Slow reveal for Ford’s platform: source

TORON TO • As pressure builds on Doug Ford to detail his policy plans, the Ontario Progressive Conservative leader is instead opting for a slow reveal of his election platform.

The Tories have decided against unveiling a single, all- encompassing policy blueprint to replace the one put out by former leader Patrick Brown, according to a senior Ford adviser.

Instead, the party will release individual planks throughout the campaign for the June 7 election, culminating with an overview announcement of its policies, said the source, who spoke on the condition of anonymity.

As first reported by the National Post, and as since confirmed since by Ford, the Conservatives have ditched the lengthy, magazine- style manifesto Brown issued in November and will instead put out a platform consisting of five key points.

“If you have 1,000 priorities, you have none,” said the source. “You have to focus. Our focus will be on the big picture and how to get the province back on track … We need to return Ontario to its rightful place as an economic leader in this country.”

Asked if the platform’s planks would start to be divulged this week, the campaign source said only that it would be “soon.”

Ford has come under increasing pressure to explain what he would do as premier, especially now that the governing Liberals have tabled a provincial budget that outlines a slew of new spending programs — and projected deficits for the next six years.

Ford has suggested he would introduce tax breaks for businesses and low- income Ontarians, and would cut provincial spending by four per cent — about $6 billion — all without laying off any public-sector workers.

He has also promised to scrap the Liberals’ cap- andtrade system that effectively taxed carbon emissions, raising about $ 2 billion for the province.

Exactly how he would achieve those goals remains unclear.

Regardless, the platform is likely to stand in contrast to Brown’s centrist People’s Guarantee document. It offered a little of everything, including a 22-per-cent “middle class” income- tax cut, more money for mental health care and daycare, and a carbon tax to replace cap and trade.

The NDP, meanwhile, has announced some major policy planks — including plans to ensure all Ontarians get dental and prescriptiondrug coverage — but have yet to release a full platform.

In fact, such documents — with detailed promises and costing — are a relatively new phenomenon in Canadian politics, around for only about 50 years, says pollster Nik Nanos.

Ford’s may be easier to campaign on, he said.

“It’s hard to mess up a five- point platform,” said Nanos. “There is a certain simplistic elegance to it in terms of a level of discipline on the message, and a lack of moving parts to criticize.”