1) Blue PC machine marches to big wins in Barrie, Simcoe County

Courtecy Barrie360.com

By Ian MacLennan, Feb 27, 2025

The incumbent Progressive Conservatives cruised to election wins on Thursday night, with little or no nail biting necessary, though Parry Sound- Muskoka did prove to be tight, as expected.

BARRIE-INNISFIL

• PC – Andrea Khanjin – 22,049 – 53.5% (Incumbent)
• LIB – Dane Lee – 10,613 – 25.7%
• NDP – Andrew Harrigan – 5, 585 – 13.5%
• GRN – Stephen Ciesielski – 1,844 – 4.5%
• NBP – Sam Mangiapane – 971 – 2.4%
• OMP – Anna Yuryeva – 174 – 0.44%

40/40 polls reported

BARRIE-SPRINGWATER -ORO-MEDONTE

• PC – Doug Downey – 20,011 – 49.8% (Incumbent)
• LIB – Rose Zacharias – 14,325 – 35.7%
• NDP – Tracey Lapham – 2,677 – 6.7%
• GRN – Tim Grant – 1,622 – 4%
• NBP – Alex Della Ventura 865 – 2.2%
• LTN – Eric Patterson – 644 -1.6%

65/65 polls reported

SIMCOE NORTH

• PC – Jill Dunlop – 25, 020 – 51.7% (Incumbent)
• LIB – Walter Alvarez-Bardales – 13,268 – 27.4%
• NDP – Jordi Malcolm – 4, 790 – 9.9%
• GRN – Chris Carr – 3, 177 – 6.6%
• NBP – Dave Brunelle – 1, 562 – 3.2%
• LTN – Willam Joslin – 578 – 1.2%

73/73 polls reported

SIMCOE-GREY

• PC – Brian Saunderson – 30,572 – 53.5% (Incumbent)
• LIB – Ted Crysler – 18,549 – 32.5%
• NDP – Benten Tinkler – 3, 264 – 5.7%
• GRN – Allan Kuhn – 3,155 – 5.5%
• NBP – David Ghobrial – 1, 554 – 2.7%

62/62 polls reported

YORK-SIMCOE

• PC – Caroline Mulroney – 24,705 – 59.4% (Incumbent)
• LIB – Fatima Chaudhry – 9,937 – 23.9%
• NDP – Justin Graham – 3,216 – 7.7%
• NBP – Brent Fellman -841 – 2%
• LTN – Sean Conroy – 434 – 1%
• ONP – Alana Hollander – 317 – 0.8%
• OMP – Franco Colavecchia- 138 – 0.3%

52/52 polls reported

PARRY SOUND – MUSKOKA

• PC – Graydon Smith – 21,731 – 46.8%
• GRN – Matt Richter – 19,360 – 41.7%
• LIB – David Innes – 2,882 – 6.1%
• NDP – Jim Ron holm – 1, 329 – 2.9%
• NBP – Brandon Nicksy -785 – 1.7%
• ONP – Helen Kroeker – 403 – 0.9%

103/103 polls reported

2) (Updated) Doug Ford says he wants to be Ontario premier ‘forever,’ as his rivals urge change

Courtesy Barrie360.com.com and Canadian Press

By Liam Casey, February 26, 2025

Ontario’s political party leaders made their final pitches to voters Wednesday, a day before the province heads to the polls, with Progressive Conservative Leader Doug Ford saying he wants to be premier “forever” while his rivals ask Ontarians to choose change.   

Ford is looking to secure a third consecutive majority government and said Wednesday that his party is the only one that can stand up to U.S. President Donald Trump and his tariff threats.

Ford seemed confident after starting the day just outside of Windsor, Ont., the city where he launched his re-election campaign last month.

“I just want to win,” he said. “I want to win a majority, a large majority.”

That way, Ontarians would “send a message down to Donald Trump that we’re a force to be reckoned with,” he said, wearing a Canada hockey jersey with the number 51 on the back and a nameplate that read “NEVER” — a reference to Trump’s “51st state” jibes.

When asked if this election would be his last, Ford said: “I want to be premier forever.” 

Ford has made the tariff threat central to his re-election campaign over the past month, pledging to spend billions to protect workers. He is positioning himself as the only leader with the ability to deal with Trump, who is threatening 25 per cent tariffs on goods and 10 per cent tariffs on energy that could come into force as soon as next week.

“No one agrees with President Trump declaring an economic war against his closest ally, his closest friend,” Ford said. 

“So folks, we’re going to fight like we’ve never fought before. I’m going to make sure we protect the families, we’re going to protect the businesses, protect the jobs, and we’re going to protect the communities, and we’re going to get through this.” 

He was stumping near Windsor, Ont., hoping to help sway voters in Windsor West, the last non-blue seat west of London, Ont. His campaign was set to make its way back to the Greater Toronto Area with several stops along the way.

