ONTARIO ELECTION WATCH 2022, CW EDITORS, GANATSEKWYAGON, ON. MAY 1, 2022 : Barring unforseen prospects the, as it were, official official campaign for the Ontario election that takes place on Thursday, June 2 will begin this coming Wednesday, May 4.

Today’s Sunday editorial meeting here considered a dozen relevant recent news items. Before just briefly sketching them as an introduction to the coming four weeks and four days in Canada’s most populous province, we should note our general conclusion up front. We’re still looking for signs of anything at all different from a second Doug Ford Nation Ontario PC majority government on June 2.

If some (and even some of us) are thinking that Liberal leader Steven Del Duca is doing better than expected, that still seems far from common wisdom among deep thinkers at large. As we think the list below illustrates there are various intriguing currents in today’s political waters north of the Great Lakes. None, however, altogether qualifies as evidence of some very big surprise ahead at Queen’s Park … at least not quite yet …

(And then there is the recent press release of the hard-to-believe Ontario Party, which actually has at the moment one sitting Member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario : “With Roger Stone as our Senior Strategist, we have put together an incredible team of candidates to take down the ‘fake conservative’ Doug Ford and his leftist elites in Queen’s Park.” And it makes you wonder : Is Premier Ford paying the Ontario Party to say these things?)

In any case much closer to the ground here are the dozen news items with which we’re kicking off our own unofficial official campaign that starts on May Day 2022 :

“The Saturday Debate: Should the provincial Liberals and NDP form an alliance? Tim Ellis and Tom Parkin debate whether the Ontario Liberals and NDP should follow their federal cousins to form government after the June 2 election.” Toronto Star, Sat., April 30, 2022.

“Ontario party leaders try to connect with francophone voters while none speak French.” By Allison Jones, The Canadian Press, Sat., April 30, 2022.

Joseph Daoud @JoeDaoud13 : “I am publicly endorsing the #Ontario Party in the upcoming Provincial election on June 2nd, 2022. All our candidates are from the people for the people and we are going to take back our Province from career politicians who watched while covid mandates divided our nation.” Twitter, 11:08 PM, Apr 29, 2022.

Nikos Kioussis @Nikoskioussis : “Peterborough-Kawartha has voted for the party that has won the most seats in every election since 1977. It is currently being projected as a narrow OLP gain,” Twitter, 1:26 PM, Apr 29, 2022.

“How Doug Ford’s budget sets the tone for his Ontario PC election campaign … Billions worth of promises marks sharp shift from Ford’s 2018 theme of reining in spending.” Mike Crawley, CBC News, Posted: Apr 29, 2022 4:00 AM ET, Last Updated: April 29.

Danielle Valiquette @DaniValiquette : “Thank you to all the volunteers, esp. those from Bruce-Grey-Owen Sound who came out last weekend to let @FordNation know that Ontario does not want Hwy 413! Twitter, 8:15 PM, Apr 28, 2022 [And note Danielle Valiquette is “Mom, farmer, councillor, Ec Dev, Jobs & Trade Critic for GPO (Green Party of Ontario). 2022 Candidate 4 Bruce-Grey-Owen Sound (she/her).”]

Devon Rowcliffe @DevonRowcliffe : “One snapshot of the Ontario NDP’s election effort: The party lost only one seat in 2018: Kenora—Rainy River. They held it since its creation in 1999, usually with around 50–55% support. It seems like an obvious target for a 2022 gain. They still have not nominated a candidate,” Twitter, 5:24 PM , Apr 28, 2022.

“What you need to know: 7 highlights from Ontario’s largest spending budget in history … Ontario Finance Minister Peter Bethlenfalvy has introduced a Tory blue budget — awash in red ink. Here are some highlights of the record $198.6 billion fiscal plan.” By Kristin Rushowy, Queen’s Park Bureau, Toronto Star, Thu., April 28, 2022.

“Doug Ford is trying to buy your vote — and he’s using your money to do it … The Progressive Conservatives are indulging in a kind of budgetary make-believe that doesn’t add up, Martin Regg Cohn writes.” Toronto Star, Thu., April 28, 2022.

“Ontario election will include easier mail-in ballots, more advance voting days.” Joshua Freeman,CP24 Web Content Writer, CTV News, Updated April 27, 2022 9:38 p.m. EDT
Published April 27, 2022 6:16 p.m. EDT.

“Former Trump advisor Roger Stone joins Ontario Party as strategist.” By Paul Soucy, Global News, Posted April 26, 2022 10:12 am. [Will the Ontario Party, which believes in “Freedom, Family, & Faith,” finally take enough votes away from the Ontario PCs to stick Doug Ford with a minority government?? Even if Premier Ford is paying the Ontario Party to complain about his “leftist elites” at Queen’s Park, to appeal to potential more “progressive” middle-of-the-road Ontarians??]

Peter Beens @pbeens : “Voters, we cannot continue to support a government that directs taxpayer money to privatized LTC homes. Vote strategically in your riding. Find out more here:
http://bit.ly/VoteThemAllOut,” Twitter, 3:18 PM, Apr 22, 2022. [Voters who take this strategic voting advice for all 124 ridings would vote Green in 2 ridings, NDP in 44, and Liberal in 78, on the argument that these are the choices most likely to beat Ford PCs, riding by riding, based on someone’s mysterious calculations, though numbers are cited!]

Meanwhile, stay tuned. Our ONTARIO ELECTION WATCH II will be posted on the World Wide Web soon. And remember (as the old populist joke from just north across the river in Detroit has it) vote early and often on June 2!