Freewheelin’ Ford is back and it wasn’t pretty

Tory leader can be thankful few people tuned in

It’s doubtful that Friday’s Ontario leaders’ debate in Parry Sound drew a massive (online only) audience. It was midday on a weekday, and concerned specifically with “northern issues.” So it probably wasn’t many people’s first introduction to Doug Ford.

And that’s really excellent news for the Progressive Conservatives, because the relatively measured and calm Doug Ford who showed up at last week’s Torontocentric debate was not in attendance. Instead we got the joyless, sputtering, fact-free version — the version Ford’s opponents desperately need Ontarians to see.

On two notable occasions, both on technical policy questions, Ford sounded like a grade schooler fudging an oral report. Moderator Alan Spacek, president of the Federation of Ontario Northern Municipalities, asked about new certification requirements for firefighters that many smaller municipalities complain are too arduous and expensive.

“We don’t believe that the regulations ... will result in a safer or improved fire service. In fact, we believe that the changes would have the opposite effect by putting volunteer fire departments at risk of closure due to the significant cost implications,” said Spacek.

“Well, first of all, I love the firefighters. Absolutely love ‘em. They’re absolute champions. They’re the best,” quoth Ford, to laughter. “And I’ll tell you, my friends, we’re going to make sure they have the proper resources. Any town, any town that doesn’t have a volunteer firefighters, we’ll make sure we have proper firefighters. We’ll give them the resources, because it’s absolutely critical to support the people in the area, support the firefighters and support our local police, the OPP.”

He wasn’t done with the loving: “I love the front line Emergency Services people. I’ve never hidden it. We’re going to make sure everyone has the resources to do their jobs properly.”

So, there’s Ford’s first responders policy: Loves ‘em. Will give them lots of money, source TBD.

Mind you, Premier Kathleen Wynne and NDP Leader Andrea Horwath in essence said the same.

On another question, about a proposed pilot project that would bring “midskilled” immigrants to rural and Northern areas, Ford seemed to veer dangerously off message.

“I’d be more than happy to sit down and talk to the folks and look at a pilot project,” he said. “But No. 1, I’m a pretty generous guy. I’m taking care of our own first, and once we take care of our own and we exhaust every single avenue and we don’t have anyone that can fulfil the job, then I’d be open to that.”

That’s pretty much the wrong answer, and not because it’s skeptical of immigration. (“Bigot! Bigot!” they cried on Twitter. “Finally, the smoking gun!”) It’s the wrong answer because unemployment, while higher in northern cities than in southern ones, isn’t the central issue here. The central issue is people are simply leaving those northern cities: places like Sault Ste. Marie, North Bay and Timmins are declining in population, and many northern leaders feel increased immigration is key to their future prosperity.

You can easily see how Ford, winging it, might have landed where he did. But as John Michael McGrath wrote at TVO, “it … ran directly counter to his repeated claim that he — and only he — is the one listening to the north.”

Ford’s poor performance aside, the debate was notable for Horwath’s excellent one.

Rising in the polls, she seemed entirely abreast of the issues being discussed, confident and unaffected. (There was less forced laughter at Ford’s expense than there was in Toronto.) With Ford suddenly spending more time attacking Horwath than Wynne, she looked the part she needs to: the presumptive alternative to the Tories.

The whole thing would have looked inscrutable, I imagine, to many viewers who haven’t been following the campaign closely.

Wynne and Horwath accuse Ford of promising cuts, when in fact he’s promising to lavish spending on most of the same sectors they are — health, transit, schools. Ford accuses Wynne and Horwath of only knowing how to “tax tax tax” and “spend spend spend,” and then in the next breath tells you how much he’s going to spend spend spend to solve your problems.

“My friends, on June the 7th when we’re elected in government, and we’re representing everyone (in) Ontario, a new day will dawn,” Ford orated in his opening statement — “a day of prosperity, a day of opportunity and growth the likes this province has never seen before.” Money would go into your pocket, he promised, and not the government’s.

If that message sounds good to soft Tory voters, I suspect an hour in the company of the Ford we saw in Parry Sound on Friday might have a good few of them furrowing their brows and wondering if they’re being taken for a ride.