Protester gets on Ford Fest stage in Etobicoke at annual Ontario PC event

A protester made it onto the stage at a Ford Fest event in Etobicoke organized by the Ontario Progressive Conservative Party on Friday.

Ontario Premier Doug Ford was speaking in Centennial Park, when the protester confronted him and was quickly ushered off the stage.

The annual event this year was billed as a celebration of the party's third straight majority provincial government win. In February, Ford led the party to victory in a snap winter election fought amid the spectre of U.S. tariffs.

The protester shouted about Grassy Narrows as they were pulled off stage. Ford accused the protester of spray painting "everything" and putting up stickers "all over the place" on Thursday night.

"That's not what the people want. We live in a peaceful province and we're going to continue to build... That's what we're going to do," Ford told the crowd.

Grassy Narrows First Nation, a northwestern Ontario community, has faced decades of mercury contamination. The poisoning has impacted an estimated 90 per cent of the population of Grassy Narrows, also known as Asubpeeschoseewagong Netum Anishinabek.

Earlier, Ford thanked Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow for renaming Centennial Park Stadium after his late brother and former Toronto mayor Rob Ford. The stadium, renamed in May, is now called Rob Ford Stadium.

"It was Mayor Chow that named that stadium after Rob. I'll be forever, forever grateful. So when you see her, just thank her. She is really amazing," Ford said.

The premier also highlighted his government's work on infrastructure, citing progress on transit lines, the construction of two new Catholic schools and a new community centre in Etobicoke 

Ford and his fellow premiers are travelling to Boston for meetings Monday with U.S. governors in states with strong trade ties to Ontario.