Tories and Grits neck-and-neck in the 905

And Jones plays defence

Presented by Ontario’s Universities

ABOVE THE FOLD

Minister SYLVIA JONES was in the hot seat to address the worsening state of health care in the province — but first: fresh polling suggests the PCs and Liberals are in a dead heat in vote-rich Mississauga.

POLL WATCH — Rookie Liberal Leader and former mayor BONNIE CROMBIE may be popular in Mississauga’s civic circles — but that isn’t quite translating to the provincial arena just yet.

That’s the upshot from a new public-opinion survey put out by Liaison Strategies this morning that suggests that, despite Crombie’s local name recognition and popularity, the Liberals are virtually deadlocked with the PCs in Mississauga.

By the numbers: Forty per cent of decided and leaning respondents would cast their ballot for the PCs, while the same number would vote Liberal. Another 13 per cent would pick the NDP, while four per cent are backing the Greens and three per cent want an alternative.

Compared to the 2022 general, that’s a four-point drop f…