Ontario party leaders slam Ford's election call, record. Ford saves his attacks for Trump

Elections Ontario confirmed the price tag of this early election will be $189 million.

It’s also the first true winter election since 1883. That year, Ontarians also voted on Feb. 27.

CBC News will have more details on how to cast your ballot closer to election day. We're going to wrap our live updates for today – barring major breaking news, of course.

Thanks for reading along, and we've got plenty more coverage over at cbc.ca/ontariovotes2025.

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Well, that was a whirlwind.

All four major parties made their initial pitches to voters in rapid succession. And each of their launches gave us some insight into what kind of campaign to expect.

To recap:

Doug was all about the threat of U.S. tariffs. It’s clear the PCs intend to run a very leader-focused campaign, positioning Ford as the best candidate to stare down the economic behemoth to our south. In his address, Doug didn’t mention any other issue or any of the other party leaders by name.

Marit tried to undermine Ford’s recent attempts to paint himself as Ontario’s negotiator-in chief. She repeatedly mentioned some of the controversies that have dogged Doug’s time in office. But she also pivoted to a rosier tone, saying the election is a chance for Ontario to take a new direction. But she'll need to contend with the fact that despite those alleged PC failures, the New Democrats have been largely unable to strip away any of their support.

Bonnie was laser-focused on health care. The Liberals obviously believe the family doctor shortage and hallway health care could be a winning issue for them. Her decision to launch her campaign in Barrie-Springwater-Oro Medonte was also interesting, since it is a seat the Liberals will need to flip if they have any hope of winning 12 or more ridings, the bare minimum necessary for official party status. Remember, party status comes with lots of perks like more money and resources.

Mike spent most of his first campaign speech talking about a wide breadth of issues like health care and housing. It seems the Greens will again be making a major push in the riding of Parry Sound—Muskoka, where they think they can flip a seat from the PCs. That said, the Greens seemed confident they could win the riding in 2022, but ended up losing to Graydon Smith, who also served as natural resources minister in Ford’s last government.

Election campaigns are visual events, Mike Crawley points out, and the Liberal party’s launch in front of a nondescript medical office in Barrie, Ont., was … less than impressive.

Literally at one point a car drove up and unloaded behind the Liberal leader.

Crawley said that’s a problem for the Liberals, who are still trying to get back to having official party status at Queen's Park by telling Ontarians they’re ready for prime time.

In a speech at Queen’s Park, Green Party Leader Mike Schreiner accused Ford of abandoning the people of Ontario in a time of crisis.

“We should be here at Queen’s Park working across party lines to show Donald Trump strength through unity. Instead Doug Ford has called an election, abandoning the people of Ontario when they need him the most,” he said.

“Clearly Doug Ford cares more about his job than he does about your job.”

Schreiner also turned his attention to several other provincial issues, like Ontario’s falling housing starts and sky-high home prices. He also targeted Ford’s record on health care, pointing out 2.5 million Ontarians don’t have a family doctor and that the PCs have not solved the hallway health-care crisis after seven years in government.

The Greens held two seats in the legislature before the campaign started.

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Speaking in Barrie, a riding the Liberals are hoping to flip from the PCs, Crombie spent most of her first campaign speech focused on health care and bashing Ford’s decision to call an early election.

“We are here today because Doug Ford doesn’t care about you. Because he has decided to spend $175 million on an election we don’t need, rather than spending that money on getting you a family doctor or on anything to make your life a little easier,” Crombie said.

The former Mississauga mayor was also sporting a new hat that reads “Real Leaders in Healthcare,” the Liberals’ apparent response to the PCs wearing hats with the slogan “Canada is Not for Sale.”

Crombie also said that young people feel they need to leave Ontario to succeed — “and that pisses me off.”

Interestingly, in contrast to both Ford and Stiles who were flanked by multiple candidates and supports, Crombie appeared with only the party's candidate for Barrie-Springwater-Oro Medonte, Dr. Rose Zacharias. Zacharias is a former president of the Ontario Medical Association.

In a speech to supporters in downtown Toronto, NDP Leader Marit Stiles said she is better placed than Doug Ford to negotiate with the Trump administration over potential tariffs.

“Doug Ford as our negotiator, are you kidding?” Stiles said. “Time and time again, Doug Ford has shown he can’t negotiate his way out of a paper bag.” She specifically mentioned the Ontario Place spa deal.

Stiles also talked about the province’s shortage of family doctors and said this election is an opportunity for Ontarians to set new priorities for the province.

Mike Crawley, our senior reporter at Queen’s Park, notes there were reps from five different labour unions there to hear Ford’s remarks.

Ford secured major support from some of those unions en route to his majority win in 2022.

Mike also noticed what the premier didn’t discuss in his first remarks: topics like health care, for example.

We’ll check the tape, but I’m not sure he mentioned his political rivals once.

Flanked by Canadian and Ontario flags, private-sector union workers and with the Ambassador Bridge and Detroit in the background, Ford made clear once again his campaign will be centred around the threat of U.S. tariffs.

The PC leader said he needs a stable, four-year mandate to ensure Ontario will survive a “period of unprecedented economic risk.” He also promised to spend “tens of billions of dollars” to support workers hit by tariffs, which could come as soon as Saturday.

“When workers lose their jobs, entire communities feel pain,” Ford said.

“Make no mistake, Ontario won’t start a fight with the U.S., but you better believe we will be ready to win one.”

Ford said yesterday his cabinet has already discussed an "economic action plan" to respond to tariffs, but has thus far declined to provide any specifics.

Here’s a quick look at the pre-election state of play at Queen’s Park.

Ford says he called this early election (at a cost of about $175 million to taxpayers) because he needs a mandate to fight back against potential U.S. tariffs.

But Ford already had a very substantial majority before the legislature dissolved on Tuesday afternoon.

There are 124 seats at Queen's Park, so 63 is the magic number for a majority government.