Mayor or MPP?: Doug Ford to announce next political move at Ford Fest

Doug Ford says he'llmake a big political announcement next weekathis family's annual barbecueevent, Ford Fest.

"I haven't decided if I'm going to run under the provincial banner, The PC's and Patrick Brown, or run for mayor as yet, but we'll make that decision on September 8," Ford told CBC Toronto.

The ex-mayoral candidate says, whether municipal or provincial,he plans to run a campaign on "saving taxpayers money."

'The people want aprincipled leader'

"What the people want is a principled leader, a leader that does what he or she promises to do," said Ford.

"The people are sick and tired of putting their hands in their pockets and finding Kathleen Wynne's hands or John Tory's hands in there."

Ford saystaxes under Mayor John Toryare "higher than they were under David Miller," who occupied the mayor's chair from 2003 to 2010 and had many run-ins with Ford's late brother, Rob Ford, on city council.

Tory's budget chief Gary Crawford fired back a statement Tuesdayaddressing Doug Ford's comment.

"Taxes have increased at or below the rate of inflation every year since 2015," Crawford said, crediting Tory and the budget committee with the "effort to tighten our belts."

Crawford added:"In any political debate, facts matter and I would encourage any individual attacking Toronto's finances to stick to the facts before firing off false and cavalier statements."

• Doug Ford stirs up provincial politics speculation with Queen's Park meeting

Ford stepped into the last mayoral race in September of 2014 whenRob Fordwas diagnosed with cancer. He won about 34 per centof the vote toTory's 40 per cent.

Prior to that, he servedas the councillorforWard 2, his family's stronghold, from2010 to 2014 during his brother's term as mayor. Rob Ford died in March of 2016.

• Rob Ford pulls out of mayoral race, Doug Ford steps in

The provincial election is set for next June, while the Toronto's mayoral race will be decided inOctober, 2018.