Other party leaders attack Ford on affordability, health in Ontario election debate

TORONTO — Ontario’s main political party leaders debated the weighty provincial issues of health care, affordability and housing Monday in a provincial election debate injected with a few moments of levity.

Voters head to the polls in the snap election on Feb. 27, and with just over a week left in the campaign, Ontarians got a glimpse in the televised debate of the leaders’ promises and plans for the province, as well as accusations of inaction on those key issues.

Progressive Conservative Leader Doug Ford is leading in the polls and the three other party leaders largely kept their attacks focused on him. One of the most pointed moments of the debate came when Green Party Leader Mike Schreiner put Ford on the spot, directly addressing him about the rates for Ontario Disability Support Program payments.

“I’m wondering if Mr. Ford thinks it’s OK in a province as wealthy as Ontario that people would be forced to live in legislated poverty on $1,300 a month when average market rent in this province is $1,600 a month and over $2,000 in Toronto,” Schreiner said.

“How can we sleep at night knowing that people with disabilities can’t even afford to pay the bills?”

The Greens, NDP and Liberals have pledged to double ODSP rates. Ford, in response, noted that his government indexed the payments to inflation.

Ford also said the province will not have enough money to pay people on ODSP if the economy fails, going back to his central campaign message of fighting against American tariffs.

Ford called the snap, $189-million election saying he needs a stronger mandate to protect Ontario’s economy and deal with the next four years of a Donald Trump presidency in the United States.

The other leaders have said that the election is unnecessary, as Ford already had a majority mandate and they would have supported stimulus measures in response to possible U.S. tariffs.

Ford also brought his responses on health care, transportation and housing back to the economy.

On affordability, NDP Leader Marit Stiles said her party would bring back rent control, give monthly cheques as part of a grocery rebate program and will go after price gougers.

Liberal Leader Bonnie Crombie said she will bring in an income-tax cut that Ford promised in 2018 but didn’t deliver, to which Ford said he almost “fell off the stage” to hear Crombie promise a tax cut. He undermined Crombie’s record as mayor of Mississauga, Ont., and praised her successor Carolyn Parrish several times.

Crombie, who went after Ford particularly aggressively – calling his uncosted plan to build a tunnel under Highway 401 “dumb” and apologizing later for being “a little bit feisty” – made it clear at the end of the debate that her strategy is not only to undermine Ford’s record, but also to draw in left-of-centre voters.

“I’m asking those of you who voted NDP in the last election to vote Liberal,” she said.

“If you voted NDP before, I want you to vote Ontario Liberal,” she said. “In that way, we can vote together. We can change the government, and we can get everyone a family doctor within the next four years.”

Several polls suggest the Liberals are ahead of the NDP, though not within striking distance of the Tories.

Stiles brushed aside Crombie’s appeal.

“I think people will look at the debate itself and take from that all they need to know about who we are as leaders and what we offer to Ontarians,” she said after the debate.

Ford was the only leader to skip out on reporters’ questions following the debate. He did the same after a debate on northern issues last week.

During Monday’s debate, the leaders were asked whether they would build homes on the protected Greenbelt land, a reference to a now-reversed move by Ford that is under criminal investigation by the RCMP.

Stiles, Crombie and Schreiner all said no, while Ford said no along with a nod to the fact that he has flip-flopped on the Greenbelt several times.

“I said I was, then I wasn’t, then I went ahead and did it,” he said. “But in saying that … I’ve apologized to the people.”

The debate moderator, CBC’s David Common, attempted to break some of the tension by sprinkling lighthearted and personal questions throughout the evening. The leaders were asked what food they would cook for the other politicians on stage — Ford quickly said macaroni and cheese — what their first job was, and where in Ontario they would vacation.

Ford said he never stops working and only went to his cottage twice last year to cut the grass. Schreiner said he and his family love hiking around Guelph, the riding where he is running for re-election. Crombie said she wants to go rock climbing in Thunder Bay. Stiles said she is an avid swimmer and wants to try swimming in Lake Superior.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 17, 2025.

Allison Jones and Liam Casey, The Canadian Press