TORONTO – Pandemic, education, health. It was with these issues that the liberal, NDP and Green Party leaders tried to put outgoing conservative Prime Minister Doug Ford with their backs to the wall during the debate ahead of the provincial vote on June 2. A debate, this, which was supposed to be a golden opportunity to convince the electorate that the Ford era in Queen’s Park had come to an end by overturning the polls that predict the victory of the Conservative Party. But NDP leader Andrea Horwath, Liberal leader Steven Del Duca and Green leader Mike Schreiner have failed to show that they are ready to lead the next government. 

Ford was the punching bag for the three leaders who attacked him on all fronts trying to lay bare the decisions that did not turn out to be winning. But the strategy adopted by Ford was impeccable: not once did he lose his temper, he never played into the hands of his opponents but focused on talking about what he wanted to talk about. “When you go to the polls with the kind of advantage that Ford’s party enjoys, it’s wise to simply try to maintain the lead without drawing attention to yourself,” said Tim Abray, a professor of political studies at Queen’s University.

Dodging the blows is what the outgoing prime minister did for most of the 90 minutes of debate. To Schreiner, who for example also criticized Ford for its management of long-term care homes during the pandemic, Ford responded by saying that it is building hospitals. “When we took over from the Liberals in 2018, our health system was in tatters,” he said, “every region of this province is now having a new hospital… 50 projects in each region”.

“One of the things that Mr. Ford refuses to acknowledge is the cuts and chaos that has brought to our public education system,” said NDP leader Andrea Horwath. Any parent will tell you the same thing. You can’t cut if you want to create a better system, you just can’t.”

Liberal leader Steven Del Duca has also attacked Ford on the subject of education. “Your record in public education is embarrassing and you should be ashamed of yourself,” he said, “you failed in this province.”

Ford said he was proud of his government’s achievements in education, saying it was helping students prepare for the world of work in the future.

Then, once again, he redirected the shot by reiterating his message: build, create jobs and put money in people’s pockets.

The leader of the CP has rattled off a list of accusations against Del Duca, including that of wanting to restore license plate renewal fees and increase highway tolls. “There’s an old saying that goes ‘You’re entitled to your opinion, not your facts, Mr. Ford,'” Del Duca replied.

Only when he was pressed by Del Duca over the government’s April 2021 decision to close the playing fields and give extraordinary powers to the police, Did Ford’s tone become defensive. “Folks, was everything perfect? No, it wasn’t perfect. But if there was a problem I made the changes, I apologized – said Ford – for two and a half years, literally 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, I worked for this pandemic. It’s easy to talk when you don’t have to make the tough decisions I had to make.” Del Duca’s scathing reply was not long in coming: “Mr. Ford, with all due respect, this is the job you accepted four years ago.”

Horwath, on the other hand, rather than pointing the finger at Ford, attacked Del Duca who finally replied “You throw lightning at me, don’t you see how Ford laughs?”. From the rift between Del Duca and Horwath can obviously only gain Ford. “Between the two quarrelers the third enjoys,” reads a saying.

Mike Schreiner’s performance is good – targeted his attacks on Ford – which even if they do not translate into extra seats for his party on June 2, could still influence the overall election result. And that would probably not be a good thing for either the liberals or the NDP. At this point, barring surprises, given the inconclusiveness of Horwath and Del Duca it would seem that “les jeux sont faits”. The games are done.