Michael Douglas Ford (born Michael Douglas Aldo Ford Stirpe on March 25, 1994) is a Canadian politician who has been the Ontario minister of citizenship and multiculturalism since June 24, 2022. A member of the Progressive Conservative (PC) Party, he has represented

York South—Weston York South—Weston (french: York-Sud—Weston) is a federal electoral district in Ontario, Canada, that has been represented in the House of Commons of Canada since 1979. In 2015, York South—Weston elected Canada's first MP of Somali des ...

in the

Legislative Assembly of Ontario The Legislative Assembly of Ontario (OLA, french: Assemblée législative de l'Ontario) is the legislative chamber of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. Its elected members are known as Member of Provincial ...

since 2022. Ford previously served on

Toronto City Council Toronto City Council is the governing body of the municipal government of Toronto, Ontario. Meeting at Toronto City Hall, it comprises 25 city councillors and the mayor of Toronto. The current term began on November 15, 2022. Structure The c ...

from 2016 to 2022. First elected as a school trustee in 2014, he later won a 2016 by-election for the council seat which was vacated upon the death of Councillor Rob Ford, before he was elected as a member of Provincial Parliament (MPP) in 2022. He is the nephew of

Doug Ford Douglas Robert Ford Jr. (born November 20, 1964) is a Canadian politician and businessman who has served as the 26th and current premier of Ontario since June 2018 and leader of the Progressive Conservative (PC) Party since March 2018. He ...

, the

premier of Ontario The premier of Ontario (french: premier ministre de l'Ontario) is the head of government of Ontario. Under the Westminster system, the premier governs with the confidence of a majority the elected Legislative Assembly; as such, the premier typ ...

and

Rob Ford Robert Bruce Ford (May 28, 1969 – March 22, 2016) was a Canadian politician and businessman who served as the 64th mayor of Toronto from 2010 to 2014. Before and after his term as mayor, Ford was a city councillor representing Ward 2 Etobi ...

, the former

mayor of Toronto The mayor of Toronto is the head of Toronto City Council and chief executive officer of the municipal government. The mayor is elected alongside city council every four years on the fourth Monday of October; there are no term limits. While in ...

Early and personal life

Ford was born on March 25, 1994 to Ennio Stirpe and Kathy Ford in

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anch ...

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

. He attended

Richview Collegiate Institute Richview Collegiate Institute (Richview CI, RCI or Richview) is a secondary school in Etobicoke, in the west end of Toronto, Ontario. It is in the Etobicoke Board of Education which in turn became the part of the Toronto District School Board in 19 ...

Etobicoke Etobicoke (, ) is an administrative district of, and one of six municipalities amalgamated into, the city of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Comprising the city's west-end, Etobicoke was first settled by Europeans in the 1790s, and the municipalit ...

, graduating in 2012. He is the nephew of

, the 26th

, and

, the 64th

. He is the grandson of Doug Ford Sr., who was an MPP. In 2014, Ford changed his surname from Stirpe to Ford, and removed Aldo from his given name. His father was convicted of manslaughter in 2009 and convicted of attempted murder in 2012. He is currently incarcerated and serving an 18-year prison term for attempted murder. In June 2020, Ford tested positive for

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...

Political career

2014 municipal election

In the 2014 municipal election, Ford was initially a candidate for Toronto City Council in Ward 2 Etobicoke North, but dropped out when his uncle, Rob Ford, withdrew from the mayoral race after being diagnosed with an abdominal

tumour A neoplasm () is a type of abnormal and excessive growth of tissue. The process that occurs to form or produce a neoplasm is called neoplasia. The growth of a neoplasm is uncoordinated with that of the normal surrounding tissue, and persists ...

. Rob Ford then registered to run for the council seat, while Michael transferred his candidacy to the school board race. During an interview with ''

The Globe and Mail ''The Globe and Mail'' is a Canadian newspaper printed in five cities in western and central Canada. With a weekly readership of approximately 2 million in 2015, it is Canada's most widely read newspaper on weekdays and Saturdays, although it ...

'', Michael Ford acknowledged that his last name helped him get elected, but stated that he is his own man, and unlike his uncles. His colleagues on the school board were very concerned when Ford was elected due to his uncles' public lives in politics, but one of his colleagues,

Marit Stiles Marit Stiles () (born September 20, 1969) is a Canadian politician who has represented Davenport in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario since June 7, 2018. A member of the Ontario New Democratic Party (NDP), Stiles is presumed to be the next ...

, told the ''Globe'' that Ford was a hard worker, eager to learn, and wasn't afraid to ask questions. He also quickly earned a reputation for being more politically moderate and conciliatory than his uncles — including expressing admiration of

Justin Trudeau Justin Pierre James Trudeau ( , ; born December 25, 1971) is a Canadian politician who is the 23rd and current prime minister of Canada. He has served as the prime minister of Canada since 2015 and as the leader of the Liberal Party since 2 ...

, whom both of his uncles were known for criticizing, and attending Toronto's

Pride Week LGBT pride (also known as gay pride or simply pride) is the promotion of the self-affirmation, dignity, equality, and increased visibility of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people as a social group. Pride, as opposed to sh ...

parade.

Toronto City Council

Councillor Rob Ford died on March 22, 2016, at which time the council seat in Ward 2 was declared vacant. After city council declared on May 6 that a by-election would be held to fill the seat, Michael Ford announced he would resign his trustee position to run for council. He won the by-election, winning 69.53 per cent of the vote over 11 other challengers. At 22, he is the youngest person in recent history to be elected to council. Ford ran for re-election in the 2018 municipal election in the newly expanded

Ward 1 Etobicoke North Ward 1 Etobicoke North is a municipal electoral division in Etobicoke, Toronto, Ontario that has been represented in the Toronto City Council since the 2018 municipal election. It was last contested in 2018, with Michael Ford being elected c ...

. He defeated fellow incumbent councillor

Vincent Crisanti Vincent Crisanti ( , ; born 1953) is a Canadian politician who was elected to represent Ward 1 Etobicoke North on Toronto City Council following the 2022 municipal election. He previously represented a former ward by the same name from 2010 to 2 ...

Provincial politics

In April 2022, Ford announced that he would run in the June provincial election in

, for the Progressive Conservative Party. He was appointed Minister of Citizenship and Multiculturalism in the Ford Ministry.

Election results

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ford, Michael 1994 births Living people Toronto city councillors Toronto District School Board trustees Canadian people of Italian descent Ford political family Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario MPPs 21st-century Canadian politicians Members of the Executive Council of Ontario