Toronto councillor tried to cancel FordFest after resident raised concerns about event

A Toronto city councillor asked city staff to look into cancelling the Progressive Conservatives’ annual FordFest event, internal communications suggest, and raised concerns about a public park being used for political campaigning. FordFest is an annual barbecue and festival organized by Premier Doug Ford, which was held in Thomson Memorial Park in Scarborough this year. The event has a Ford tradition that stretches back to Rob Ford’s days at city hall and was originally held at the family home in Etobicoke. In recent years, the Progressive Conservatives have moved its location to reach different audiences across the province or to coincide with local byelection races. Internal communications from City of Toronto bylaw staff, a councillor and other civil servants sent to Global News show the annual celebration has taken increasing time for city hall to help organize. Story continues below advertisement A trove of messages shows staff worried about partisan promotion on public grounds in 2023, leading to a short-lived effort by Coun. Dianne Saxe to scrap the event this year. “In my view, Doug Ford should have to follow the same rules as everyone else,” Saxe wrote in a statement sent to Global News. “My constituents raised a fair concern that he appeared to be using a city facility paid for by city taxpayers for his partisan political purposes, which is illegal. I did my job and raised that concern with city staff. By law, the final decision was up to them.” The same messages reveal a last-minute realization from city staff that protesters planned to mass at the event, prompting an urgent police response in the midst of trying to manage the FIFA World Cup. Councillor moves to try to cancel FordFest On June 4, 2026, a resident emailed Mayor Olivia Chow and Coun. Saxe’s offices asking them to “prevent the misuse of our community space.” Story continues below advertisement In their email, the resident pointed to a report from Global News. The story revealed that the Ontario Progressive Conservative Party was asking government chiefs of staff to invite friendly stakeholders to FordFest, while also instructing their political staff to turn up and volunteer. The resident questioned how an event run by a political party could fit the city’s non-partisan guidelines. Get daily Ottawa news Get daily Ottawa news delivered to your inbox so you'll never miss the day's top stories. BY PROVIDING YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS, YOU HAVE READ AND AGREE TO GLOBAL…