Doug Ford reveals who he's voting for in Toronto mayoral election

Ontario Premier Doug Ford has revealed the mayoral candidate in Toronto he’s planning to vote for next week.

On Tuesday, Ford told reporters after an announcement in Ottawa he'd be voting for former Toronto police chief Mark Saunders.

“I put Mark's sign on my lawn, I'm proud to have his sign on the lawn,” he said.

“I’ll be voting for Mark,” Ford continued. “That’s just my opinion. He’d be the best mayor.”

Saunders was the first Black chief of police in Toronto, and held the role from 2015 to 2020, before failing to secure a seat for the PC Party in Don Valley West last election.

The premier reiterated that he is “staying out of the race,” a sentiment he first expressed back in March after telling reporters a month earlier, “If a left-wing mayor gets in there, we're toast.”

With the mayoral election just around the corner, Ford is faced with the possibility of frontrunner mayoral candidate Olivia Chow taking the top job. Her platform openly opposes some of Ford’s provincial plans, for example, the government’s move to make a new home for the Ontario Science Centre at Ontario Place.

Ford said Tuesday he'll work alongside whoever wins, despite any potential differences.

“We go through the democratic process, she gets elected, I'll work with her. We'll sit down and come up with common ground," Ford said.

Chow received 30 per cent of support among decided voters in the latest poll, with less than a week until election day. Saunders has consistently finished in second place for more than a month with 16 per cent of support.

Ford added Tuesday that he doesn’t “believe in polls.”

“I remember when Rob [Ford] got elected," he recalled at the press conference. "Two days before the polls -- I call them the fake polls, -- they say, 'George Smitherman is going to win by 12 points.' Well, there's a difference [of] 24 points because Rob kicked his butt by 12 points,” the premier said.

The Toronto mayoral election is on Monday.