'Please don't interrupt me,' says Horwath as Liberal candidate crashes NDP event

The leaders faced off for the final time Sunday night before the election. All had their key talking points:

1. Liberal Leader Kathleen Wynne said "sorry, not sorry" for the last five years.
2. NDP Leader Andrea Horwath reiterated she is "not Bob Rae", Ontario's only NDP premier.
3. PC Leader Doug Ford admitted he doesn't trust politicians.

Now with just over a week to go until election day, the leaders are continuing to campaign hard. Horwath and Ford are on opposite parts of the province; the NDP leader is visiting Guelph and Ancaster while the PC leader is in Newmarket and Peterborough. Wynne is sticking to the GTA with stops in Toronto and Mississauga. 

• Recap the final Ontario leaders' debate, as it happened

Here's where we are on day 20.

Latest from the campaign (debate edition)

Watch the Ontario leaders' debate in 90 seconds

7 years ago

Duration 1:32

This is the Ontario leaders' debate in 90 seconds, the third and final debate ahead of the June 7 election.

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  • ​Kathleen Wynne may have sounded the most like a premier during Sunday night's debate but analysts say it is difficult to see any path to victory for the Liberals. Poll tracker reflects that, where the party appears to have hit the floor.
• 6 key moments from Ontario leaders' debate
  • ​The leaders sparred about Hydro One, health care — even Adolf Hitler, after a NDP candidate shared a meme several years ago. Horwath and the NDP were the prime target for a good portion of the debate — fitting given their surge in the polls. 
• Leaders' debate just as fierce on the social media stage
  • ​Though Horwath appears to be leading in the polls, it was Wynne who was the most mentioned leader on Twitter during the debate, followed up by Ford. The most tweeted issues were health care, previous governments for all parties and the deficit.

The moment

Liberal candidate crashes Horwath event

7 years ago

Duration 0:47

Shafiq Qadri showed up to NDP Leader Andrea Horwath's campaign stop Monday morning — and she had to ask him to be quiet.

NDP Leader Andrea Horwath had an unexpected visitor at her announcement in Etobicoke this morning — local Liberal candidate (and longtime MPP) Shafiq Qaadri. 

Qaadri brought along a large Liberal sign and stood behind Horwath while she spoke to media.

"I think it is unfortunate that they have decided to do this," Horwath said. "What am I going to say? It's their decision to behave that way. They'll have to explain it for themselves."

Qaadri then tried to butt in, but Horwath wouldn't let him. "I'm going to finish my press conference and you can have all the time you want to talk to the media. But please don't interrupt me. It's very rude."

The Liberal candidate defended his actions, saying he gets interrupted when he is campaigning.

When asked if it was a "desperate move", Qaadri said "it may look that way but as I say, it's really just my riding. I was campaigning just at the corner ... and that's why I'm here."

Wynne called Qaadri's crashing "inappropriate" while the Liberal's campaign director David Herle was apologetic:

Qaadri tweeted out his own apology this afternoon.

Noted

Ontario's PCs kicked off the last full week of campaigning Monday by hitting back at their apparent main opponent, the NDP, and the "radical activists" the PCs say are running for them in the election.

With polls putting the PCs and NDP tied for support, Leader Doug Ford hosted a round-table with about a dozen of his "all-star candidates," including veteran MPPs Vic Fedeli, Lisa MacLeod and Raymond Cho, as well as former party leadership rivals Caroline Mulroney and Christine Elliott.

"You're going to see a stark difference between our team and the radical, activist candidates that the NDP have," Ford told reporters.

Asked whether the party's attacks on the NDP are a sign that the campaign isn't going well with about 10 days to go, MacLeod replied: "It's a sign that things are going great."

Riding to watch

London West, Population 125,360, profile by Colin Butler

This might be a race to remember in London West.

In one corner is Andrew Lawton, the controversial former radio host turned politico. In the other corner is NDP incumbent Peggy Sattler.

Lawton is Progressive Conservative leader Doug Ford's controversial pick for the riding, an appointment that rubbed some local party loyalists the wrong way.

Early in the campaign, headlines about Lawton's past remarks about women, Islam and the LGBTQ community ruffled a few feathers. Lawton asked voters for their "compassion and trust," for his antagonizing words from the past, which he blames on his struggle with mental illness. He's remained controversy-free during the campaign.

And while Sattler has only held the riding since 2013, she brings with her 13 years experience campaigning and community organizing as a local trustee and former chair of the Thames Valley District School Board.

Meanwhile, the Liberals have an uphill battle on their hands. Jonathan Hughes likely faces a tough fight against two better-known rivals.

Poll tracker

Both the NDP and the Liberals have made slight gains while the PCs and the Greens fall. The NDP's odds of winning the most seats is now more than one in five while odds of a PC majority are now a coin toss. Get the full breakdown.

Where the leaders are

• Ford: Candidate roundtable in Newmarket (10:30 a.m.), rally in Peterborough (6:30 p.m.)
• Horwath: Announcement in Etobicoke (9:30 a.m), event at Brothers Brewing Company in Guelph (12:30 p.m.), campaign event in Ancaster (5 p.m.)  
• Schreiner: Bike to work day (7:15 a.m.), ribbon-cutting at Guelph Collegiate Vocational Institute (10:30 a.m.)
• Wynne: Run in Toronto (8:15 a.m.), Iftar dinner in Mississauga (7:45 p.m.)

We're tracking the Ontario leaders on the campaign trail. See where they have stopped.

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