Doug Ford may have promised to bring buck-a-beer back to thirsty Ontarians, but it’s not the first thing brewing as he prepares to take the reigns at Queen’s Park.
For now, beer will have to take a back seat to book keeping.
“One of the first things I have to look at is the finances to see what sort of shape we are in,” the premier-elect told CityNews’ Cynthia Mulligan in his first one-on-one interview since leading the PCs to a majority government on Thursday night.
“After that we will move forward quickly on our mandate and the mandate the people gave to us. It is all going to be about the people, putting money back in their pocket and respecting taxpayers.”
Ford said one of his early challenges would be choosing his cabinet.
“It’s going to be the toughest challenge that I face, putting a team together and compiling a cabinet because there’s so many great people.”
Ford noted the strength of his potential cabinet during the campaign trail, saying it could be made up of political heavyweights like Christine Elliott, Caroline Mulroney, and Vic Fedeli, while the NDPs would have consisted of ill-prepared “radicals.”
The NDP will serve as the official Opposition after the Liberals were all but wiped off the political map, winning just seven seats — one short of official party status.
Ford will transition into power over the next three weeks, and he said he met with the lieutenant-governor on Friday to discuss the forming of Ontario’s next government.
In the meantime, he’s still riding a wave of adrenaline from Thursday’s spirited celebration that for Ford, didn’t include spirits.
“I don’t drink alcohol,” he said, “I’m the only guy that probably didn’t have a drink last night, and I decided to get an extra large coffee from Tim Horton’s and I was up till four in the morning.”
Ford may not imbibe, but he has said he’s planning to make it easier for Ontarians to buy alcohol at corner stores and grocery stores.
His plan to loosen restrictions on alcohol sales don’t include privatizing the LCBO.
“I don’t think we need to do that,” he said. “I don’t believe in selling off anything, we wish we wouldn’t have sold off hydro.”
