Ontario Liberal leader Dalton McGuinty (L) and provincial Conservative leader Tim Hudak participate in the provincial Ontario leaders debate in Toronto September 27, 2011. Voters in the province of Ontario will go to the polls October 6 to vote.Reuters
Liberal Leader Dalton McGuinty spent much of Tuesday evening on the defensive over his record on everything from taxes and health care to seniors living on fixed incomes.
In a televised debate that featured a ceaseless barrage of attacks on Mr. McGuinty from his two opponents, the bulk of the most pointed exchanges were over his flagship clean energy policies, which he says will create 50,000 new jobs but which will also saddle electricity consumers with higher hydro bills.
At one point well into the 90-minute debate, Mr. McGuinty resorted to the same tactics, all but accusing Progressive Conservative Leader Tim Hudak of xenophobia. The question was on education, but Mr. McGuinty used the opportunity to point out that Mr. Hudak appears to be against all things foreign. He would cancel scholarships for foreign students, rip up a contract with South Korean multinational Samsung and he criticized the Liberals' tax credit for new Canadians as something that was designed for "foreign" workers, Mr. McGuinty said.
"He called Canadian citizens foreigners," he said.
As the incumbent, the Liberal Leader was fully expecting to be attacked during the election campaign's only televised debate. Nevertheless, his two rivals often managed to throw him off his main message – that under his stewardship Ontario has built 18 new hospitals, 400 new schools and hired thousands of doctors, nurses and teachers.
It was the fourth debate for Mr. McGuinty, and the first for his two opponents, both of whom were elected leader in 2009. Mr. Hudak, who has often been criticized for being overly scripted, held his own and did not resort to repeating his favourite sound bits. But it was New Democrat Leader Andrea Horwath who came off surprisingly well. Many expected her not to perform well after she came across ill prepared during a dry run last week in Thunder Bay, where she and Mr. Hudak held a debate on Northern Ontario and Mr. McGuinty was a no-show.
Ms. Horwath is a threat to Mr. McGuinty because she could siphon off votes from the Liberals – something Mr. Hudak hopes will happen. Her performance in the debate, which took place just nine days before voters go to the polls, could help Mr. Hudak, who is in a neck-in-neck race with Mr. McGuinty.
The exchanges were often the most combative between the two men, with Mr. McGuinty occasionally sounding like Premier Dad, lecturing Mr. Hudak for not being upbeat enough about Ontario's economic prospects.
"I'm with Bill Davis on this," Mr. McGuinty said, referring to the former red-Tory premier. "He says it's unbecoming to run down our province. He says we're the best in Canada in terms of our health care and education."
It was Ms. Horwath who got off the best line of the night when Mr. McGuinty attempted to defend his 11th-hour decision to pull the plug on a gas-fired power electricity plant in Mississauga. The Liberals cancelled the project last Saturday, amid opposition from local residents, even though construction has already begun.
"What's changed is there's an election on the horizon," she said.
Ms. Horwath stood between her two rivals, both literally and figuratively, often admonishing Mr. McGuinty and Mr. Hudak to stop bickering with each other and to get back to addressing the question posed by a listener.
Following the debate, the Tories issued a statement, declaring their leader the winner. Asked if he agreed with this assessment, Mr. Hudak joked that his wife, Deb Hutton, checked in with his daughter Miller's babysitter, who was watching the debate with Miller.
"She asked Miller who won the debate, Miller said daddy, so I won her over," he joked.
As for Mr. McGuinty, he was in a difficult position going into the debate, because it was two against one. "I'm saying to Ontarians, don't compare me to the almighty," he told reporters. "Compare me to the alternative and the fact of the matter is, I think what Ontarians are looking for is not perfection. They're looking for measurable progress."
Ms. Horwath said she can offer Ontarians the best prospect for change.
"If I'm in the premier's chair I'll probably be wearing a skirt with my legs crossed."