Party leaders in Ontario made their final selling points on Wednesday, the last full day of campaigning. New Democratic Party (NDP) Leader Andrea Horwath and Liberal Party Leader Steven Del Duca both said only their party could prevent another Conservative government.
One of the progressive parties in Ontario has a habit of standing out during the provincial campaign. In 2018, this came five days before Election Day, when Prime Minister Kathleen Wynne admitted in advance that her team would not be re-elected. Undecided progressive voters lined up behind the New Democrats, who formed the official opposition. Ontarians elected only seven Liberal MPs.
This scenario has not been repeated this year: after a month of campaigning and on the eve of election day, the NDP and the Liberals are practically tied in voting intentions, according to some polls. According to polls by the firms Ipsos and Nanos published on Wednesday, the Conservatives are heading for another majority. The division of the progressive vote could be in question.
Wednesday morning, in a room on the main street of Brampton, on the outskirts of Toronto, Andrea Horwath asked the 60% of voters who do not want to see Doug Ford in power to support the New Democrats. “We came first or second in 100 constituencies in 2018. I ask voters in the 60 constituencies where we finished second to make sure we are first,” she said.
The county in which the leader was on Wednesday, Brampton South, was also one of the sixty where the New Democrats finished second in 2018. It was the Conservatives who won the race in 2018; MP Prabmeet Sarkaria became a minister in 2019. It was the first of seven stops for the NDP leader on the final day of campaigning; she returned to Brampton in the afternoon.
Del Duca and Ford more discreet
Liberal Leader Steven Del Duca was more discreet on Wednesday. In the morning, passing through Humber River—Black Creek, a riding north of Toronto, he spoke for six minutes and did not answer questions as he usually does. “Clearly the only way to stop the Conservatives is to vote Liberal in this election,” the leader said in front of a dozen supporters.
The Liberal leader only participated in two rallies, while he often made four or five stops a day during the campaign. The leader visited two NDP-held ridings during the day and spent the morning in his riding. “I encourage voters who are thinking of voting for the NDP or the Green Party to look at our platform and our incredible team of candidates,” he said in the morning in Toronto.
Premier Doug Ford of the Progressive Conservative Party stayed away from the media on Wednesday, as he did for the majority of the campaign. He stopped door-to-door in two Toronto-area ridings — in Brampton and Mississauga — and will end the day with a rally in his Etobicoke neighborhood.
Nearly 10% of Ontario voters have already voted in advance; they had 10 days to do so. In 2018, almost 7% did so in five days, suggesting voter turnout in the election may decline this year. This is usually low in the province, but reached 57% in 2020, the highest rate since 2003.
This story is supported by the Local Journalism Initiative, funded by the Government of Canada.