Ford should turn attention to Horwath
NDP leader could topple Tory lead and be next premier if Ford doesn’t watch it
If Progressive Conservative leader Doug Ford wants to be premier he better start rehearsing some lines to use against NDP leader Andrea Horwath.
Based on Monday’s first televised leaders’ debate, Horwath is clearly the biggest threat to the potential Ford government which opinion polls suggest may be coming our way.
While Ford initially appeared stiff and hesitant and Liberal leader Kathleen Wynne capable but inescapably discredited by 15 years of Liberal power, Horwath seemed loose, fresh and confident.
Even Horwath’s amused smile as Ford and Wynne went off on their own wrangles conveyed the subliminal message that her party is the only reasonable choice for voters hoping for meaningful change.
Both Horwath and Wynne were much more verbal and quick on their feet than Ford, who sometimes gave the impression of a big eager-toplease dog with a limited repertoire of tricks at his disposal.
The fact the Tories have not costed their campaign platform isn’t good for voters looking to make an informed choice. But so far it doesn’t appear to have hurt Ford who seems to be banking on people being so angry and frustrated that they care more about turfing the Liberals than they do about detailed policies.
What will hurt him though is another clunky televised performance.
If the Conservatives are going to maintain their lead, Ford obviously needs to up his training and range of material.
Wynne, of course, offers no end of new targets beyond Ford’s accusations of mismanagement and shots at Ontario’s $350-billion debt.
Wynne’s common refrain about the Liberals “investing in people” by way of justifying their free-spending ways is rife with possibilities.
If the Liberals are so invested in people, why are more people using food banks in Ontario? Why is the number of people living on low incomes rising in this province but declining in the rest of Canada?
Why did Liberal policies make Ontarians pay $37 billion more than necessary for electricity from 2006 to 2014?
The Liberals are clearly on the ropes. Ford needs to keep them there. But, again, to form a majority government he also needs to turn his sights on the NDP, which he failed to do Monday.
Horwath, MPP for Hamilton Centre, has always enjoyed strong approval ratings among the electorate. That built-in sense that she’s up to the job of premier contrasts strongly with the question marks over Ford’s own blustery political persona and apparent tentative grasp of issues.
Come the next televised debates on May 11 and May 27, Ford needs to start chipping away at both Horwath’s personal gloss and the argument that the NDP are the best alternative to form a new government, especially since at least one poll now suggests the party is in second place behind the Tories with lots of room to grow.
Ford’s tax-and-spend criticisms of the Liberals can just as easily be applied to the NDP platform, which promises, among other things, free daycare for lower income families and universal pharmacare.
He can also point out that for all Horwath’s criticisms of the Liberals, her party propped up a minority Liberal government from 2011 till 2014.
Ford, who’s moved quickly to squelch embarrassing Conservatives candidates such as Tanya Granic Allan, dumped on Saturday for alleged “irresponsible” homophobic remarks, could also highlight that Horwath has been much less transparent and accountable regarding similar issues in her own party.
Hamilton East-Stoney Creek New Democrat MPP Paul Miller has been accused by one of his own staffers of routinely making “racist, sexist and homophobic remarks.” But rather than launch a party investigation, Horwath is content to leave it in the hands of a union grievance and a human rights complaint.
Horwath has taken the same hands-off approach to the allegation Hamilton Mountain NDP MPP Monique Taylor tried to get one staffer to file a false sexual harassment accusation against another to create grounds for dismissal.
These troubling allegations haven’t got much media play outside of Hamilton. Ford could change that overnight.