The last planned stop of the day: Mississauga East-Cooksville, the riding Ontario Liberal Leader Bonnie Crombie is hoping to win to secure a seat in the legislature. 

Crombie has made health care reform a central theme of her campaign, and on Wednesday she reiterated her promises to get everyone in Ontario a family doctor and end hallway medicine.

“If you want change and you want a family doctor, we have to change the government,” she said at a campaign stop in Oakville, Ont., adding that Ford has failed on health care. 

“So tomorrow I’m asking for your vote.”

Crombie said she was looking forward “to a great win” Thursday.

“We play to win and that’s what I’m quite sure we’re going to do,” Crombie said.

Most polls had Ford well ahead of a second-place Crombie the day before the election. 

Last week, Crombie asked NDP voters to change their minds and vote for her in order to beat Ford. She cast her net wider on Wednesday.

“You may have supported another party in another time in another election, but tomorrow we’re asking for your support so that we can bring change and we can change this government,” she said.

At a stop in Toronto-St. Paul’s riding, NDP Leader Marit Stiles said her party was the only one that would provide real change for Ontarians. 

“You have the power through your vote to fight rising costs with a grocery rebate program, with real rent control and to put food on the table of so many Ontarians.”

She said the Liberals are no different than the Progressive Conservatives and it’s the NDP that will bring in measures to make life more affordable.

Stiles also clapped back at Crombie’s pitch to NDP voters.

“The Liberals are telling you that they are entitled to your vote,” Stiles said.

“Well, you know what, the Liberals aren’t entitled to anything.”

The NDP have focused a lot of its campaign on the affordability crisis and have pledged to bring back rent control, build or buy 300,000 affordable rental homes and create 60,000 supportive homes to help end encampments and chronic homelessness.

Stiles was scheduled to spend much of her final campaign day in ridings the NDP already holds. Some polls suggest the New Democrats have been shedding support in the lead-up to Thursday’s snap election.

“We are actually going into a lot of ridings that we want to hold for sure,” Stiles said. “We know we can do it, but we’ll be connecting as we have been for the last few days in ridings where we want to flip from blue to orange.”

Green Party Leader Mike Schreiner was in his home riding of Guelph before heading to Kitchener to canvass with Aislinn Clancy, who won the Greens’ second-ever seat in the legislature in a byelection in 2023. 

Polls open at 9 a.m. and close at 9 p.m. eastern time on Thursday. They are open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. central time in the western part of the province.

— With files from Rianna Lim in Toronto, Sharif Hassan in Windsor and Maan Alhmidi in Oakville.

3) A running list of Ontario election promises in campaign for snap Feb. 27 vote

Courtecy Barrie360.com and Canadian Press

By Canadian Press, Feb 25, 2025

A running list of election promises announced by the Ontario Progressive Conservatives, NDP, Liberals and Greens in the province’s snap election campaign. The vote is set for Feb. 27.

Progressive Conservatives

Feb. 24 on tariffs: Create a $5 billion Protect Ontario Account to support major industries and workers if U.S. tariffs go through. Introduce enhanced termination and severance rights for workers affected by tariff-related layoffs and closures.

Feb. 24 on affordability: Remove the minimum retail price for liquor.

Feb. 24 on health care: Spend $1.8 billion over four years to connect two million more people to primary care. Spend $88 million to expand the Learn and Stay grant to provide free tuition for medical students who practice family medicine in a community for at least five years. 

Feb. 24 on housing: Put $50 million to support more factory-built homes and innovative home building technology. Remove red tape from the permitting process. Use artificial intelligence to identify and implement red tape reductions. Appoint a permitting and approvals czar. Develop a provincewide tool to accelerate land use planning and Building Code permit approvals.

Feb. 24 on skilled trades and job training: Put $165 million into a Learn and Earn initiative for skilled trades, including money to help apprentices cover costs such as dependent care and tools while in training. Spend $705 million to expand training capacity at post-secondary institutions, including funding 20,000 new seats in STEM programs and money for in-class apprenticeship training. 

Feb. 23 on critical minerals: Spend $500 million over three years on a fund to incentivize projects and leverage more private capital in the critical minerals processing space.

Feb. 22 on First Nations: Put an additional $70 million into the Aboriginal Participation Fund to help train workers so they can benefit directly from critical mineral development. Launch a new, $3-billion program to support First Nations equity participation in several sectors, billed as a tripling of an existing loan guarantee program.

Feb. 20 on interprovincial trade: Remove all of Ontario’s remaining party-specific exemptions under the Canada Free Trade Agreement. Enable direct-to-consumer alcohol sales with all willing provinces and territories. Recognize certifications across the country for workers in key sectors such as trucking.

Feb. 14 on wildfires: Buy six new waterbombers at a cost of $530 million to be phased in over 10 years.

