Ford cancels personal cell phone after receiving hate mail and inappropriate images

Ford cancels cell after too many calls, texts The premier has disconnected his personal cell phone number after receiving 'hundreds' of text messages from special interest groups.

The decision to disconnect Premier Doug Ford’s personal cell phone number came after Ford received “hundreds” of text messages from a single Montreal-based phone number, according to the Premier’s Office, making the phone unusable.

Ford’s Press Secretary Ivana Yelich says the belief within the Premier’s Office is that “special interest” groups used a robo-text service to send the premier messages on a variety of issues.

The result, Yelich says, was a constant barrage of text messages that forced Ford to turn off the phone and eventually disconnect the number entirely.

“It wasn’t even usable anymore,” Yelich told CTV News Toronto.

Yelich says Ford had also begun to receive hate mail, including one text message that wished the premier would be diagnosed with cancer.

“I can’t wait until you follow in the steps of your brother and die prematurely from a gift from God cancer,” read one text message, provided to CTV News Toronto by the Premier’s Office.

“For the people? Full of evil,” read another text message.

Yelich says Ford had also received a number of graphic images of male genitalia.

While the discussion over whether the number should be disconnected had been ongoing “for a while,” Yelich says Ford was “not willing” to give it up.

“It took a lot of convincing,” Yelich says before Ford agreed to unhook the number on Tuesday.

Ford maintained the phone number both in public and private life and often emulated his brother Rob Ford who, as Toronto City Councillor and Mayor, consistently called residents who reached out with municipally-related issues.

As premier, Doug Ford would often hand out his phone number asking people to “call or text him” with concerns or comments.

In an exclusive interview with CTV News Toronto in June, Ford’s wife Karla joked that “his phone never stops.”

“He always carries it with him, but he will put it on vibrate,” Karla Ford told CTV News Toronto’s Michelle Dube. “The only thing that upsets me is when it vibrates through the night, because it does.”

Ford's constant engagement with those who texted or phoned him also caused some consternation within the Premier’s Office, because there often wasn’t much awareness of who Ford was speaking to or a record of what was said.

Ford’s conversations with members of the public would sometimes affect government policy.

After the government unveiled its unpopular version of the Ontario Autism Plan, Ford would respond to parents who messaged him with their displeasure—the plan was eventually overhauled on Ford’s orders.

While Yelich says Ford “remains committed” to being accessible through his office phone number and email, it’s unclear whether the premier will publicize his number in the future.

Yelich says it comes down to balancing the “Ford mentality of customer service” with having a useable device to engage members of the public.

The office wouldn’t say whether Ford has a new personal cell phone number.