{"id":16434,"date":"2025-02-13T12:40:32","date_gmt":"2025-02-13T12:40:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/torontotribune.ca\/index.php\/2025\/02\/13\/midway-into-ontario-election-campaign-some-parties-still-struggling-with-pitches\/"},"modified":"2025-02-13T12:40:32","modified_gmt":"2025-02-13T12:40:32","slug":"midway-into-ontario-election-campaign-some-parties-still-struggling-with-pitches","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/torontotribune.ca\/index.php\/2025\/02\/13\/midway-into-ontario-election-campaign-some-parties-still-struggling-with-pitches\/","title":{"rendered":"Midway into Ontario election campaign, some parties still struggling with pitches"},"content":{"rendered":"


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As Ontario\u2019s snap winter election campaign reaches its halfway point, Progressive Conservatives\u2019 main opponents are still scrambling to pitch themselves to voters, while polls suggest the incumbents maintain a significant lead.<\/p>\n

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Progressive Conservative Leader Doug Ford called the early vote for Feb. 27, more than a year before the next fixed election date, in what some observers say was a strategic move intended to catch his rivals at a disadvantage.<\/p>\n

Ford has said his government needs an even bigger mandate from Ontarians in the face of looming tariffs and four years of U.S. President Donald Trump.<\/p>\n

But other party leaders have accused Ford of calling the snap election for his own benefit, calling it unnecessary and a waste of money.<\/p>\n

Liberal Leader Bonnie Crombie acknowledged last week that figuring out when an election might come was difficult.<\/p>\n

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\u201cHe was musing about election calls. We didn\u2019t know when the timing would be,\u201d she told reporters at a campaign event in Toronto.<\/p>\n

In the lead-up to the winter, Ford had consistently refused to rule out a 2025 vote.<\/p>\n

While some anticipated an election in the spring, the window for a provincial contest seemed to quickly narrow after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced he would resign as Liberal leader and prorogued federal Parliament until late March \u2014 after which a federal election seemed all but certain.<\/p>\n

It was widely expected that Ford wouldn\u2019t risk having an election at the same time \u2013 and the U.S. tariffs he was road-testing as a reason for the vote threatened to come early in the new year.<\/p>\n

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The snap call at the end of January gave the opposition parties even less time than they might have expected to patch together a platform and convince voters it\u2019s time for a change.<\/p>\n

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Philippe Fournier, a polls analyst, said the short campaign period was a clear strategic move from Ford.<\/p>\n

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\u201cThere\u2019s no doubt it was by design that the PCs decided to have the minimum length duration for this election,\u201d said Fournier, who serves as editor-in-chief of 338Canada, a poll analysis and vote projection website.<\/p>\n

All four of the main parties have announced a full slate of candidates, with the NDP reaching that milestone more than a week into the campaign, the Liberals last weekend and the Greens this week.<\/p>\n

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