Feb. 14 on transportation: Widen Highway 69 from two lanes to four between Sudbury and Parry Sound, Ont.

Feb. 10 on energy: Ban Chinese equity from Ontario government-funded energy, critical mineral and infrastructure assets.

Feb. 8 on security: Spend $50 million to expand the Ontario Provincial Police’s Joint-Air Support Unit with two new H-135 helicopters to support the Niagara Regional Police and the Windsor Police Service with increased border patrols, security and enforcement.

Feb. 7 on transportation: Build a tunnel under Highway 401 from Mississauga in the west to the Markham area in the east, at an unknown cost.

Feb. 6 on transit: Seek to build a freight rail bypass along the Highway 407 corridor in Peel Region.

Feb. 5 on affordability: Take tolls off Highway 407 East, the provincially owned portion of the highway. Permanently cut the provincial gas tax by 5.7 cents a litre, which the PC government has already done on a temporary basis since July 2022.

Feb. 4 on transit: Upload the Ottawa LRT and integrate its operations under provincial transit agency Metrolinx, taking costs off the city’s books to the tune of about $4 billion over a few decades.

Feb. 3 on tariffs: Spend $10 billion toward support for employers through a six-month deferral of provincially administered taxes on Ontario businesses and $3 billion toward payroll tax and premium relief, $600 million in a fund aimed at attracting investments, and $300 million to expand an Ontario manufacturing tax credit.

Jan. 31 on infrastructure: Spend $15 billion over three years to speed up capital projects including widening the Queen Elizabeth Way between Burlington and St. Catharines. Add $5 billion to the Building Ontario Fund. Add $2 billion to the Municipal Housing Infrastructure Program and Housing-Enabling Water Systems Fund. Add $300 million to the Community Sport and Recreation Fund.

Jan. 30 on electric vehicles: Commit to deals with Stellantis and Volkswagen for their battery plants regardless of what happens with U.S. President Donald Trump’s threats to impose tariffs and rip up electric vehicle tax credits.

Jan. 30 on tariffs: Invest $1 billion in a skills development fund for autoworkers to transition to a different trade and another $100 million for an employment fund to help workers who are vulnerable to trade disputes transition to “in-demand” jobs.

Jan. 29 on infrastructure: Spend $1 billion to build a new police college. No further details were provided.

NDP

Feb. 20 on affordability: Freeze taxes for 98 per cent of Ontarians.

Feb. 20 on long-term care: Repeal Bill 7, which allows hospitals to force discharged patients to long-term-care homes not of their choosing.

Feb. 20 on environment: Clean up mercury in the English-Wabigoon River and remediate buried mercury near Grassy Narrows First Nation.

Feb. 20 on child care: Implement a wage grid for early childhood educators with salaries starting at $25 per hour.

Feb. 18 on Toronto: Repair, revitalize and reopen the Ontario Science Centre. Fund 50 per cent of municipal transit net operating costs. Fund the Waterfront East LRT. Complete the Mimico and Park Lawn GO stations. Compensate small businesses affected by lengthy Eglinton LRT construction.

Feb. 13 on the north: Double medical residency positions at NOSM University. Expand locum programs and increase rates for the Northern Health Travel Grant. Fix the student transportation funding formula. Widen highways 11/17 and 69 and build the Cochrane Bypass. Implement a Northern Rail and Bus Strategy. End private highway maintenance contracts. Make upgrades at northern airports. Increase truck driver training to prepare them for northern roads in winter.

Feb. 11 on education: Keep post-secondary tuition rates frozen for domestic students, eliminate interest from existing student loans and turn student loans into grants.

Feb. 10 on health care: Legislate safe nurse-to-patient ratios. End reliance on private nursing agencies. Hire at least 15,000 nurses over three years at a cost of about $1.5 billion. Open a full-service hospital in Welland with a 24-7 emergency department and restore full services to the urgent care centres in Port Colborne and Fort Erie.

Feb. 8 on affordability: Create a monthly grocery rebate for lower- and middle-income Ontarians, linked to inflation, with a family of four able to get up to $122 per month. Create a provincial consumer watchdog office. Establish a Corporate Crime and Competition Bureau. Force large retailers to publicly post when they raise prices more than two per cent in a week.

Feb. 7 on health care: Ensure every Ontarian has access to a family doctor by recruiting and supporting 3,500 new doctors, reduce administrative burden on doctors, introduce more family health teams and shorter specialist wait times, and increase the number of internationally trained doctors, at a total cost of $4 billion.

Feb. 6 on housing: End a loophole that exempts rental units built after 2018 from rent control. Crack down on renovictions and demovictions. Allow fourplexes as of right in all neighbourhoods and allow mid-rise apartments along transit corridors as of right. Limit short-term rentals like AirBnB’s to primary residences. Build or acquire at least 300,000 affordable rental homes.

