Like Dorothy in *Wizard of Oz*, told to “pay no attention to the man behind the curtain,” Ontario voters & media have little or no access to the leader of the Conservative party during this election.

It was Jan. 29, I believe, the very first day of the current provincial election campaign. The London Police Service hosted an appreciation and awards banquet. And wasn’t it convenient for the premier that he was invited to speak to what Mr. Ford considered his peeps.

I guess he decided to take the opportunity to slam federal lawmakers and judges for being soft on criminals such as home invaders. And according to the Toronto Star’s Queen’s Park Bureau, Ford went way off script.

“God forbid they kill an innocent person,” Ford mused in front of a thousand police personnel and guests at the banquet, adding that he’d prefer that judges simply send home invaders found guilty of murder to the electric chair. (more…)

It is arguably the most difficult issue Canadians have had to face since Confederation. It has divided Indigenous and non-Indigenous people in Canada since initial European contact. And it came into sharpest focus this spring when hundreds of unmarked graves of Indigenous children were discovered around several former residential schools.

But when the issue of “Reconciliation with First Nations” was introduced last Thursday night during the Leaders’ Debate – after some introductory remarks from the five leaders, one of them, Justin Trudeau, got this curt instruction from the moderator.

“You have five seconds, Mr. Trudeau,” said Shachi Kurl, the moderator. “Five seconds, sir.”

“We have lots more to do,” Trudeau said. “And we are going to do it.” (more…)

Ted Barris

author | journalist

Posts with the Leaders’ Debate tag

Pay more attention to the man behind the curtain

The heart. Not the quick hit.