Image copyright Reuters Image caption Doug Ford is a Trump fan, but can he "make Ontario great again"?
Doug Ford - the brother of late Toronto mayor Rob Ford - is the new premier of Ontario. Who is the populist politician taking the reins of Canada's most populous province?
In 2010, Rob Ford rode a wave of support from the city's suburbs straight into the mayor's office of Toronto.
His vow to end government waste and the disrespect of taxpayers resonated with the so-called "Ford Nation", a coalition of voters who felt ignored by the decision-makers downtown.
With him came his older brother, Doug Ford, who was elected as city councillor and who championed his brother's proposals to cut city waste - to "stop the gravy train" to city hall.
Rob Ford's tenure as mayor of Canada's largest city was tumultuous, most notably marked by his admission to using crack cocaine while in office.
During those raucous four years, between 2010-14, Doug Ford proved more than willing to jump into the fray to defend his brother against the critics and speculation about the mayor's drug use and drinking.
Image copyright Reuters Image caption Doug Ford (L) reacts to someone in the city council chambers while Rob Ford looks on
On Friday, Doug Ford was sworn-in as the premier of Ontario - one of the most powerful political positions in Canada - after running a successful campaign for the centre-right Progressive Conservative (PC) party.
He won the election for Ontario, home to Canada's industrial heartland and its most populous province, with a very similar message to that of his late brother's: the party is over with the taxpayers' money.
His win leaves some who worked alongside the pair in Toronto speculating what life might be like under a Doug Ford government.
City councillor John Filion sat behind Mr Ford in city council chambers for four years, and recalls the 53-year-old businessman as being funny and "very affable" when they would go for lunch together.
That changed back in city council chambers.
"He can be friendly one minute in a social context and then want to knock your block off the next in a political context," says Mr Filion, who wrote a book about the Fords, The Only Average Guy.
Mr Ford, who once described himself to Mr Filion as a "scrapper", is unlikely to back down from a brawl now that he's graduated from city hall to Ontario's legislature.
Image copyright Reuters Image caption Doug Ford arrives to vote with his wife and two of his four daughters
Mr Ford is known for his plain-speaking style and frequent attacks on media and the elites whom he once described as "drinking champagne with their pinkies in the air".
During his time as city councillor, he fought publicly with acclaimed author Margaret Atwood over proposed library cuts; accused the city's former police chief of leaking information about Rob Ford to journalists - later apologising under threat of a defamation suit; and told fellow councillors "Why don't you shut up and sit down?"
His campaign for Ontario was unapologetically populist.
He vowed to end government waste, promised to fight for "the little guy", to cut energy cost, reduce the price of petrol, lower provincial income tax and slash the price of beer.
Image copyright Reuters Image caption The Ford family has always maintained support among 'Ford Nation'
It's a message that resonated with the 40.5% of Ontario voters who cast ballots for PC candidates, giving them 76 of the 124 seats in the province.
"People like to say populism like it's some sort of awful thing," his campaign director Michael Diamond told the BBC.
"There's no shame in a government for the people and by the people. It's their money, it's their province and so it should work for them."
The businessman's biography - president of a label-making company founded by his father, limited political experience - as well as his brand of politics and brash demeanour have invited comparisons to US President Donald Trump.
While Mr Ford has voiced his personal support for the American leader, there has been debate over the comparison's validity.
Mr Diamond dismisses it, though he "would agree in that they're both businessmen who have been successful in both business and politics".
Abacus Data pollster David Coletto says Mr Ford is "not Donald Trump and Ontario is not America".
"But the way that he campaigned and the fact that he embraced such a populist change message was similar".
Skip Twitter post by @JohnFilion23 10. Expect from Doug Ford a Trump-like propensity for untruths, the distortion of reality and extreme exaggeration – especially when describing his accomplishments and public support for his actions. — John Filion (@JohnFilion23) June 8, 2018 Report
Mr Filion says he sees similarities between the two politicians in the "need for attention, the us versus them [mentality], the inability to see things from anyone else's perspective, the feeding of the [political] base, the antagonism towards anyone who says anything negative about them".
Others have pointed out he can be light on facts.
On the campaign trail, Mr Ford frequently touted that "we saved the taxpayers over C$1.16bn" ($872m; £664m) during his time at city hall - a figure widely disputed by fact checkers who suggested the former mayor and his team actually saved the city some C$893m - about C$350m more than previous administrations.