Feb. 5 on homelessness: End encampments and tackle chronic homelessness by creating 60,000 supportive housing units, having the province pay for shelter costs instead of municipalities and doubling social assistance rates.

Feb. 4 on education: Spend an additional $830 million to repair schools. Hire more school staff. Create a universal school food program. Support students with disabilities. Invest in French education.

Feb. 3 on tariffs: Implement a federal-provincial income support program, direct agencies to procure locally and create new supply chains for trade-exposed industries. The NDP did not say how much this would cost, only that it would work in lockstep with the federal government to deliver the stimulus.

Jan. 27 on affordability: Get rid of tolls for all drivers on Highway 407, on both the government-owned portion and the privately owned part, named the 407 ETR. The party also pledged to buy that part back.

Liberals

Feb. 21 on education: Build 90 new schools over four years. Clear the school repair backlog and install heating, air conditioning and air filtration in every classroom by doubling annual capital funding. Reintroduce one-year teaching degrees. Establish lower student-to-teacher ratios.

Feb. 20 on health care: Cover mental health care under the Ontario Health Insurance Plan at a cost of $1 billion, to fill in the gaps of private coverage.

Feb. 12 on health care: End hallway health care in part by paying nurses and personal support workers more and ensuring wage parity among those professions across the entire system, including in long-term care and home care.

Feb. 11 on education: Eliminate interest on Ontario Student Assistance Program loans, create 40,000 co-op positions, paid internships and apprenticeships through tax credits to companies that hire young people and make student residences more affordable. Raise income threshold for repayment on OSAP loans to $50,000 and to fund universities and colleges fairly. Cap international student enrolment at 10 per cent for each post-secondary institution and keep tuition frozen for domestic students.

Feb. 8 on accountability: Appoint a special investigator to look into various plans and deals under Doug Ford, including the $612 million cost of speeding up the availability of alcohol in corner stores by one year, the sudden closure of the Ontario Science Centre and the now-reversed Greenbelt land swap, also under RCMP criminal investigation.

Feb. 5 on affordability: Double Ontario Disability Support Program benefits. The boost would be pegged to inflation and phased in over two years.

Feb. 3 on tariffs: Offer a $150,000 bonus to Canadian doctors and nurses working in the U.S. if they come back here to work, establish a “fight tariff fund” giving Ontario businesses lower interest rates, and eliminate interprovincial trade barriers. Also pledged to phase in rent control. No costing for the plan was included.

Jan. 31 on transit: Boost transit safety by hiring 300 special constables, doubling investment in mobile crisis intervention teams, giving transit services an unspecified amount of money for safety equipment such as cameras, and installing platform doors in all Toronto subway stations.

Jan. 31 on affordability: Cut middle income tax bracket by 22 per cent and take HST off home heating and hydro bills.

Jan. 30 on electric vehicles: Bring back consumer rebates for electric-vehicle purchases in an effort to help slumping sales.

Jan. 29 on health care: Give all Ontarians access to a family doctor within four years by significantly expanding the health team network and recruiting thousands of new domestically and internationally trained family doctors.

Greens

Feb. 22 on youth: Eliminate all interest on student debt and provide grants for all low- and middle-income students to cover post-secondary tuition. Decrease the voting age to 16. Bring down wait times for youth mental health services to 30 days or less.

Feb. 19 on small business: Increase the Employer Health Tax exemption to $1.5 million for small businesses. Amend zoning rules to allow small businesses such as corner stores and cafes to open in residential neighbourhoods. Implement a Commercial Renter’s Bill of Rights to create standardized leases. Develop an affordable commercial insurance program for small businesses.

Feb. 17 on child care: Increase wages for child-care workers.

Feb. 17 on affordability: Introduce strict anti-gouging and collusion laws aimed at grocery corporations.

Feb. 14 on housing: Build 36,000 affordable homes in northern Ontario, including 6,000 supportive homes with wraparound mental health and addiction supports.

Feb. 13 on transportation and health care: Cancel the Highway 413 project and redirect the money into ensuring everyone has a family doctor, providing equal pay for nurses, doctors and PSWs no matter the health-care setting and covering mental health care under OHIP. Implement a $7,500 rebate for EVs under $75,000.

Feb. 12 on development: Cancel the waterpark and spa project at Ontario Place and build a public park and waterfront project.

Feb. 12 on municipalities: Allow municipalities to implement revenue tools to fund infrastructure. Upload community housing, shelter and transit funding to the province.

Feb. 12 on affordability: Increase the minimum wage to $20 and index to inflation. Implement 10 paid sick days for all. Classify gig workers as employees. Phase in a basic income.

