Final weekend of Ontario election campaign sees PC, Liberal leaders visiting NDP territory

A composite image made from four file photographs show, from left to right, Ontario Liberal Party Leader Bonnie Crombie in Mississauga, Ont., Saturday, Feb. 8, 2025; Ontario Progressive Conservative Party Leader Doug Ford in Toronto, Friday, Feb. 7, 2025; Leader of the Ontario NDP Marit Stiles in Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., Friday, Feb. 7, 2025; and Ontario Green Party Leader Mike Schreiner in Kitchener, Ont., Monday, Feb. 3, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Nathan Denette, Chris Young, Kenneth Armstrong

After four weeks of criss-crossing the province, shaking countless hands, and little sleep, Ontario’s major party leaders are entering the final sprint.

Their campaign stops on the final weekend are revealing of where each party stands and what they’re hoping to accomplish before election day.

Here’s how each party leader will spend their weekend.

Doug Ford, Progressive Conservative Party

Fresh off a trip to Washington D.C in his capacity as Premier, Progressive Conservative leader Doug Ford will spend the weekend in northern Ontario.

Ford will make announcements in Thunder Bay and Iroquois Falls Saturday, with a stop in Timmins. Sunday, the PC leader will be in Sault Ste. Marie and Sudbury.

It’s a do-over for two days Ford planned to spend in the region earlier this week, but events were called off because of cascading delays after the crash of a Delta plane at Pearson Airport on Monday.

Ford has emphasized the role the north and its critical minerals have to play in Ontario’s economic future in the face of U.S. tariffs.

In the last election, PCs captured three of the region’s nine seats. Any gain this time would be a loss for the New Democratic Party.

Bonnie Crombie, Liberal Party

New Democrats are facing another closing weekend challenge for votes from the Liberals.

On Saturday, Bonnie Crombie will make a whistle-stop tour of four NDP-held ridings: Parkdale-High Park, Spadina-Fort York, University-Rosedale, and leader Marit Stiles' Davenport.

Nik Nanos, chief data scientist for Nanos Research, says concentrating on Toronto makes sense for Crombie.

“She has political coattails in that particular region and her personal numbers are good, stronger than Doug Ford in Toronto,” Nanos told CP24 Friday morning.

In polling for CTV News released Friday, Torontonians ranked Crombie ranked 11 points higher than Ford as their preferred premier.

Marit Stiles, New Democratic Party

NDP leader Marit Stiles’ final weekend stretch will see her campaigning in Toronto, Ottawa, Kingston, and boomeranging back home.

Stiles continues to insist she intends to flip blue seats orange, beginning her weekend in Progressive Conservative-held Scarborough North.

But Nanos polling has regularly shown the party lagging in third place behind the PCs and Liberals.

“For [Marit] Stiles and the New Democrats, there isn’t really great news anywhere in the province when it comes to her leadership, or vote support,” Nanos said.

Stiles will also stop in at a Kingston riding the Liberals snatched from the NDP in 2022.

Mike Schreiner, Green Party

Mike Schreiner will spend his final weekend push shoring up support in three ridings the Greens have been targeting to increase their seat count at Queen’s Park.

The Greens hope to re-elect Aislinn Clancy as MPP for Kitchener Centre, a seat she claimed in a 2023 byelection.

In the afternoon, Schreiner shifts his attention to Elora, part of the riding of Wellington-Halton Hills. Speaker Ted Arnott had represented the area since 1990 but is not running for re-election. The Greens have nominated local councillor Bronwynne Wilton as a champion for rural interests, arguing Progressive Conservatives have been fixated on Toronto problems.

On Sunday, Schreiner will connect with Matt Richter for two days of campaigning in Parry Sound-Muskoka. In 2022, Richter came within 1,200 votes of PC Graydon Smith, the former longtime mayor of Bracebridge.