Progressive Conservative Party Leader Doug Ford is making an unusual campaign stop in Washington D.C. Tuesday, as Bonnie Crombie, Marit Stiles and Mike Schreiner continue on the hustings in Ontario.
Ford headed south to Washington D.C. for meetings in the United States capital on Tuesday, a move that has been criticized by his opponents for blurring the lines between premier and party leader.
The PC campaign has said the decision to fly to Washington D.C. comes because the Council of the Federation, which represents Canada’s 13 premiers, has events planned in the U.S. for Wednesday.
Ford has chosen to fly a day earlier to the United States on a trip which he has said will be paid for by campaign finances and not the Ontario government.
The financing of the trip had made it unclear to what extent Ford is appearing as the premier of Ontario or PC leader.
Ford remains premier of a caretaker government even after the legislature is dissolved for an election campaign but convention dictates he should not take part in any events which could be considered to use that role to his own political advantage.
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The D.C. trip has already prompted a complaint from the Ontario Liberals, alleging the PC leader could be using government resources to campaign.
Ontario Liberal candidate John Fraser wrote a series of complaints to watchdogs and officials, claiming the D.C. trip could “would harm trust in our public institutions, and violate a basic principle of our democracy.”
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The NDP also criticized the trip: “Doug Ford quit his job as premier when he called this election,” Stiles, NDP leader, previously said.
Back in Ontario, the NDP, Liberals and Greens are planning more traditional campaigning days.
Stiles is set to make an announcement in Cambridge, Ont., during the morning before a fireside chat in Kitchener and an appointment to canvass in London, Ont.
The Liberals’ Crombie is in Toronto for the day with an announcement in the morning and an appointment for an event with a group of young people in the afternoon.
Green Party Leader Schreiner is campaigning in Kitchener during the day and will appear at a local candidates’ debate in Guelph during the evening.
While the PCs have tried to make the election campaign a question of leadership in the face of tariff threats from the U.S., Stiles, Crombie and Schreiner have argued the ballot question is closer to home.
Both the NDP and the Liberals have focused campaigns heavily on health care.