Feb. 12 on energy: Provide a free heat pump for households with incomes under $100,000. Remove HST on heat pumps, solar panels, EV chargers and energy retrofits. Phase out gas plants by 2035. End the moratorium on offshore wind.

Feb. 12 on housing: Build two million homes in a decade. Fund the operation of 60,000 supportive housing units at a cost of $2.5 billion over four years. New taxes on housing speculators, including an anti-flipping tax and a speculation tax on a third home. Offer zero interest loans of $25,000 for homeowners to add an affordable rental unit. Reduce multi-residential building property taxes. Restrict short-term rentals to principal residences. Reinstate rent controls on all units. Place a moratorium on above-guideline rent increases.

Feb. 12 on revenue: Introduce a three per cent increase to the top tax bracket to bring in $2.5 billion a year in new revenue.

Feb. 7 on affordability: Cut income taxes for people making under $65,000 a year and raise taxes on people in the top tax bracket.

Feb. 6 on affordability: Immediately double Ontario Disability Support Program and Ontario Works rates and tie future increases to inflation. Build 310,000 affordable non-profit and co-op homes, including 60,000 supportive homes.

Feb. 5 on agriculture: Expand business risk management programs by $150 million annually. Develop local procurement guidelines for public sector food purchases. Create an AgTech Innovation Fund for the food and farming sector. Mandate permanent protection of farmland.

Feb. 4 on local priorities: advocate for new hospitals in Huntsville and Bracebridge. Safeguard the watershed and work with Indigenous communities to conserve 30 per cent of natural areas by 2030.

Feb. 3 on housing: Allow fourplexes across the province and homes with six units in large cities, and mid-rise buildings of six to 11 storeys on transit corridors and main streets. Remove development charges on homes under 2,000 square feet and remove the land transfer tax for first-time homebuyers.

Jan. 31 on tariffs: Create a tariff task force, create an investment tax credit, develop a Buy Ontario strategy, create a Protect Ontario Fund for businesses disproportionately impacted, diversify trade partners and work to remove interprovincial trade barriers.

4) Icy stairs and snow bank signs: campaigning in Ontario’s winter election

Courtesy Barrie360 and Canadian Press

By Allison Jones and Liam Casey, Feb 25, 2025

Falling down stairs, pushing stuck cars out of snow banks and cancelling events are just some of the challenges candidates have faced on the winter campaign trail, but Sol Mamakwa may have them all beat.

This is Ontario’s first winter election campaign since 1981 and the incumbent NDP candidate for Kiiwetinoong in northwestern Ontario has rented a plane with skis so he can try to visit some of the 24 fly-in First Nation communities in his riding that spans nearly 300,000 square kilometres. 

“(It’s) not too bad, but it’s frickin’ cold right now,” he said recently during a break from campaigning in Pickle Lake. “Last week has been minus 40.”

He was trying to visit two to three fly-in communities a day with his plane over the last week or so of the campaign. At a cost of $6,000 to $8,000 per day that’s about all his campaign can afford, so he is trying to maximize his flying time. 

In Kenora-Rainy River, directly south of Kiiwetinoong, the temperatures were similarly bone chilling, and the Progressive Conservative incumbent has been feeling it while out canvassing.

“I look like Kenny from South Park,” Greg Rickford said, describing how he bundles himself up from head to toe.

“Once you get past minus 30, if your skin is exposed and you’re out there for any amount of time, you’re putting yourself at a little bit of risk.”

Rickford, who has several provincial and federal campaigns under his belt, said he usually likes to door-knock four to five hours a day, but it’s just not possible this winter. He has pivoted to canvassing by phone at some points, largely for the sake of his team. 

“These are volunteer folks from the riding and from other parts of Ontario,” he said. “I’m extremely grateful for them, but I’m especially grateful because this has been an uncharacteristically very cold, sustained winter so far.”

Even down in Toronto’s Willowdale riding, incumbent Progressive Conservative candidate Stan Cho has been limiting his team’s exposure to the elements, with truncated canvassing shifts. When the volunteers get back to the office to warm up, there are sweet and sour chicken wings, sausages and egg salad sandwiches – all made by his mother to provide the fuel.

And, as in many campaign offices across the province, hand warmers aplenty are on offer.

Back up north, meanwhile, Mamakwa has been outfitted in ski pants, a parka, a homemade hat made with moose hide and beaver fur and sturdy boots and mitts that belonged to his late father. 

He has also been making use of the winter roads, often built over frozen lakes and rivers until the spring thaw, with his team also using them to deliver lawn signs. He put one up in the middle of frozen Sachigo Lake during an ice fishing derby.

Though in this election, whether it’s in Kiiwetinoong, Kanata, or King-Vaughan, calling them “lawn” signs is a bit of a misnomer.

“Order your very own decorative orange snowbank sign!” NDP incumbent candidate Jennifer French wrote on social media to supporters in her Oshawa riding.

