly removed, and the PC campaign said it had added its logo to the end of the video “in error.”

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DiEmmanuel also raised issues with the videographer and photographer who travelled to Washington with Ford under the guise of being government employees but were, instead, campaign staff.

The two campaign staffers were “added to the list of staff attending the mission events by the Premier’s Office,” which, DiEmmanuel said, was an “error” because neither was part of the premier’s office caretaker staff.





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Quebec is the happiest province in Canada, survey finds

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A new poll by Leger has found that Quebec residents are the happiest in Canada.

The web survey of nearly 40,000 Canadians found that Quebecers rated their happiness at an average of 72.4 out of 100, which is well above the national average.

New Brunswick followed Quebec with an average of 70.2, while Manitoba and Prince Edward Island finished at the bottom of the list.

Mississauga, Ont. had the highest happiness rating of the 10 largest cities, while Toronto was lowest.

Montreal finished second in the category.

The survey found that 49 per cent of respondents said their happiness level was unchanged over the past year, while 23 per said they were happier and 28 per cent said they were less happy.

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“These results reveal a population that is both resilient and tested, affected by everyday uncertainty and challenges,” Leger’s executive summary read. “Happiness, while holding its ground overall, shows signs of fragility.”

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The survey found that people in the 18-to-24 and 24-to-34-year-old categories were more likely to report improved feelings of well-being, even if their overall happiness score remained below the national average.

In contrast, people in the 35-to-44 and 45-to-54 age brackets were more likely to report their happiness had deteriorated.


“There is a sense of well-being emerging among younger age groups,” the summary read. “However, this also highlights the importance of supporting adults in mid-life, who are more vulnerable to the pressures of working life.”

Quebec, New Brunswick and Newfoundland and Labrador were the three provinces with happiness levels above the national average of 68.7. They were followed, in descending order, by Saskatchewan, Nova Scotia, Alberta, British Columbia, Ontario, Manitoba and P.E.I. The territories were not included in the survey.

In the survey of the 10 largest cities, Mississauga and Montreal finished ahead of Hamilton, Calgary, Brampton, Ottawa, Edmonton, Vancouver, Winnipeg and Toronto, in that order.

Women reported slightly higher happiness levels than men, at 69.4 versus 68.0.

Leger says the overall results confirm “a level of happiness that is relatively high but stagnant or even slightly down compared to the pre-pandemic period.”

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To get the results, Leger surveyed 39,841 Canadians aged 18 and up between March 31 and April 13.

Online surveys cannot be assigned a margin of error because they do not randomly sample the population.

&copy 2025 The Canadian Press





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Police to host town hall in Quadeville after attack on Ontario child

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Ontario Provincial Police are set to host a town hall in Quadeville, Ont., this evening to answer questions from residents about an attack on an eight-year-old child that was initially linked to an animal.

Police have arrested a 17-year-old boy in the case and he faces charges of attempted murder and sexual assault with a weapon.

Members of the small community 170 kilometres west of Ottawa say they were in shock after hearing about the arrest and hope to get clarity at today’s event in the town’s community centre.

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Local resident Christine Hudder says she wants to know how police came up with the animal attack theory and why families were told for days to keep their children indoors.

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The victim was found with life-threatening injuries on June 24 after she was reported missing, and remains in hospital.

Police say they are planning to give as much information as possible to locals given that an investigation is still underway.






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Old photo of Ontario children used in phony fundraiser for Texas flood victims

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A Burlington, Ont., mother was unsettled to discover that an old photo of her children had been used in a fraudulent GoFundMe that attempted to elicit donations in connection the recent Texas floods.

Julie Cole told Global News that a friend had contacted her on social media to say that an old photo of her six children was being used in an attempt to collect ill-gotten gains.

“She reached out to me and she was like, ‘Hey, here’s a link to a GoFundMe. Sorry this has happened to you, but obviously a picture of your kids has been used without your consent and it’s being used for a GoFundMe to raise money, to help a family dealing with the Texas floods,’” she said.

Cole explained that the fake GoFundMe, which has since been removed by the company, was looking for donations to support a widowed mother of six kids in connection.

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At least 120 people have died while more than 100 others remain unaccounted for as a result of the flooding, including 27 children and councilors from Camp Mystic.

“They were trying to raise $40,000 because of the three daughters had been victims of the Texas floods,” Cole said. “And the way it was presented felt very much like they were part of maybe that girl’s camp.”


Julie Cole told Global News that a friend had contacted her on social media to make that an old photo of her six children was being used in an attempt to collect ill-gotten gains.


Provided

Cole said once the listing was sent to her, she immediately contacted GoFundMe to get the fundraiser taken down.

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By Wednesday morning, the company had done so and in a statement to Global News, GoFundMe said that the fundraiser did not receive any donations and the account has been banned from creating any further fundraisers on the platform.

“GoFundMe has the most robust donor protection processes of any platform of our kind. We have round the clock trust and safety support, humans and technology making sure funds will get to where they are intended,” the statement offered.

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After contacting the company, Cole said she shared the incident on her social media pages to raise awareness.

“So I did put it on my Facebook and I put it in my LinkedIn as like a heads-up learning experience kind of thing and there was a lot of outrage,” she said.

Cole also noted that while she is disappointed by the incident, she is well aware that her troubles are miniscule in comparison to those affected by the flooding.


“I do feel a little bit in myself that what I’m feeling is in no way comparable to what the actual families are feeling who have gone through the tragedies of the flooding,” she said.

The photo came from an old blog post she had written 16 years ago. Cole can date the picture as the baby in the photo is now getting ready to go for his driver’s test.

I’m one of those, like, OG mommy bloggers from 20 years ago. So my kids have been on the internet. They have been sort of in the public eye,” she explained.

“And I know the risk is out there. And I think parents need to remember that, that their kids’ photos can be just screenshotted and used without consent. So there’s one lesson.

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I felt a little, well, very unsettled about it, particularly because of what it was being used for.”

In addition to being a parenting blogger, she also helped found Mabel’s Labels, which offers washable labels for kids clothing and other school items, in an effort to keep them out of the lost and found.


Julie Cole and her six kids in 2025.


Provided

Being a spokesperson for the company while raising six kids keeps her in the parenting sphere and she offered some other advice to parents about the images and social media.

“I think parents just have to be mindful and aware that once it’s out there, you know you’d like to think you’ll get consent or you’ll give consent if somebody asks or they want to use it, but people will just take it and they can just take,” she said.

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“You have to be especially careful now with AI, because these photos can be altered.”

She also warned parents to check with their kids as they get older to see if they are OK with pics being posted and that people should be mindful of where they are sharing their donations.

“Another lesson out of this is people need to really be cautious and know where they’re putting their fundraising dollars,” Cole said.

&copy 2025 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.





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