You probably didn’t notice this past Friday afternoon, busy as you were getting that last minute gift of sweets for your sweetie or trying to book that restaurant you should’ve booked six weeks ago or paying hand over fist to ensure that on time flower delivery, but there was a leaders debate for the provincial election campaign that’s going on currently. Yeah. There’s an election campaign here in Ontario right now. February 27th. Yeah. This February 27th. This coming February 27th. Ten days from now, yeah.
Nobody could be happier if you didn’t know about any of this, the election, the debate, than Doug Ford. He’ll be over the moon in fact. Because, at least in terms of Friday’s debate, it was disastrous for him. 
How bad?
He ducked the scheduled post-debate media session. Ducked and cowered. Ran like a great big scaredy cat.
And he says he’s the only one that’s going to Protect Ontario?
Unless he’s asked any tough questions, I guess.
Now, as the CBC’s Mike Crawley complained during his post-debate analysis, there was no decisive knockout blow. No one moment you can point to and say, That’s where the wheels came off, right there. But Ford’s usual bluster all rang hollow this time out. His go-to We’re the only government in history… blah, blah, blah, was greeted by an ‘Oh my God!’ from NDP leader Marit Stiles after about the third time he tried using it.
If he could’ve gotten away with it, Ford would’ve stood at his podium and simply chanted three phrases over and over to run out the clock: President Trump’s Tariffs; Protect, Protect, Protect; Critical Minerals.
That’s all he came with to the debate, hosted by the Federation of Northern Ontario Municipalities and its vaguely nefarious sounding acronym, FONOM. In fact, it felt like that’s all Doug Ford saw in northern Ontario, its buried treasure of critical minerals that he alone would dig up and use to Protect, Protect, Protect and ward off the ill-effects of President Trump’s Tariffs. Maybe one of the critical, magical minerals might be used to deal with the other problems facing northern Ontario too. Healthcare, closed ERs and a doctor shortage. Lack of affordable housing. Homelessness. Addiction.
All the things Doug Ford hasn’t dealt with during his six+ years as premier and none that he wanted to talk about up on stage on Friday afternoon. Or in a media scrum afterwards.
The other three leaders, Bonnie Crombie, Mike Schreiner and Marit Stiles, all acquitted themselves. Didn’t slip up. Didn’t give anyone any reason not to vote for them. Arguably, nobody rose up out of the pack and made a compelling reason for anyone to vote for them either.
Except, none of them are Doug Ford.
Doug Ford delivered up a performance of the self-aggrandizing incumbent who cynically called an early election during what is clearly a brewing national crisis for no other reason aside from his own venal ambition. He’s bumbled, fumbled and gaffed throughout the first couple weeks of the campaign, a campaign we all know was months in the making, his only trump card, so to speak, is the big boogeyman to the south. Boo! Re-elect me. Only I Can Protect You.
How?
More of the same. No New Taxes; Unleash the Power of the Economy; Clean Up Our Streets; Critical Minerals. A continuum of incompetence.
The zinger that the likes of Mike Crawley was looking for came in the form of a man already presiding over a multi-fronted crisis in healthcare, education, affordability, a housing shortage, homelessness and a lethal addictions epidemic across the entire province who was trying to convince voters that only he was up to the task to guide Ontario through what was going to turbulent and treacherous political waters ahead. Sure, he’s done nothing but exacerbate existing shortfalls, gaps and glaring inequities in our social fabric with his previous two mandates, but we need to give him an even stronger one now so that he, and only he, can protect, protect, protect Ontario from what is certain to be even further and, quite possibly, more punishing stress and strain on all those resources he’s been undermining since 2018.
That’s the picture. That’s the story. That should be the TKO all you ringside fight fan analogists are looking for.