Candidates and canvassers have been getting creative with how to put up the lawn-turned-snowbank signs, as much of the province has seen large amounts of snow.

“Tie them, or screw them into anything that’s already fixed that you think is a reasonable thing to do,” said Ottawa South incumbent Liberal candidate John Fraser.

There seem to be fewer signs up this election, he said, perhaps due to an element of futility.

“What ends up happening is you get two feet of snow,” Fraser said. “Then your signs get buried in a snow bank or covered, or the snowblower goes by…and just wipes out your sign.”

Across the province, various canvasses and campaign events have been cancelled due to inclement weather, particularly during two massive snowstorms earlier this month.

Even on nicer days, canvassing teams have not been able to get to as many doors as usual, Fraser said. During warmer weather campaigns, teams speed walk or run between doors, but snow banks and hidden patches of ice below the snow force everyone to slow down, he said.

“People have slipped and fallen,” Fraser said. “Thankfully, nobody’s broken anything.”

The NDP’s incumbent candidate in Waterloo, Catherine Fife, wrote on social media that she slipped down some stairs, but called it a “strong canvass” nonetheless after she got to meet a cute baby.

While out canvassing in Willowdale, Cho has helped not one, not two but three drivers whose cars were stuck in the snow.

“(For one driver), we had to go into his recycling bin, pick out egg cartons, like the whole 30-egg type of egg cartons, to get some traction under the tires, because he was just spinning out,” he said. 

“That one took a little longer than most, but generally it’s just a little push. Happy to do it for the neighbours.”

Though for all the fun winter campaigning war stories the candidates are amassing, Fraser said Ontario should not even be in an election right now. 

The Liberals, NDP and Greens all say they don’t buy Progressive Conservative Leader Doug Ford’s justification of needing a new mandate to deal with U.S. President Donald Trump and tariffs, and suggest he called the snap election to capitalize on good poll numbers.

“There’s a reason that we don’t have elections in winter,” Fraser said. 

5) (Updated) Doug Ford points to renewed U.S. tariff threat in snap election campaign’s final days

Courtesy Barrie360.com and Canadian Press

By Paola Loriggio and Sonja Puzic, February 25, 2025

Progressive Conservative Leader Doug Ford highlighted the renewed threat of U.S. tariffs Tuesday to hammer home the central message of his campaign in the final days of the snap election.

Ford, who has painted himself as the best choice to safeguard Ontario’s economy, zeroed in on U.S. President Donald Trump’s latest comments on the looming tariffs during a campaign stop in Ottawa, stressing the province needs to be “ready for anything” over the next four years.

Trump said Monday the tariffs, which were pushed back to March 4 after Canada agreed to introduce new security measures at the border, are “going forward on time, on schedule.” His executive order calls for 25 per cent tariffs on all Canadian imports, with a lower 10 per cent levy on Canadian energy.

Ford mused Tuesday about making Americans pay more for the electricity Ontario sends to the United States in response to any levies.

“We’re reviewing the cost of electricity we’re sending down there. And if he puts tariffs on anything in Canada or Ontario, they’re getting a tariff on their electricity,” Ford said. 

“And then we’ll go to the next stage and we’ll wait to see what happens from there.”

He gave no further details on the proposed measure, or how it would fit in with his previously announced plan to cut off energy exports to the U.S. should Trump move forward with sweeping tariffs next week.

Ford said he doesn’t want a tariff war, “but if someone comes in and starts attacking our families, attacking our businesses and attacking everything we do in Canada, that’s it, I’m full in there. 

“I’m in the ring and I’ll do whatever it takes to make sure that we hit back and they feel the pain like we feel the pain.” 

Ford gave a similar response when asked whether he had concerns about forging ahead with a $100-million deal with Elon Musk’s SpaceX, after the Reuters news agency reported the U.S. has threatened to cut off Ukraine’s access to the Starlink satellite internet system as it pushes for access to the country’s critical minerals.

Earlier this month, when Canada was expecting U.S. tariffs to come into place, Ford promised to rip up the contract, which would see the company deliver high-speed internet to remote areas of northern Ontario. 

That was part of a broader proposal to ban American companies from provincial contracts until U.S. tariffs on Canadian goods were withdrawn.

That ban, along with the scrapping of the Starlink deal, was put on hold when the levies were postponed.

Ford has made economic stability in the face of possible tariffs the centrepiece of his campaign, arguing he needs a stronger mandate to navigate the next four years of a Trump presidency.

But the other party leaders have called the $189-million election unnecessary given that the Progressive Conservatives already held a majority and would have received support for stimulus measures.

Liberal Leader Bonnie Crombie said Tuesday that Ford should have diversified Ontario’s economy and worked to eliminate interprovincial trade barriers a long time ago, once again accusing him of calling the election for personal gain. 