He was also dogged by family chaos during the campaign. His brother's widow, Renata, filed a lawsuit alleging Doug and another brother, Randy, had mismanaged the family business and mishandled her late husband Rob's estate.
Both men have strongly denied the claims, which have not been tested in court.
Ford Nation, the dedicated political base that fuelled the rise of both Rob and Doug Ford, make up about 5% of the province's voters, says Mr Coletto.
"There is not a real clear demographic, or regional or even socio-economic profile of them," he says.
What unifies them is an affinity for the Ford family, a sense that politics and society have become too politically correct, and that there's a "condescending elite class that has lost touch with ordinary folks".
The PC campaign was given a boost outside its core support in the 7 June election by widespread voter fatigue with the Liberal Party, which had been in power in Ontario for 15 years.
"There was a great desire for change, a growing angst among a higher income segment of the electorate who felt life was getting way too expensive," says Mr Coletto.
"Ford appealed to voters who just wanted some relief."
The new premier will face hurdles in his promises of prosperity. The province's economy is most at risk in Canada if the North American Free Trade Agreement renegotiations with the US turn sour.
Mr Ford has said he stands with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on trade matters and rising protectionism.
While some economists have praised some of his commitments, including a planned corporate tax reduction, others have raised concerns about the potential cost of his plans.
Image copyright AFP Image caption Rising protectionism could threaten Ontario's economy
Mr Ford's win riled up progressive activists in the province, who are already planning to fight against any public sector job losses, the premier-elect's promise to hold the minimum wage at $14 per hour, his plan to revisit the province's sex-education curriculum, and his vow to challenge the federal government's planned carbon tax.
On election night, as it became clear Ford was headed to victory, one left-leaning Toronto city councillor cheekily tweeted: "To the ramparts!"
Mr Filion doubts the battle cries will faze Mr Ford.
"He'll be enjoying poking a stick at anything the lefties hold near and dear," he says.
"And he'll just love it they're out there carrying placards against him.
"It'll be a sign that things are working as they should."
Paola Loriggio and Michelle McQuigge, The Canadian Press
TORONTO -- A grinning Doug Ford declared a new era officially underway in Ontario on Friday as he assumed the reins of the province and unveiled the leaner cabinet tasked with executing his widely touted agenda of fiscal responsibility.
Ford, who cruised to victory earlier this month in an election that reduced the governing Liberals to a party without official status, made good on a promise to trim the size of the provincial cabinet.
Ford has named 20 ministers to cabinet posts, reserving some plum positions for the two women who challenged him for leadership of the party earlier this year. Under former premier Kathleen Wynne, cabinet had as many as 30 members.
At an outdoor ceremony before cheering supporters, Ford outlined a litany of global challenges and perceived past political wrongs before promising change had arrived.
"Together we will blaze a new trail," he said. "Together we will be the envy of the world because as a people, as a province, our potential is limitless."
Ford, long criticized for divisive partisan rhetoric, pledged to govern for all Ontario residents and to work with members of the other three parties in the legislature.
The crowd, gathered in scorching conditions to witness Ford's speech, greeted him enthusiastically as he proclaimed himself a premier for the people.
Cindy Nepo, a supporter from Brampton, Ont., felt his claim rang true.
"I support him because I feel in my heart he's sincere," she said. "All the promises or goals he had set for Ontario. He is for the people."
Others said they came to show that not everyone supports Ford despite his decisive victory. Taryn Eadie, 26, held up a bright pink sign that read "Not my premier" as she stood at the front of the crowd.
"A lot of people obviously disagree with my sign but then there are a lot of people who are here and appreciative that I did come," she said. "So I think not everyone is here supporting Doug Ford."
Ford's majority win closed the door on 15 years of Liberal governance, the manifestation of a public desire for change that the polls had long predicted.
Liberal fatigue combined with Wynne's plunging popularity contributed to the party's dramatic fall from a majority to a handful of seats and helped propel the New Democrats, with whom they shared some policy priorities, to the role of official Opposition.
Both the Liberals and the NDP congratulated Ford and his cabinet on the transition to power, but raised concerns about changes to government ministries.
Ford's cabinet selections, revealed during Friday's ceremony, suggest the new premier is trying to differentiate himself from the previous regime by bringing in fresh faces, including several from the private sector, and highlighting particular portfolios that are central to his agenda, said Andrea Lawlor, a political science professor at Western University's King's University College.
At the same time, she said, the new premier is rewarding key members of the old guard to show stability and unity within Tory ranks and offset his own lack of legislative experience.
