Today's September 20, 10:00am update:
First Leaders Debate, sans Green Party, of the 2007 election campaign starting at 6:30pm and last for 90 minutes.
And from the Toronto Sun Daily here are the personal vitae of the Three Leaders:
JOHN TORY Conservative
- Age: 53
- Training: Lawyer
- Best round: Almost knocked out lefty David Miller in 2003 Toronto mayor's race, with 38.5% of the vote to 43.5%.
- Win streak: Party leader since 2004, he easily won his seat, Dufferin-Peel-Wellington-Grey, in a 2005 byelection.
- Party cred: Shrewd political backroomer, under the spotlight for first time, he's run campaigns for many others.
- Ring style: A former Rogers Cable exec and CFL boss, he's not afraid to tackle but has never fought such a title bout.
- TV election debates: None, the rookie in the ring.
DALTON MCGUINTY Liberal
- Age: 52
- Training: Lawyer
- Best round: Took down front-runner Gerard Kennedy for the Grit leadership in 1996, in a gruelling, five-ballot win.
- Win streak: Four straight election wins since 1990 on his Ottawa home turf, filling the shoes of his late MPP father.
- Party cred: The only rookie Liberal elected in the NDP's 1990 rout of the ruling Grits, he led them back to power in 2003.
- Ring style: Raised in a family of 10, he can scrap with the best but quiet, persistent jabs are often his best weapon.
- TV election debates: Two under his belt, 1999 and 2003.
HOWARD HAMPTON New Democrat
- Age: 55
- Training: Lawyer
- Best round: Cracked Bob Rae's first cabinet lineup in 1990 in an all-important role, as Ontario's attorney-general.
- Win streak: Five straight election wins dating back to 1987 on his Fort Frances home turf, in a vast northern riding.
- Party cred: Took its helm in 1996 after the Rae government was booted, keeping the NDP pulse alive at Queen's Park.
- Ring style: Ivy League-educated, on a hockey scholarship, he can punch with logic or union-hall verbal barrages.
- TV election debates: Two under his belt, 1999 and 2003.
My bet-Howard Hampton can easily wins the debate, but the election, Nah!! Ontario voters one time gave the New Democrats (socialists) during the Leadership of Bob Rae a crack at Government, but Tommy Douglas Bob Rae wasn't...
the toronto sun
New Democrats Leader Howard Hampton, the Best with the Tractor, 3rd in the Opinion Polls...
Party Leaders Make Hay with Farmers: Election Ontario Countdown..
Crosby, Ontario International Plowing Match, Sept. 18..
He maybe No. 3 in Opinion Polls (last among the mainstreams) but he is number on the Tractor.
New Democrats Leader Howard Hampton easily beat the other two leader by plowing the Straightest furrow at the Fastest Time. But will it translate into votes this October 10 election, remain to be seen.
Dressed in their country-best jeans and checked shirts, Premier Dalton McGuinty and Progressive Conservative Leader John Tory joined Hampton and a number of eastern Ontario candidates at the match on a farm north of Kingston. The event is an annual ritual but takes on added significance in an election year.
Politicians were eager to make their case before the agricultural community, with McGuinty on the defensive over his record with farmers and Hampton and Tory on the attack.
"It influences the rural vote to some degree," said Bruce McCready of the Ontario Ploughman's Association. "You can't change that many people's politics, but it all helps."
And Here’s what the Champion Plower has to say about the Government or Premier McGuinty, the Liberal Leader:
“The Liberals haven't done enough for farmers who face hard times with the rising dollar, foreign subsidies and low prices for some commodities. They see the $40,000 pay raise for Dalton McGuinty while many of them are having to subsidize their farm by working off the farm."
And the other Opposition Leader, Conservative John Tory has also something to say, of course this is the campaign period and if the Farmers really listen to them, or maybe they do...
Tory noted 650,000 Ontario jobs depend on a healthy agriculture industry and said he's talked to "far too many farmers who are in doubt ... whether they can tell their sons and daughters whether there's a future for them at all in farming."
For More of What the Farmers had to say and the spectators about the Leaders and the Promises and Election Programs and about the Local Candidates and Also the VIDEO of the PLOWING Competition and comments (or Judging) go to: (copy and paste)
http://www.thestar.com/OntarioElection/article/258095