Asked whether she would, as premier, leverage Ontario’s electricity exports in a potential trade war, Crombie said it’s important to remember how integrated the province’s energy grid is with states across the border.

“It’s something we have to look at very closely, the impact of our energy grid,” she said at a campaign stop in Toronto on Tuesday. 

Crombie spent most of her news conference fielding questions about her endorsement of federal Liberal leadership candidate Mark Carney, two days before the provincial election.

She said the presumed front-runner is “the right person for this moment in time.”

“He is a leader that can stand up to Donald Trump and speak with some authority and experience on tariffs,” she said. 

Carney thanked Crombie for her endorsement in a social media post, writing: “Wishing you the best this Thursday, and let’s keep building!”

Asked whether she interprets that as an explicit endorsement from Carney in return, Crombie said, “I certainly do.”

Carney’s team did not immediately respond when asked whether his tweet was an endorsement.

With only days to go until Ontarians head to the polls, the leaders of the four major parties are making a final push to get their messages out.

NDP Leader Marit Stiles began her day in London, Ont., on Tuesday before stopping in Cambridge and Waterloo on her way back to Toronto.

Green Party Leader Mike Schreiner spent a second consecutive day in Ontario’s cottage country, starting with a news conference in Huntsville alongside the candidate for Parry Sound-Muskoka, Matt Richter.

— With files from Maan Alhmidi in Toronto and Jesmeen Gill in Ottawa.

6) (Update) Ontario PCs make $40B in platform promises, pledge to axe floor price for alcohol

News | Ontario | Elections

Source Canadian Press

By Allison Jones, Feb 24, 2025

Ontario’s Progressive Conservatives released their platform Monday, with three days until election day, and it contains $40 billion in promises plus a proposal to get rid of the minimum retail price for liquor.

Among the promises are a few previously unannounced measures including a $5-billion Protect Ontario Account to help respond to American tariffs, $705 million to expand STEM and skilled trades training capacity at post-secondary institutions, and $50 million to support modular housing technology.

But the platform does not include a full costing breakdown of how a re-elected Progressive Conservative government would pay for the promises and contains some pledges with no cost estimates, such as Doug Ford’s plan to build a tunnel under Highway 401.

Ford defended the numbers, citing his track record from the past seven years in government.

“We’ve been very fiscally responsible,” he said at a campaign event. “We’re prudent fiscal managers with the taxpayers’ money. Not only haven’t we raised taxes, we reduced the cost of paying on debt from previous governments.”

He later suggested that economic growth will help offset some of the spending, but also said if U.S. President Donald Trump’s threatened tariffs are implemented, Ontario won’t be able to balance its budget.

Ford has made warnings about what will happen if Canada is hit with tariffs a large part of his campaign, and his platform contains billions of dollars in planned spending to respond to them. In addition to the $5-billion Protect Ontario Account, he is proposing $10 billion in support for employers through a tax deferral, up to $3 billion more in payroll and premium relief, up to $40 million for municipalities hard hit by tariffs, and up to $120 million to increase bars’ and restaurants’  wholesale alcohol discount.

Aside from the tariff fight, Ford also put another alcohol goodie in his platform, proposing to eliminate the floor price for spirits.

Minimum prices for spirits vary based on volume and alcohol content and are indexed to inflation, and the minimum retail price for a 750 millilitre bottle of vodka is currently set to rise this weekend to $31.15. 

Ford has not made any public announcements about his alcohol promise, unlike in 2018 when he made setting the price floor for beer at $1 — or Buck-a-Beer — a central part of his campaign, but touted it Monday as a way to save consumers some money.

“Under the Liberals…they would say, ‘You have to charge this much, because if you don’t charge this much, then people will drink too much,'” Ford said. 

“That’s the biggest joke I’ve ever heard. They don’t do it in Alberta. They don’t do it in Quebec. So why do we have to have a base? Let’s reduce the cost of that, put more money back into people’s pockets again, and that’s like a tax break.”

Few breweries took part in Buck-a-Beer after it was implemented.

Liberal Leader Bonnie Crombie was in Ottawa, highlighting her promises to prioritize and fund certain area hospital projects. 

“People are telling me that they’re afraid to get sick, not afraid that they’re going to get great health care when they receive it, but they know that our hospitals are overflowing and that they’re underfunded, and the wait times are enormous,” she said. 

“All the Ottawa-area hospitals need to be expanded and over developed.”

Crombie also explained why her party waited several days before dropping its candidate in Oshawa. 

Viresh Bansal posted a response in 2023 to an NDP statement on the killing of Sikh leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said the government had “credible allegations” linking agents of the Indian government to the fatal shooting in B.C.

“You can thank India for cleaning trash people. Ask your gay friend @JustinTrudeau to do the same,” Bansal wrote in the 2023 post.

