Ontario’s Progressive Conservative leader Doug Ford occasionally cited a black folder full of highlighted notes during the Ontario election leadership debate, which was a major issue during the 90-minute sparring match.
Even before the debate began, the Ontario Liberal Party tweeted an image of Ford preparing for the verbal race by putting a black folder on its podium and storing a notebook provided by TVO – which hosted the debate on behalf of a consortium of television operators.
Shoot … Doug’s folder is missing some notes! Good thing the cheap slogans are still there 😅 #onpoli pic.twitter.com/Xr15KABqXA
– Ont. Liberal Party Military Room (@OLPWarRoom) May 16, 2022
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The presence of Ford’s remarks was then highlighted by the moderator of the debate, Altia Raj, who pointed out the position of the broadcasting consortium on the issue.
“Leaders have been asked not to bring fraudsters, props or briefings so that this can be a conversation without a script,” Raj said.
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Ford, who was spotted looking at his notes from time to time during key debates, defended the folder’s presence and viewers’ attitudes toward it.
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“There’s nothing wrong with taking notes to make sure you’re organized,” Ford told reporters after the debate. “Guess what? People don’t care.”
Opponents of Ford, however, said they had followed the consortium’s broadcast instructions and kept their notes off the podium, choosing to speak from memory.
Ford’s reliance on notes was often mentioned by his opponents during the debate as evidence of the PC party that scripted Ford’s thesis.
“I heard Mr. Ford speak and he seems to be reading the script from four years ago,” Del Duca said.
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NDP leader Andrea Horvat, whose podium stood next to Ford, noted his dependence on his remarks.
“It simply came to our notice then. It was his choice, it was his decision, “Horvat said.
Green Party leader Mike Schreiner said the PC leader’s focus seemed to be on slogans for solutions to problems presented by moderators, and suggested that Ford was looking for points of conversation to express its blows.
“I think Mr. Ford is really good at spreading a lot of slogans,” Schreiner said. “I don’t know if that’s what he was looking down on, like, ‘Hey, did I get the right slogan here or not?’
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Insiders in the PC campaign also defended Ford’s use of the binder and what they believe has a positive impact on its performance in the debate.
“It is clear that the binding device serves [Ford] “It’s good because he’s clearly winning,” the insider told Global News.
Election day is June 2.
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