"I think the makeup of the cabinet that we see is one that is very much meant to bring a little bit of continuity between previous PCs and contemporary PCs but also one that reflects individuals who are on board with the Ford agenda and willing to carry out his vision for the province of Ontario," she said.
His chosen team of seven women and 14 men -- one of them a member of a visible minority -- includes several who came from the private sector, which Lawlor said suggests Ford is looking for "people who come from the business world, people who perhaps understand the bottom line."
In naming Christine Elliott, a veteran provincial legislator who returned to politics this year to contend for the party leadership, as deputy premier and minister of health and long-term care, Ford aimed to appeal to those with a more centrist approach, she said.
"(Elliott) is measured, she is professional, she has a wealth of experience, an abundance of competence in the area of governance in general. And not only does she speak, I think, a little bit more to some of the elements of the PC party that were a little bit cautious around Ford...she provides this nice counterpoint to Ford's style."
Elliott, the province's former patient ombudsman, said her focus would be to deliver on the party's commitments to create long-term care and home care spaces, to create a comprehensive mental health system and work with physicians. She also repeated Ford's call for collaboration, saying legislators "need to work across party lines."
Toronto lawyer Caroline Mulroney, who came third in the leadership contest triggered by the abrupt resignation of Patrick Brown, has been tapped as Ontario's new attorney general and minister responsible for Francophone affairs.
Another prominent post went to Vic Fedeli, who stepped in as interim leader after Brown resigned and pledged to root out the rot from the party ranks. The longtime finance critic will now lead the charge on the file by becoming finance minister.
Fedeli said the government audit Ford promised during the campaign would start "immediately" but declined to give more details on the province's fiscal future.
Former Postmedia executive Rod Phillips, hailed as a star candidate throughout the election campaign, was named environment minister, a file that has received renewed attention in light of Ford's commitment to scrap the province's cap-and-trade system.
The ministry itself also saw climate change dropped from its name -- a move Lawlor, the political science professor, said "signals an agenda shift."
Phillips, who will be leading the effort to dismantle cap and trade, said there was no message behind the change and maintained the issue would stay at the forefront.
"Climate change is everybody's issue, it's not an issue just for the minister of the environment but obviously that's going to be a key focus for me," he said.
Veteran provincial legislators rewarded with cabinet posts included newly minted Minister of Children, Community and Social Services Lisa MacLeod, Transportation Minister John Yakabuski, and Education Minister Lisa Thompson.
Former federal cabinet minister Greg Rickford now takes charge of Ontario's energy portfolio, a lightning-rod topic in the province due to years of rising hydro rates. The file is being combined with northern development and mines. Rickford will also oversee Indigenous affairs, though that remains a standalone ministry.
Raymond Cho, who once sat with Ford on Toronto City Council, assumes responsibility for seniors and accessibility.
Ford, who will also handle inter-governmental affairs as well as his duties as premier, campaigned this spring largely on a promise of fiscal responsibility, though he did not present a fully costed platform.
He said Friday he will recall the legislature the week of July 9. A spokesman for the PC Party said MPPs will return to work on July 11, with a throne speech set for July 12.
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Here is a list of the new ministers:
Doug Ford -- Premier and minister of intergovernmental affairs
Christine Elliott -- Minister of health and long-term care and deputy premier
Caroline Mulroney -- Attorney general and minister responsible for Francophone affairs
Monte McNaughton -- Minister of infrastructure
Lisa MacLeod -- Minister of children, community and social services and minister responsible for women's issues
Lisa Thompson -- Minister of education
Todd Smith -- Minister of government and consumer services, and government house leader
Laurie Scott -- Minister of labour
Peter Bethlenfalvy -- President of the Treasury Board
Raymond Cho -- Minister for seniors and accessibility
Steve Clark -- Minister of municipal affairs and housing
Victor Fedeli -- Minister of finance and Chair of cabinet
Merrilee Fullerton -- Minister of training, colleges and universities
Ernie Hardeman -- Minister of agriculture, food and rural affairs
Sylvia Jones -- Minister of tourism, culture and sport
Rod Phillips -- Minister of the environment, conservation and parks
Greg Rickford -- Minister of energy, northern development and mines, and minister of Indigenous affairs
Michael Tibollo -- Minister of community safety and correctional services
Jim Wilson -- Minister of economic development, job creation and trade
John Yakabuski -- Minister of transportation
Jeff Yurek -- Minister of natural resources and forestry
