Ontario

Next year, Ontarians are set to spend roughly one out of every five days in an election. The federal writs are due by the fall, and Ontario premier Doug Ford is expected to call an early election to get ahead of a police investigation into the Greenbelt scandal and to campaign against the federal Liberals, instead of the Conservatives, who are expected to soon replace them.

There are certain affinities between Ford and Trudeau, however – or perhaps unintended flattery by way of imitation. Both favour sending pre-election bribe cheques to voters. In October, the Ontario government announced it would send cash to residents in the new year, with $200 “rebates” going out “to support families facing high interest rates and the federal carbon tax.” In November, Trudeau announced he’d do the same – $250 cheques, in this case – alongside a GST holiday on a number of consumer goods from Dec. 14 to Feb 15. But while the GST break is on, the cheques are being held up in the House of Commons.