Ford under attack during 1st debate with Ontario major party leaders

OK, that’s it for the first debate of the Ontario election campaign. If you're reading this fresh, scroll down for all of the highlights.

What’s next? We’re gearing up for the second debate which takes place on Monday and is being written by a team of journalists (myself included). Hopefully it will be an engaging debate that helps you figure out your vote.

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And thank you so much for tuning in today. We hope you’ll vote on Feb. 27 and come back to CBC News for more coverage of this snap winter election.

Ford, who was set to be the final scrum, has apparently left without taking questions.

Reporters had been planning to ask him about his comments about “Sparky” among other things.

Stiles, who scrummed before Ford, said it was yet another example of the PC leader saying one thing in front of the public and another thing behind closed doors.

In a post-debate scrum, the Liberal leader said the party will not be dumping its candidate in the hotly contested riding of Thunder Bay—Superior North, Brian Hamilton.

Just hours before the northern debate, the PC campaign circulated two news releases that included decade-old social media posts in which Hamilton appeared to trivialize allegations of sexual misconduct against former CBC host Jian Ghomeshi and American comedian Bill Cosby.

Crombie said the posts are old and that Hamilton apologized, and that Hamilton shares her passion for hiring more family doctors and improving life in the province.

Thunder Bay—Superior North was held by the NDP in the last legislature, but was a Liberal riding for more than 20 years before that. It was a close three-way race between the NDP, PCs and Liberals in 2022.

A common theme emerged in the closing statements from the NDP and Liberal leaders: Ford talks a big game, but doesn’t deliver.

Stiles asked the audience to consider whether their lives have improved after seven years of PC government. She said Ford pretends to be an every man, but led a government “for insiders.”

“And he’s been singing the same song, folks, for seven years,” she said.

Crombie took aim at Ford’s rhetorical style and said voters shouldn’t take him at his word.

“Sure, it sounds folksy and kind of nice, but it’s not real. It’s not true.”

Trying to figure out what you just saw there? So are we.

Good thing we’ve got Mike Crawley, our senior reporter at Queen’s Park, on deck to give us some quick analysis. Just let the livestream keep going as he chats with Chris Glover.

The candidates, meanwhile, will catch a breather and then go face reporters (“the scrums,” as we call them in our strange business.)

Ford used his concluding statement to paint a picture of four years of economic chaos fuelled by the uncertainty of the Trump administration.

“This election is about leadership. This election is about who you trust to protect the people of Ontario,” Ford said.

“We’re in the battle of our lives in our province and our country.”

Ford repeatedly turned back to the threat of tariffs throughout the debate, oftentimes with audible groans from his rivals on stage. But it’s very clear he thinks that focusing on tariffs will be the winning message come Feb. 27.

A discussion on northern highways got big cheers from the North Bay audience.

“You are taking your life in your hands to get anywhere,” said Stiles, on the condition of northern Ontario highways 11, 17 and 69.

Discussions on the four-laning of Highway 69, which connects Sudbury with Parry Sound to the south goes back to 2008, yet there remains a 68-kilometre stretch that isn’t yet four lanes.

Discussions are ongoing between the province and the three First Nations located at that part of the highway about land transfers to finish the job.

Ford got a loud cheer from the crowd when he promised to bring back the Northlander train, connecting Toronto to Timmins.

When Crombie said she doesn’t take responsibility for past Liberal premier Dalton McGuinty’s decision to end the service in 2012, Ford responded, “What a joke.”

The Liberal leader shared a personal story about her father’s struggles with addiction, saying it took a toll on her family as she was growing up.

She said addiction issues are a provincial issue, but they’ve been downloaded to municipalities. She said she would change that.

Stiles said she wants to get people help with their addictions, and says one of her rivals just wants to throw them in jails (almost certainly a jab at Ford). Her government would lead with “empathy and evidence,” she said.

Ford said his party is focused on “cleaning up the streets” and touted his record of shutting down supervised consumption sites next to schools and daycares.

Schreiner said he believes social housing is the way to help people with mental health and addictions issues, not jail.

Schreiner says Ontario needs a biomass strategy, at a time when the province’s forestry industry faces significant cuts and the Ontario Forest Industries Association says the industry would not be able to withstand further tariffs from the U.S.

Some suggested industry solutions include, changes to the building code to allow for taller buildings using lumber and more biomass energy projects, essentially producing electricity by burning wood.

At the debate, Ford touted diversification as a way to save the forestry industry.

“Where were you the last seven years?” Stiles replied.

In December 2023, the pulp and paper mill in Espanola, Ont., owned by Domtar, closed. That left Kapuskasing as the region’s final pulp and paper mill. In January, that mill avoided closing its doors thanks to a $10-million loan from the provincial government.

Ford’s in a tough spot, with all the three opposition leaders going at him on a variety of issues.

His strategy seems to be one he has leaned on in the past: paint his PCs as the party of yes, and the opposition as the parties of no. It’s an approach that worked well in 2022, when his party won its second majority even bigger than the first with just that message.

Ford said his rivals are like “Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde” — that they say one thing when out on the road and another when they vote at Queen’s Park.