Ontario party leaders face off in debate in Toronto tonight

The leaders of Ontario’s main political parties will meet for a live studio debate in Toronto tonight, with just 10 days left until the election.

This will be the second and final debate before the election next Thursday on February 27th. The debate tonight starts at 6:30 pm and will be streamed by a number of broadcasters including right here on CHCH after an abbreviated news cast.

The first election debate took place on Friday in Northern Ontario.

PC leader Doug Ford, NDP leader Marit Stiles, Liberal leader Bonnie Crombie and Green Party leader Mike Schreiner discussed issues like road safety, northern infrastructure and the addictions crisis.

The NDP, Liberal and Green parties pressed Ford on not meeting his own housing target of building 1.5 million homes for Ontarians.

The incoming tariffs on Canadian goods has been top of mind for Ontarians and each leader has a promise of their own to tackle this.

Ford has been making multiple appearances on American news networks reiterating his “fortress-am can” approach.

Part of the Conservatives plan is to invest $100 million for an employment fund to help workers who are vulnerable to trade disputes transition to “in-demand” jobs.

The NDP promise to implement a federal-provincial income support program and direct agencies to procure locally.

Part of the Liberal’s pledge is to offer a $150-thousand bonus to Canadian doctors and nurses working in the U.S if they come back here to work.

The Green Party vows to create a tariff tax force and develop a buy Ontario strategy among other promises.

With just under two weeks to go, current projections show the Conservatives are in the lead followed by the Liberals, the NDP and Green Party. The debate begins at 6:30pm and after, CHCH will have a post-debate show hosted by Matt Ingram to break everything down.