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Campaign playlists
ABOVE THE FOLD
It’s been a relatively sleepy 24 hours on the campaign trail but with just one week to go before Election Day, the parties are kicking their election machines into high gear.
DOUG FORD is back at the podium after laying low — or “hiding” from accountability, as MARIT STILES put it. BONNIE CROMBIE had some bluer language for the frontrunner PCs as the Grits gain steam in the polls. Meanwhile, advance voting begins today — but the electorate still hasn’t seen a fully-costed platform from any leading party besides the Greens. And the NDP is hiring canvassers.
Before we dig in: What are the leaders listening to on the road?
TUNES ON THE TRAIL — Music is personal, and the tracks on a candidate’s playlist can help us get to know them on a more intimate level. So I asked the campaigns what they’re listening to on the road and what songs get their leaders pumped up before a big event. Not everyone responded, but there’s still plenty to rock out to…
NDP Leader MARIT STILES’s best bangers:
Man! I Feel Like a Woman! — SHANIA TWAIN (Stiles blasted the Canadian classic in the green room ahead of Monday’s debate)
9 to 5 — DOLLY PARTON
Everything is Everything — Ms. LAURYN HILL
Liberal Leader BONNIE CROMBIE can’t get enough of:
Good luck, Babe! — CHAPPELL ROAN
Femininomenon — CHAPPELL ROAN
Fighter — CHRISTINA AGUILERA (Crombie regularly walks out to this song at rallies)
Thunderstruck — AC/DC
Fight the Good Fight — TRIUMPH
Life Is A Highway — TOM COCHRANE
Green Leader MIKE SCHREINER’s fave earworms:
World on Fire — DOLLY PARTON
770 Acres — STEVE TODD (a protest song about the Wilmot land assembly)
I Won’t Back Down — TOM PETTY
Are you rocking out to these songs, or turning off that damn racket? What music is getting you through this frigid winter campaign? Send me your top tracks and I’ll add them to the playlist: sabrina@qpobserver.ca, reply to this email, or hit me up directly:
WHERE THE LEADERS ARE AT
PCs…11 a.m.: DOUG FORD is up in Milton with a “special guest.” Hint, hint: The advisory says it’s an announcement about “protecting Canada,” a national spin on the PCs “Protect Ontario” slogan.
It’s been a hot minute since we’ve heard from the Tory leader, who ducked out of post-debate scrums on Monday, then cancelled his Northern events due to airport issues. He was in Niagara Wednesday, but his itinerary was kept under wraps. Naturally, reporters are champing at the bit.
Labour gains: Ford will also visit workers at the Carpenters Regional Council in Concord and the International Brotherhood of Boilermakers Local 128 in Burlington.
NDP…10:15 a.m.: MARIT STILES will cast her ballot, presumably for herself, in Davenport. 12:50 p.m.: Stiles stops in Beaches-East York, a riding the NDP lost to the Liberals in the last round. 2:10 p.m.: Another 416 pit stop in St. Paul’s, where the Grits’ STEPHANIE SMYTH will give incumbent NDPer JILL ANDREW a run for her money. 6 p.m.: Stiles heads to Brampton, where the NDP lost a handful of seats to the PCs in 2022.
Liberals…12:45 p.m.: BONNIE CROMBIE will address the Canadian Club over lunch.
Greens…10 a.m.: MIKE SCHREINER will make an announcement at AISLINN CLANCY’s campaign HQ in Kitchener Centre. Also in tow: Reps from A Better Tent City.
Pre-game read: “Can lightning strike twice for the Greens in Kitchener Centre?” by TVO’s Steve Paikin.
CLIPPINGS
First in Observer — CASH FOR CANVASSERS: New Democrats are willing to pay canvassers in the hopes of hanging on to their strongholds in Hamilton, Sudbury, London and Niagara. According to public job postings, including on Indeed, they’re willing to pay up to $21.30 an hour for door-knockers to spread their message.
The NDP are battling it out with their former benchmate, incumbent Independent SARAH JAMA, for Hamilton Centre. They also lost Hamilton East-Stoney Creek to PC NEIL LUMSDEN in 2022. The PCs have also been pushing hard to wrest seats from the NDP in London, Niagara and the North.
It’s not the first time a party has had to hire door-knockers: The PCs also paid canvassers in last year’s byelections (scooped here).
UPDATE: An eagle-eyed reader notes the PCs are also recruiting paid canvassers and flyer distributors in London, which they’re vying to flip from orange to blue. More to come in tomorrow’s edition.
— D.C. LATEST: As Ford heads to Washington for the second time during the campaign this week, “The Ontario government sponsored Fox News host SEAN HANNITY’s prime-time interview with DONALD TRUMP and ELON MUSK, part of the multimillion-dollar advertising campaign the province is rolling out.” The Globe and Mail’s got the skinny.
Eyes emoji: One of the new ads was filmed at The Albany Club, a favourite Tory haunt.
It’s topical: Trump is now warning of auto tariffs. Ditto duties on semiconductors and pharmaceutical imports. Meanwhile, some provinces are scaling back their fiscal plans as the country stares down a trade war.
— KNIVES OUT: When DOUG FORD’s away, BONNIE CROMBIE will, er, slay (yes, let’s go with that). To wit: “If Doug Ford has something to say to me, he should have the balls to say it to my face,” she said. The Star’s got the latest on the mudslinging as Ford’s rivals accuse him of ducking reporters (besides those south of the border).
— POLL WATCH: Did Monday’s debate move the needle? The latest polling suggests the election may not be a cakewalk for DOUG FORD after all. While aggregator 338Canada still has the PCs winning 90 seats, the NDP and Grits would score 16 seats apiece. At one point, the Liberals were at 19 seats. Those are better prospects than last week, when they weren’t even forecast to win the 12 seats needed for recognized party status. Have at it.
— TORNADO PETER: “PETER McCALLION, the son of Mississauga’s late mayor HAZEL McCALLION, has penned an open letter taking aim at Ontario Liberal Leader BONNIE CROMBIE for using his mother’s image in her campaign materials.” CTV News reports.
— GET TO KNOW THE LEADERS: Profiles aplenty…“The different sides of DOUG FORD”, via the Globe… “‘Energizer BONNIE’ CROMBIE won’t back down from a fight, friends and loved ones say”, from the Star… “MARIT STILES first competed in the pool. She wants to lead an orange wave in Ontario”, from CP.
Go deeper: I previously spoke with Stiles about synchronized swimming and with Crombie about what “HURRICANE” HAZEL means to her.