The first leaders' debate in the Ontario election Friday in North Bay was a combative affair, with opposition leaders taking their best shots at Progressive Conservative Leader Doug Ford.
The snipes between Ford and Liberal Leader Bonnie Crombie were particularly personal, with Ford mocking Crombie’s record as the mayor of Mississauga and Crombie flat out calling Ford a “liar.”
Both NDP Leader Marit Stiles and the Green Party’s Mike Schreiner also focused their attacks on the incumbent premier in the 90-minute debate hosted by the Federation of Northern Ontario Municipalities.
Held at Canadore College, the debate focused on northern Ontario, while the spectre of tariffs threats from U.S President Donald Trump often dominated the discussion.
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Ford said he needed a strong mandate to combat Trump’s plans, which he said threatened Ontario families and the province’s economy.
Northern Ontario is at the forefront of the fight, Ford said, because the region has the critical minerals coveted by the world, including the United States.
The north has never been more important
“Northern Ontario has never, ever been more important” when it comes to protecting the provincial economy, the PC leader said.
“We will face down the threats of Donald Trump’s tariffs.”
But Crombie accused Ford of trying to take advantage of Trump’s threats to win an election, at a time when 500,000 jobs are at risk.
“You’re not interested in protecting jobs,” other than your own as premier, she said.
“You sound kind of folksy and charming, but none of what you’re saying is actually true.”
Ford needled Crombie repeatedly, accusing her of constantly raising taxes and presiding over slow home construction when she was mayor.
“With all due respect, Bonnie, you should be the last one speaking about building homes,” he said.
“You had the lowest builds of all of Ontario.”
“I’m proud of my city and my record, Doug Ford,” Crombie shot back.
‘Your record is a disaster’
“I’ll take my record over yours any day. Your record is a disaster.”
She said that as a former mayor, she knows first-hand the impact of provincial downloading.
Crombie said if elected premier, she would double ODSP rates and promised every Ontarian would have a family doctor within four years.
“We have to upload those health care issues, those social issues that have been downloaded,” she said.
“It’s time to stop the downloading and it’s time to stop the giveaways to Doug Ford’s rich friends.”
In response to a question about provincial downloading of costs onto municipalities, Stiles said it was straining municipal budgets and forcing cities and towns to pay for services such as mental health and social housing.
Since Ford took office, she said rent in Timmins has gone up 31 per cent and 36 per cent in North Bay.
An NDP provincial government, she said, would make life more affordable through a grocery rebate.
“It’s time northerners … had a government that was on their side,” Stiles said.
She blamed Liberal and Conservative governments of the 1990s for ending the building of affordable homes. While Ford promised to accelerate home construction, Stiles said he hasn’t delivered.
‘He has not done a dang thing’
“Where are the homes that Doug Ford said he was going to build?” she asked.
“He has not done a dang thing.”
Schreiner said the Ontario Green Party would give municipalities $28 billion in funding in the next four years to help them avoid “double-digit” tax increases.
He said the Greens would take responsibility for social housing to ease the burden on municipalities.
And affordable housing must be built at a faster pace, Schreiner said, pointing out that it was impossible for someone making minimum wage to afford a place to live.
“We’re going to fight for generational fairness,” he said.
Ford countered that no party in the history of Ontario has ever given more money to municipalities than the Tories – and that he has more endorsements from mayors in the province than all the other parties combined.
He was the only leader on the stage who opposed the carbon tax, he said, while the rest have a record of supporting tax increases.
‘Mike, you love taxes’
“Mike, you love taxes … Mike’s not a bad guy, I like him. He just loves taxes,” Ford said, insisting the Greens don’t “believe in building.”
“Schreiner won’t cut down a dandelion to put a shovel in the ground.”
Ford said he supported cutting development charges in communities to spur housing, but Crombie was among those who opposed it.
“Doug, you’re making up lies again,” Crombie shot back.
She said Ford has promised in the past to end hallway health care and to cut taxes, but failed to deliver.
“Nothing is being done in the Ring of Fire,” she said.
“You said you’d get on a bulldozer, but nothing is being done.”
She said her focus would be on making home ownership a possibility for young Ontarians again, if elected.
