Krista Ford says her father, Ontario Premier Doug Ford, has shifted politically, but she rejects the idea that political disagreement means there is a family rift.

In a wide-ranging conversation, Ford’s daughter, now Krista Haynes, opened up about her relationship with the premier, the pressure of being part of one of Ontario’s most recognizable political families, and why she believes her father has taken “more of a centrist platform.”

“Oh, like he’s my dad,” Haynes said when asked about her relationship with Doug Ford. “At the end of the day like through our disagreements, he’s the premier of Ontario and he’s also my dad.”

Haynes said she does not believe she has to agree with Ford politically in order to maintain a close relationship with him personally.

“The premier I can have opposing opinions and I’m a 35-year-old adult and if I want to express, you know, that I have a different opinion, I can do that,” she said.

Asked why that seems surprising to some people, Haynes said she does not understand the reaction.

“I really don’t know,” she said. “Family is everything to me and and my family.”

Haynes described herself as “a little bit more of a black sheep” of the family and said she has always been willing to speak her mind.

“I’ve always kind of marched to the rhythm of my own drum,” she said.

“I’ve never been afraid to have an opinion.”

During the conversation, Haynes also reflected on the public attention surrounding the Ford family, especially during the years her late uncle Rob Ford served as mayor of Toronto.

“When my uncle was the mayor, the media was just annihilating my family,” she said.

Asked what it was like to go through Rob Ford’s addiction struggles in such a public way, Haynes called it “heartbreaking.”

“My dad protected my uncle a lot,” she said. “They were very close. Very very very very close.”

Haynes also pushed back against the perception that being Doug Ford’s daughter has brought privilege, access or financial protection.

“That’s a very strong misconception,” she said.

She said she and her husband, Toronto police officer Dave Haynes, live independently and have tried to keep a lower profile.

“We live a very independent life from that,” she said.

Much of the conversation focused on Dave Haynes and his long-running internal dispute with the Toronto Police Service.

Krista Haynes said her husband is “trying to hold the Toronto Police Service Command accountable for public safety and officer safety” and has been “severely charged for it.”

She said the process has taken a major financial toll, with legal fees close to $100,000. She also rejected the suggestion that the Ford name has helped them.

“If you just Google it, you don’t even know his name, right?” she said. “It’s Doug Ford’s son-in-law.”

Near the end of the interview, Haynes was asked how she thinks her father is doing as premier.

“I think he’s taken like a more of a centrist platform,” she said. “You couldn’t have a diehard conservative in the province of Ontario and he’s probably going to get so upset that I’m saying that, but it’s true.”

Haynes said she believes the direction of government is shaped by more than Ford alone.

“It’s not one man making all these decisions,” she said. “It’s a scarily massive amount of people behind closed doors that are making these policies and, you know, playing politics.”

For Haynes, the political and the personal remain separate. Doug Ford may be the premier of Ontario, but to her, he is still her father.

“He’s the premier of Ontario,” she said, “and he’s also my dad.”