Notes from the campaign trail: Hudak skips Northern Leaders Debate

For a desk-bound producer, tracking the Ontario provincial election often involves trying to monitor conflicting events. All three parties often have their leaders in front of cameras between 8 a.m. and 9 a.m. Most mornings each leader does a quick photo op and sometimes adds a brief policy statement. After the remarks reporters get to ask a few questions.

Today the conflict was a little later and a little different. Two of the leaders, Liberal Kathleen Wynne and the NDP’s Andrea Horwath, were in Thunder Bay during the noon hour to debate issues of interest to northern Ontario. Progressive Conservative Leader Tim Hudak was a no show. The PCs said a scheduling conflict prevented Hudak from going to Thunder Bay. But Hudak made sure he too had a campaign event at the same time as the debate. He was in Vaughan at Kitchen Cabinet Factory.

In Thunder Bay, Horwath opened the debate taking a swing at the Liberals for corruption in government and a swipe at Hudak for not giving northerners respect by staying away from the debate. Wynne, forced to defend 10 years of Liberal government, returned again and again to the positive accomplishments of her government. High electricity rates was one of the hot topics. Horwath never misses an opportunity to talk about the cost of hydro and the need to bring that cost down for consumers. Wynne blamed the last Progressive Conservative government for not investing enough in the hydro infrastructure in the province and insisted that the Liberals have made important investments in electricity. Other topics in the debate ranged from first nation issues to high property taxes in the north and the need to develop the so called “Ring of Fire.” The potential mining area covered in the Ring of Fire is about 5,000 square kilometers of northern Ontario. Everyone agrees developing it will cost billions of dollars and everyone agrees it could someday generate many more billions of dollars of revenue. There is less agreement on how to pay for the development of the isolated region.

Yesterday the Liberals used its platform announcement in Thunder Bay to unveil a plan to invest one billion dollars in the ring of fire. The Liberals’ May 1 budget had already committed money to the development, but Wynne now says that development will go forward even if the federal government does not match the province’s contributions. Today’s debate was Wynne’s first as leader of the Liberals. For her it was a good opportunity to get a feel for Horwath’s lines before the provincial leaders debate next Tuesday evening. Tim Hudak will clear his schedule for that one.

So what kept Hudak away from Thunder Bay? He started his day in Peterborough at a town hall talking about jobs and a tax cut for all Ontarians. That tax cut -- he says ten per cent -- will only come after the budget is under control maybe two years down the road. In the noon hour, Hudak stepped in front of the cameras for a six-minute lecture directed at Ontario’s government workers. He said there would be a two-year wage freeze for all government employees, including politicians. He singled out the president of the Ontario Teachers Federation, Paul Elliott. Hudak said Elliott is pushing for higher salaries in the next contract. Hudak said there would be no wage increase “on my watch.” He went on to say he would “close the door and lock it.” When I spoke with Elliott this afternoon he wasn’t too surprised to be singled out by Hudak. Elliott maintained that teachers have “seen their wages reduced over the last two years.” Elliott added that the PC education platform “worries all of us (educators).”

When reporters got to ask questions they asked why Hudak opted to stay away from the debate in Thunder Bay. He said it was unfortunate, insisted that here was a schedule conflict and then went back to his call for a government wage freeze. If it didn’t sound convincing, it didn’t seem to matter to Hudak. He was laser-focussed on his message of the hour, saying a PC government will take on “government workers who have never had it so good.”

Winning TV debates is usually about what sound bites get picked up by the media and used again and again. Then there’s the spin put on the debate by the parties and the columnists. This afternoon the NDP were first out of the gate, tallying up and releasing a long list of tweets to show that Horwath had soundly defeated Wynne. About 90 minutes later the Liberals rolled out their tweets compendium – no surprise according to the Liberal reading of Twitter that Wynne bested Horwath in the debate.

Then just before 4 p.m. the Tories booked a conference call to attack what they called a momentary lapse in dishonesty by Kathleen Wynne during the debate. The PCs say Wynne admitted public service jobs would be cut if the Liberals are re-elected. The party chair, Ian Robertson, refused to answer any questions not related to the PC questioning of Wynne’s “admission.” Specifically Robertson refused to explain why Mr. Hudak did not go to the debate to set the record straight on the podium in Thunder Bay.

It’s certain that the Thunder Bay debate without Hudak will get limited coverage. It’s also certain that over the next week the three leaders will be taken out of circulation, an afternoon here and a morning there, to rehearse for the debate that counts next Tuesday evening at 6:30 p.m.