“Children are losing the dream of owning a home,” Crombie said.
“I want to make homebuilding cheaper ... The north needs a specific strategy to help you build housing.”
‘You talk about Donald Trump?’
Despite all his talk, Stiles said home construction is the lowest it has been since the 1950s.
“There are no homes being built in Ontario,” the NDP leader said.
“You talk about Donald Trump? You have shown us who you are. You say one thing in public and then say another thing behind closed doors.”
In response to a question about the forestry industry, Ford said they are at “ground zero” of the tariff fight with the U.S.
He proposed $60 million this year alone to support forestry, but said all three other parties voted against it.
“They come here talking timber, but they voted against” measures to support the industry, Ford said.
But Stiles said she has spent a lot of time listening to workers who lost their jobs in communities where pulp mills have closed. She said they tried to get support from the province to reopen the Terrace Bay mill, but Ford “folded like a cheap suit.”
‘We are on your side’
An NDP provincial government would make sure that mill closures like Terrace Bay, Espanola and Thessalon “never happen again.”
“If you can take away one thing from tonight, let it be this: we are on your side and we will fight for your industry,” Stiles said.
Crombie refuted Ford’s claim that his government created 3,500 forestry-sector jobs.
“Does anyone have one of those 3,500 jobs?” she asked.
“Because I don’t think they exist.”
She said Ford invested $10 billion into the electric vehicle market -- closely tied with the U.S., which is now starting a trade war -- but he ignored the forestry sector in the north.
“Did you break down inter-provincial barriers?” Crombie said.
‘Thank you for the kind words’
“You didn’t get it done,” she said.
“Thank you for the kind words,” Ford responded dryly.
He said Crombie has been in northern Ontario “maybe two times,” while he’s been here “hundreds of times” and has the support of actual businesses in the industry.
In response to a question about mental health and addictions, Stiles said it’s a “crisis tearing through Ontario” that’s even more severe in the north.
“I want to get people help with their addictions,” she said.
“It has never been worse.”
The NDP would ensure that schools have at least one mental health support worker in schools because, as she said, “the kids are not all right.”
Crombie said the issue is personal -- her biological father left when she was young and had a serious addiction issue.
“I saw the stress it put us under,” she said saying her family benefited from shelter services.
More support is needed in the north too, Crombie said, along with a coordinated strategy to address the issue.
“This is a provincial issue that was downloaded to municipalities,” she said.
Cleaning up the streets
Ford said his government is “cleaning up the streets” and shut down “drug injection sites” that operated near schools.
“They voted against that,” he said.
His government is also opening 27 HART Hubs to get people into detox, counselling and employment services.
And they are helping mayors dismantle encampments.
But Crombie wondered what that plan entailed – forcing homeless people out of encampments “and put them where?”
“There is no plan,” she said.
More mobile crisis units are needed to help the situation on the ground, she added.
In his closing statement, Ford said the Feb. 27 election comes down to a simple question:
“Who do you trust to protect your family, your jobs and your communities?”
‘Canada is not for sale’
The PC leader said Trump is going to be creating economic chaos over the next several years, using “tariffs to get what he wants.”
“Canada is not for sale,” Ford repeated.
“We will stand up to President Trump … We’re in the battle of our lives in the province and our country.”
Stiles said Ford couldn’t be trusted to deliver for ordinary Ontarians.
“In tough times, who do you trust to be on your side?” she asked.
“He delivers for the wealthy, the insiders, but never for the rest of us … He thinks he can pull one over on Ontarians.”
She referred to the fact that in the 800 kilometres between Timmins and Thunder Bay, there’s one place to deliver a baby.
“For all of the women who need to give birth. Think about that,” Stiles said.
“Ontario needs new leadership.”
Crombie said she ran a fiscally responsible government for a decade in Mississauga. In contrast, she said Ford cynically called an election with the tariff and other threats the province is currently facing.
While he sounds “folksy and nice,” she said Ford doesn’t do what he promises.
“You can’t trust him because he doesn’t deliver.”
Watch the full Ontario leaders debate in North Bay
Only the leaders of the provincial parties with seats at Queen’s Park were invited to participate in the debate.
The next leaders' debate will be televised on Family Day. Here’s how to watch.
