Ontario Premier Doug Ford denied knowledge of his party allegedly spending $3,000 in donor and taxpayer dollars to surveil former Liberal leader Bonnie Crombie during a 2023 trip to Jamaica. The alleged surveillance took place six days after Crombie won the Liberal leadership. Ford said he does not approve of the alleged spying and spoke to the party about it after hearing the claims on Wednesday. He suggested that it was "stuff that happens" in politics, but expressed hope that such tactics would not continue.
Written by the local model on 2026-08-14,
using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the
same event (that is the story summary below).
'Stuff happens':
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Stuff → happen → ?
Ford says he was unaware party allegedly followed former Liberal leader to Jamaica
Bonnie Crombie says she went to Jamaica on a vacation in December 2023, but had no further comment
Ontario Premier Doug Ford said he was unaware until Wednesday of his Progressive Conservative Party spending money to allegedly surveil former Liberal leader Bonnie Crombie in Jamaica in 2023.
uncertain
Party → say → 2023
The Trillium and POLICORNER reported on Thursday that the provincial party allegedly spent nearly $3,000 in donor and taxpayer dollars on two five-star resorts in Jamaica "to spy on" Bonnie Crombie as part of opposition research work.
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party → report → work
The story cited the claims to anonymous sources familiar with the plan.
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story → cite → plan
The alleged surveillance took place six days after Crombie won the Liberal leadership in December 2023, when she was on a three-day vacation in Jamaica, The Trillium and POLICORNER reported.
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Trillium → allege → Jamaica
CBC News has not independently confirmed The Trillium and POLICORNER's reporting.
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News → confirm → reporting
However, in a statement on Thursday, the Ontario PC Party said: "The Ontario PC Party, like other political parties, conducts opposition research.
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Party → say → research
In this instance, that work included travel to Jamaica in December 2023."
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work → include → December
Ford said at an unrelated news conference Thursday that he does not approve of the alleged spying and he spoke to the party after hearing the claims Wednesday.
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he → say → claims
Ford said it was party money spent on the expense.
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it → say → expense
Political parties in Ontario receive a per-vote subsidy, so party budgets are partly made up of taxpayer money.
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budgets → receive → money
"Things happen" in politics, Ford said, adding the trip was "no different" than when members of the media follow him on trips to the U.S.
When asked if being unaware of the incident absolves him of any blame, Ford said he relies on his team to make sure money is being spent appropriately.
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money → happen → team
"I don't watch every single dollar when I'm in the middle of a campaign," he said.
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he → watch → campaign
Ford was also asked if these tactics would continue, to which he replied, "I hope not."
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I → ask → which
"Let's just have fair and balanced elections," he said.
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he → let → elections
"Stuff happens during elections."
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Stuff → happen → elections
Crombie said she is not commenting at this time, but confirmed to CBC News that she did take a vacation in Jamaica after the leadership race in 2023 and stayed at the Ocean Eden Bay resort.
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she → say → resort
CBC News obtained a copy of the PC Party's 2023 annual financial statement from the NDP.
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News → obtain → NDP
It showed office and administration expenses of $1,000.05 at the Ocean Eden Bay and $1,971.67 at the Royalton Negril Hotel, another resort in Jamaica.
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It → show → Jamaica
The statement did not have information on when these expenses were incurred, for how long, or who claimed them.
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who → have → them
There are also no details on what the spending at the Royalton Negril Hotel was for.
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spending → be → Hotel
'Heads need to roll': opposition party leaders
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Heads → need → ?
In a post on social media platform X, NDP Leader Marit Stiles said the alleged spying is "disgusting" and that Ford should not be allowed to "shrug it off."
"Spying on a woman who is one of your political opponents on her private vacation is creepy Trump-style politics that has no place here," she said.
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she → say → place
Stiles said someone within the party had to sign off on the expense and that Ford will know exactly who it is.
"Heads need to roll," she said.
Ford's approval dips to 24%, Ontario PCs still trail Liberals amid hotel expense scandal:
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PCs → say → scandal
- Analysis
Ontario politics just had a shakeup.
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politics → have → shakeup
Here's an insider view of what it could mean for the Ford government
John Fraser, interim Leader of the Ontario Liberals, called on Ford to explain why someone was allegedly sent to follow Crombie to Jamaica and who exactly was involved.
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who → mean → Jamaica
This is creepy, disturbing behaviour and a complete abuse of power," said Fraser.
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Fraser → say → power
He said it was "extraordinary abuse of public money" to use donor and taxpayer funds to follow an opponent.
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it → say → opponent
"It raises serious questions about how far Doug Ford is willing to go to target his political opponents, and whether this has happened before."
With files from Lorenda Reddekopp
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this → raise → Reddekopp
