Progressive Conservative Leader Doug Ford went on the defensive at Monday's televised Ontario election debate, fending off attacks from Liberal Leader Steven Del Duca, NDP Leader Andrea Horwath and Green Party Leader Mike Schreiner..With just two days until advanced voting opens, the four candidates spent 90 minutes discussing topics that fell into four categories: the economy, healthcare, education and leadership..The Ford government's proposed Highway 413, which would run for 60 km north of Toronto, was opposed by the NDP, Liberals and Greens in their opening statements..Del Duca said he saw the idea of the highway as a "colossal mistake" when he was serving as minister of transportation under former premier Kathleen Wynne. Horwath said Ontarians don't need more "massive highways to mansions that nobody can afford," while Schreiner said the project would pave over 2000 acres of farmland to "save commuters 30 seconds.".Ford said traffic is costing Ontarians 10s of billions of dollars a year, while the highway would save them half an hour of commuting each week. "That's an hour that you get to spend with your family," he said..On the subject of healthcare, Del Duca said he would clear the 50,000 person surgical and diagnostic backlog within two years by investing a billion dollars, while Horwath said healthcare privatization was "not the answer.".Ford defended his government's record on healthcare, saying the system was "on the brink" and that he inherited "hallway healthcare" when he took office in 2018.."Our hospitals were crumbling for decades due to lack of investment," he said, pointing to the $40 billion his government has allocated for hospitals and healthcare services in its pre-election 2022 budget..Schreiner had a poignant moment calling out Ford for his treatment of Ontario nurses during the pandemic. "Mr. Ford, have you talked to a nurse lately?" he asked. "Have you talked to a nurse about how disrespected they feel, how overworked and underpaid and underappreciated they are? How insulted they feel being called heroes and then essentially having their wages cut by having them frozen?" .Under Bill 124, the annual salary increases for many nurses are limited to just 1% of their total salary for three years. The Liberals, NDP and Green have all said they would repeal the bill if elected. "We need to respect those health-care workers who we call heroes and then treat like dirt," Horwath said..Del Duca also ripped into Ford over his handling of the COVID-19 pandemic, specifically his decision in April 2021 to close playgrounds and give police expanded enforcement powers.."Folks, was everything perfect? No, it wasn't perfect," Ford responded. "But if there was an issue, I'll get up there, I made a change, I apologized. It's easy to sit back from the sidelines when you didn't have to make the tough decisions I had to make. You have the easiest job. You just sit there and criticize.".Del Duca responded, "Mr. Ford, respectfully, this is the job you signed up for four years ago. You ran for the job.".On the subject of education, Horwath said Ford's "cut and chaos" destabilized Ontario's education system. "Ask any parent and they'll tell you the same thing. You can't cut toward a better education system. You just can't," she said..Del Duca called Ford's record "an embarrassment" and said he should be "ashamed" of himself. He said the Ontario Liberal plan would bring back an optional grade 13, shrink class sizes to 20 for elementary and secondary schools, and hire 10,000 new teachers. Del Duca also proposed adding COVID-19 vaccines to the list of mandatory immunizations for school children..Ford responded that Education Minister Stephen Lecce did great work preparing kids for the jobs of the future. "Under your administration, you didn't have to worry about jobs because you ran every single job out of the province. 300,000 jobs left under your watch," Ford said to Del Duca, in reference to Liberal premier Wynne. Schreiner also went after Del Duca, saying the Liberals "need to learn" from the lack of investment they made in education the last time they were in power. Del Duca responded that in 2018, when the liberals left office, there were more public schools in the province than there were in 2003. At one point, Ford took advantage of the support he maintains from unions and labour movements to attack Horwath. "For years, the unions supported you. Well guess what, the Boilermakers don't support you, LiUNA doesn't support you any more, and the electrical workers don't support you. You're out of touch with the hard working men and women in this province." Horwath responded, "you should look in the mirror.".When the candidates were asked a question about wanting to spend billions more in an "extremely buoyant economic time," Ford said he wanted to put "money back into people's pockets" so they could go out and spend it.. Del Duca said he would balance the books by 2026 and would never "cut and deliver chaos and havoc" in healthcare, education, and small businesses. But he didn't commit to not raising taxes on Ontarians. Horwath promised she would not raise taxes and said she would be "responsible" with the Ontario government's treasury, while Schreiner said he would raise taxes on richest Ontarians to prepare for climate crisis. According to several polls, Ford's Conservatives hold a commanding lead over the Liberals, NDP and Greens. The provincial election will be held on June 2.
