doug ford binder

People in Ontario are obsessing over Doug Ford's binder

Another day, another reason for the people of Ontario to completely roast Doug Ford for something he's said or done.

This time, it's about the premier's appearance in Monday evening's leader's debate, during which he surprisingly did not dish out any charactristically absurd, newsworthy zingers.

In fact, constituents seem to be focusing less on what Ford actually said, and more on where he was getting his points from: a black three-ring binder that he brought to the podium, seemingly despite the rules.

Many noticed right away that Ford referred to the binder a few times during the event even though a moderator mentioned at one point that "the leaders were asked not to bring cheat sheets, props or briefing books so that this could be an unscripted conversation."

When questioned on the subject after the fact, Ford said to reporters, "There’s nothing wrong with putting notes to make sure you're organized. Guess what? People don't care about that."

But, according to Twitter today, a lot of people do in fact care.

The binder was mentioned all night morning, with people joking about what it might contain, why Ford was permitted to use it and more.

Photos of the item (and Ford glancing at it) are also circulating along with the quips.

While some are actually peeved that the leaader was seemingly permitted to skirt the rules, most people are simply poking fun at the whole thing.

One person even went as far as making a Twitter account, @DougFordsBinder, which has now amassed more than 1,100 followers.

It appears that the account has been around since last month, but was changed to its current purpose after it was revealed last week that Ford would be granted an exception to the general no notes rule.

"I'm here!" the account tweeted last night, which followed a number of tweets teasing about what might be on each page.

#DougFordsBinder is also, of course, a hashtag now.

Most also generally appear to think that even with the aid, Ford still didn't perform all that well against his opponents, who brought up issues like the controversial Highway 413 and Bradford Bypass, the Ontario PC party's handling of the pandemic, and other hot topics.

It definitely doesn't look like Dougie will be living down the binder thing anytime soon — that is, until his next hilarious one-liner, photo op or social media post.

It seems the man can't visit a nearby farm, share his love for Tim Hortons sandwiches or visit his local McDonald's without getting hate on, but that's all a part of the job, especially when you've made the moves he has.

Ford's Laptop also apparently has its own social media presence — spawned when it was revealed that Ford was just learning to use a laptop over quarantine — with a following of nearly 2,000. 

Lead photo by

CPAC


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