Ontario MP Amanda Simard leaves PC caucus after cuts to Francophone services

Ontario MP Amanda Simard left the Progressive Conservative Party caucus to sit as an independent after publicly criticizing Prime Minister Doug Ford's government for changes to French-language services in the province.

In a letter to President Ted Arnott early Thursday, Mrs. Simard – the only Franco-Ontarian member of Mr. Ford's team – said her decision to leave takes effect immediately.

"I am no longer a member of the Progressive Conservative caucus," wrote Ms. Simard. "I will continue to serve in the Ontario Legislature as an Independent."

Ms. Simard did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Thursday.

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The announcement came when Ms. Simard's caucus colleagues met at Queen's Park to discuss her future. An important government source told the Globe that a large number of caucus members were demanding that she be removed from the caucus, following public criticism of Mr. Ford and his government.

After Thursday's caucus meeting, Mr. Ford told iPolitics that he did not know that Ms. Simard was leaving the caucus. "We are more united than ever," he said.

For days, Ms. Simard spoke out against the government's decision, in its fall financial update, to cancel the plan for a francophone university and to remove the francophone watchdog office.

"I ask the Prime Minister and the government to reconsider their decisions. And I'm only doing what I've been elected, "Simard told reporters at Queen's Park this week.

On Wednesday, Ford told reporters that he had spoken to Ms. Simard last week and told her that she had her backing. However, he said since then that she was avoiding calls from her office.

"My chief of staff tried to contact Amanda, my principal secretary tried to contact Amanda. Other people in my office have tried to contact Amanda. Amanda has never answered the calls, "he said.

"She chose not to be part of it."

After the outcry sparked by the Franco-Ontarian community, the PC government backed down last week by announcing that it would create a French services commissioner position under the Ombudsman's office. Ford has also officially appointed Attorney General Caroline Mulroney as Minister of Francophone Affairs and is committed to hiring a Senior Policy Advisor for Francophone Affairs. But plans for a French-language university, which Mr. Ford had promised to maintain during the election campaign, were not resurrected.

"In recent days we have made some changes. I listened, "said Mr. Ford. However, he said that there was not enough money in the province for a francophone university.

Ms. Simard stated that the "partial backtracking" was not enough. On Wednesday, she voted against the government's economic update in the fall to the legislature.

Ms. Simard, who represents the riding of Glengarry-Prescott-Russell in eastern Ontario, was a municipal councilor in the Russell community before joining the Conservative list led by Patrick Brown. She holds a law degree from the University of Ottawa and previously worked on Parliament Hill as a Policy Advisor.

With a report from the Canadian Press