Monday night’s leadership debate, just days ahead of the official start of the Ontario election, places immense pressure on all three leaders.
It will likely be the only time that they’ll be taken out of their comfort zone of staged campaign events before partisan crowds, and forced to not only define their positions, but defend them as well.
Debates do matter in election campaigns; a strong performance can sway non-committed voters, but a poor showing could be the death knell for any campaign.
Doug Ford is the least experienced of the three leaders and the one with the most to lose is he performs badly.
Expect his opponents to exploit his vague campaign promises, his tenuous grasp of the issues, and his flip flop on the future of the Greenbelt. You can also bet that Tanya Granic Allen’s name will come up at some point.
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This debate and this election could be Andrea Horwath’s last chance to prove that she can provide the kind of change that Ontario voters are looking for.
WATCH ABOVE: Kathleen Wynne compares Doug Ford’s character to Donald Trump
And if Kathleen Wynne has any hope of defying the pundits and grabbing victory from the jaws of defeat, as she did in the last two elections, she needs to deliver some knock out punches in this debate.
The reward of victory and the cost of failure is quite clear; one of these three will be Ontario’s next premier, the other two will be banished to the political abyss.
Bill Kelly is the host of Bill Kelly Show on AM 900 CHML.
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