Ontario Prime Minister Doug Ford and Prime Minister Justin Trindade were once enemies. They are friends now. This is bad news for both the Federal Conservatives and the Liberals and the NDP in Queen’s Park. This is one reason why provincial Tories are likely to win the June 2 election. Earlier this week, Mr. Ford and Mr. Trinto appeared together to announce a $ 10 billion childcare deal. “It’s always great to make big announcements for Ontario families with Premier Ford,” Trudeau said. “Doug, it’s so good to be together again today.” For his part, Mr. Ford thanked “our federal partners for their cooperation; it shows what we can achieve by working together.” Trinto’s invasion of the province’s affairs reaches a new level Re-elect me, Doug Ford is the new Ontario worker’s new best friend Earlier in March, the two met to announce $ 263 million in joint federal-provincial funding for Honda’s Aliston plant. Mr Trinto had to miss the announcement of a new $ 5 billion electric battery plant for Windsor due to a NATO emergency meeting in Europe, but it emerged from a pre-recorded video. The two governments also cooperated in police operations to disperse protesters against the vaccines that blocked the center of Ottawa and the border in Windsor. And they worked together, for the most part, on pandemic measures, with Mr. Ford pushing the praises of the Deputy Prime Minister. “I absolutely love Chrystia Freeland,” he exhaled. “It’s incredible.” That’s a long way from a few years ago, when Mr Ford fought Mr Trinto over asylum seekers, trade negotiations and, in particular, the federal carbon tax. “It just makes me sick,” Mr. Ford said of the Federal Liberals in a Progressive Conservative 2019 fundraising letter. “Politicians who want to make your life more expensive do not deserve to be elected. End of story. “ Mr. Trinto, in turn, campaigned as much against Mr. Ford in that year’s federal election as he did against then-Conservative leader Andrew Sierre. “Andrew Scheer wants Canadians to double Conservative politicians like Doug Ford,” the Liberal leader repeatedly said during the campaign. He mentioned the Ontario Premier at an event 14 times, and not in the good sense. Ontario and federal political parties, both progressive and conservative, are coming to power, winning over the seven million people living in Greater Toronto and Hamilton. Sometimes politicians can decide that the best way to win their votes is to criticize politicians at another level of government. Liberal Prime Minister David Peterson has opposed PC Prime Minister Brian Mulroney’s free trade agreement with the United States. PC Prime Minister Mike Harris has been arguing with Liberal Prime Minister Jean Cretienne over healthcare. Liberal Prime Minister Dalton McGeady and Conservative Prime Minister Steven Harper have clashed over taxes and transfers. But just as often they do, as John Robarts did with Lester Pearson, Bill Davis with Pierre Trudeau, and now Doug Ford with Justin Trudeau. So what made the change for Mr. Ford and Mr. Trinto? Everyone may have noticed that shooting at each other did not make either of the two more popular. Most importantly, the arrival of the pandemic put an end to party politics. Ontario voters expected Ottawa and Queen’s Park to work together to protect the public good. So they did. This leaves the opposition parties at both levels in a difficult position. Ontario Liberal leader Steven Del Duca and NDP leader Andrea Horvath are both in danger of being sidelined by the Ford-Trudeau controversy. both follow in the polls six weeks before the election. Anything can happen during an election campaign, but on the eve of the Ontario campaign, PCs seem to be on the verge of a second-majority government. Federal Conservatives have been frozen three times off the outskirts of Ontario and three times out of government. Announcements of childcare and good news for more jobs and factory expansion, with the Prime Minister and Prime Minister of Ontario applauding each other on the back, will not make the discovery easier. Voters in Ontario suburbs seem to appreciate the effectiveness of their governments. They want their tax dollars to be spent efficiently, health care education and other services to be provided efficiently. Since World War II, the Liberals have ruled in Ottawa and the Progressive Conservatives in Queen’s Park most of the time. Ontario voters seem to like it that way. Maybe they find it effective. For subscribers: Receive exclusive political news and analysis by subscribing to Political information.
