Rivals focus on Doug Ford’s COVID-19 response in first leaders’ debate of Ontario election campaign. Ford insisted the province performed relatively well compared with other provinces and U.S. states.
NORTH BAY — Doug Ford was forced on the defensive Tuesday in the first leaders’ debate as the two-year COVID-19 pandemic exploded as a dominant issue in Ontario’s June 2 election campaign.
“There was some challenging times and really tough decisions,” the Tory leader conceded, blaming the previous Liberal government for leaving the cupboard bare in terms of personal protective equipment and pandemic planning. “I would have been protecting the seniors in long-term care, hiring 10,000 like Quebec did, like B.C. did, but Mr. Ford didn’t want to spend the money,” she said at the debate attended by 300 people.
Liberal Leader Steven Del Duca, who was a cabinet minister in premier Kathleen Wynne’s government, criticized Ford for trying to shift blame to the previous administration. Del Duca, who was the target of most of Ford’s salvos, came under fire for his performance in Wynne’s cabinet.