Bansal apologized, but the World Sikh Organization of Canada and some of Crombie’s own candidates called on the Liberals to dump him as a candidate. Crombie condemned the statement but initially kept him on the team.

“He issued a statement, but there was still a bubbling of issues, so we re-interviewed him and decided the best thing to do was to suspend his campaign,” she said Monday. “I think we’ve made the right decision, and that’s it.”

NDP Leader Marit Stiles was in Windsor to rally supporters and local candidates.

“We have just a few days left, but there are so many people across this province who are just realizing that election is happening for the first time right now,” she said. 

“(That’s) why I’m so glad that you’re all out here with me today, because my message to you is that we have to get out there and talk to more voters in the next couple of days, and knock on more doors and put up more signs,” she added, urging people to vote “for New Democrats all across this province.”

Election day is on Thursday and Elections Ontario said 6.14 per cent of eligible voters cast their ballot in three days of advance polls. In 2022, nearly 10 per cent of eligible voters went to 10 days of advance polls, while in 2018 the advance turnout was 6.8 per cent over five days of voting.

Not all voters have received their voter information cards yet, but Elections Ontario said while ID is required to vote, the cards are not.

“Voter information cards (VICs) help connect people with important details about where and when to vote, making the process more efficient when they arrive at the polls,” Elections Ontario wrote in a statement. 

“They were mailed out to all registered voters last week. Voters who are concerned that they have not yet received their VICs should note that they are not a requirement for voting. Every Canadian citizen who is 18 years of age or over on Feb. 27 and who is an Ontario resident is eligible to vote.”

– With files from Rianna Lim in Toronto and Alessia Passafiume in Ottawa.

7) (Updated) Ontario NDP, Liberals release election platforms, promise billions in new spending

Courtesy Barrie360.com and Canadian Press

By Allison Jones and Liam Casey, February 21, 2025

Ontario’s NDP and Liberals are both pledging tens of billions of dollars in new spending to pay for their campaign promises, but are taking different approaches to the other side of the ledger, with the NDP proposing wealth taxes and the Liberals eyeing “efficiencies.”

The two parties released their full platforms Friday with less than a week to go until next Thursday’s election, and the Progressive Conservatives are set to release theirs on Monday. The Greens put out their platform on Feb. 12.

The NDP platform promises $70 billion in new spending over three years along with $37 billion in new revenue and savings, including tax increases.

The party estimates that new tax brackets for those earning $300,000, $400,000 and $500,000 a year would bring in about $3 billion per year.

It also says increasing the amount of capital gains subject to tax from 50 per cent to 80 per cent would bring in about $3.5 billion per year, and increasing the provincial land transfer tax rate on homes purchased for $3 million or more would see $33 million a year in revenue.

NDP Leader Marit Stiles had already announced the bulk of the party’s promises ahead of the platform release, including a monthly grocery rebate, connecting everyone to a family doctor, establishing a public builder for 300,000 affordable homes and creating a universal school food program.

The NDP would put $10.5 billion over three years into public health – including their promise to attach everyone to team-based primary care. Their home-building plan would cost $7.5 billion over three years and their grocery rebate would cost $11 billion over that time.

Doubling disability support payments and Ontario Works payments would cost nearly $23 billion over three years. Spending on education would increase by $13 billion over three years, not including spending $830 million per year to address a school maintenance backlog. And a group of promises to increase transit funding, implement a caregiver benefit, eliminate hospital parking fees and reduce home heating costs would add up to $4.8 billion over three years.

Stiles wrote in a press release accompanying the platform that it’s her plan for a better Ontario.

“As premier, I will fight against rising costs, freeze taxes, hire doctors, build homes you can afford and fix local schools,” she wrote. “I’ll lead a government that will always be on your side.”

Ontario’s Liberals are promising $65 billion in new spending over four years, along with finding more than $28 billion in efficiencies, in a platform they say contains no new taxes or tax increases.

Crombie also highlighted some previously unannounced promises on education in the platform, including building 90 new schools, establishing a lower student-to-teacher ratio and shortening teachers’ college programs to one year to alleviate the teacher shortage.

“Our school system used to be the envy of the world, our elementary, our post-secondary, and it’s really failed over the last seven years under Doug Ford,” Crombie said. 

“We see our classrooms overcrowded, our schools crumbling. Our young people are spilling out into portables.” 

Crombie also said she would consider lifting a school closure moratorium, “if it makes more sense to close a school and build another one elsewhere.”

The Liberal platform estimates that their health-care promises, including attaching every Ontarian to a family doctor, would cost $29 billion over four years. A group of promises including home building, responding to tariffs and implementing tax cuts are costed at $26 billion over four years, though a more specific breakdown was not available.

Progressive Conservative Leader Doug Ford is in Washington, D.C., for the second time during this election campaign for another round of meetings to push back against U.S. tariff threats.