The campaign is officially on
Well, that was a whirlwind.
All four major parties made their initial pitches to voters in rapid succession. And each of their launches gave us some insight into what kind of campaign to expect.
To recap:
Doug was all about the threat of U.S. tariffs. It’s clear the PCs intend to run a very leader-focused campaign, positioning Ford as the best candidate to stare down the economic behemoth to our south. In his address, Doug didn’t mention any other issue or any of the other party leaders by name.
Marit tried to undermine Ford’s recent attempts to paint himself as Ontario’s negotiator-in chief. She repeatedly mentioned some of the controversies that have dogged Doug’s time in office. But she also pivoted to a rosier tone, saying the election is a chance for Ontario to take a new direction. But she’ll need to contend with the fact that despite those alleged PC failures, the New Democrats have been largely unable to strip away any of their support.
Bonnie was laser-focused on health care. The Liberals obviously believe the family doctor shortage and hallway health care could be a winning issue for them. Her decision to launch her campaign in Barrie-Springwater-Oro Medonte was also interesting, since it is a seat the Liberals will need to flip if they have any hope of winning 12 or more ridings, the bare minimum necessary for official party status. Remember, party status comes with lots of perks like more money and resources.
Mike spent most of his first campaign speech talking about a wide breadth of issues like health care and housing. It seems the Greens will again be making a major push in the riding of Parry Sound—Muskoka, where they think they can flip a seat from the PCs. That said, the Greens seemed confident they could win the riding in 2022, but ended up losing to Graydon Smith, who also served as natural resources minister in Ford’s last government.