Toronto·The Campaigner

Ford and Wynne like each other's smiles

The Campaigner is your daily dose from the campaign trail, packed with spars from the leaders' debate, new numbers in our Poll Tracker and why Guelph is a riding to watch.

See the debate in 60 seconds, plus where the leaders will be

A Green Party supporter protests the omission of leader Mike Schreiner from the first televised Ontario leaders debate in Toronto on Monday. (Chris Young/Canadian Press)

Time for your daily guide to the campaign trail, packed with spars from the leaders' debate, new numbers in our Poll Tracker and why Guelph is a riding to watch.

Headlines

The moment

"Kathleen, you got a nice smile on your face there." - Doug Ford

7 years ago
Duration 0:22
Doug Ford compliments Kathleen Wynne's smile during debate.

The party leaders traded blows during Monday night's lively leaders' debate in Toronto.

Liberal leader Kathleen Wynne and NDP leader Andrea Horwath dug into PC leader Doug Ford on his lack of specifics surrounding cuts. Ford fired back, hounding Wynne for her record on healthcare, hydro and housing. Horwath wasn't spared, with Wynne calling her plan "magical thinking."

But the oddest moment of all was when Ford turned to Wynne and said she had a nice smile. Wynne returned the compliment but later called his quip "disappointing" and the kind of comment she had "come to expect" from him.

This is Monday's Ontario leaders' debate in 60 seconds

7 years ago
Duration 1:01
Kathleen Wynne, Doug Ford and Andrea Horwath sparred on hydro, policing and healthcare during Monday’s leaders’ debate in Toronto.

Riding to watch

Guelph, population 131,790

If there's one place to watch the Greens this election, it's in Guelph.

The party's leader Mike Schreiner is running here and he's already been out campaigning with top Green names — federal Green Party Leader Elizabeth May was back in town over the weekend and joined him door knocking.

Environmentalist David Suzuki, right, and federal Green Party leader Elizabeth May, middle, joined provincial Green Party leader Mike Schreiner during an Earth Day rally in Guelph. (Carmen Ponciano/CBC)

The Greens placed third here in 2014 with 19.17 per cent of the vote, not far behind the second place PCs (21.05 per cent). Longtime Liberal MPP Liz Sandals won with 41.33 per cent but she's not running for re-election. Will her departure mean Green gains?

Poll tracker

The latest numbers show the NDP is up in support while both the PCs and the Liberals have slipped — though ever so slightly. Take a look at the breakdown here.

Where they are

  • Ford: Announcement in Toronto (10 a.m.), campaign kickoff in Etobicoke. (6 p.m.)
  • Horwath: Question period (10:30 a.m.), campaign event in Scarborough. (2:30 p.m.)
  • Schreiner: Parry Sound-Muskoka campaign kickoff in Huntsville. (7 p.m.)
  • Wynne: Parkdale-High Park campaign kickoff in Toronto (3 p.m.), Toronto-Danforth campaign kickoff (4:20 p.m.), Scarborough North campaign kickoff (6:00 p.m.)

For more Ontario election coverage

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Haydn Watters is a roving reporter for Here and Now, CBC Toronto's afternoon radio show. He has worked for the CBC in Halifax, Yellowknife, Ottawa, Hamilton and Toronto, with stints at the politics bureau and entertainment unit. He ran an experimental one-person pop-up bureau for the CBC in Barrie, Ont. You can get in touch at [email protected].