Ontario premiers past and present become political targets in federal campaign

While Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer has faced questionsover whether he's deliberately avoiding Doug Ford, the Ontariopremier was front and centre at the federal Liberal leader's campaign stop in Hamilton on Monday morning.

The Progessive Conservative premier wasn't there physically, but he was thrustintothe spotlight by Justin Trudeau, who made 14 references to Ford byname twice in French as he spoke about his proposednational pharmacare program.

What does Ford have to do with such a program? As Trudeau reasoned, if re-elected, the Liberalgovernment will have to negotiate with the provinces to implement such a planand only he canbe counted on to negotiate with Ford.

On several occasions during his announcement and subsequent news conference, Trudeau managed to weave in the same talking point:Who do you want negotiating withDoug Ford when it comes to your health?

Certainly not Scheer, according to Trudeau, who suggested the Conservative leader is a clone of the premier and would follow a path similar toFord's, with austeritymeasures that would hurt people.

Trudeau's tactic, to link Scheertothe Ontario premier,whose cuts to services havesparked a backlash among voters and led to a precipitous declinein popularity, is one he's used repeatedly although the number of "Doug Ford" references on Monday was unusually high.

So far, Scheer hasn't been seen in public with the premier during his federal campaign tours of Ontario, which included a stop last week at Tory candidateTed Opitz's campaign office, just blocks away fromFord's Etobicoke home.

Scheerhas rejected any suggestion that this is deliberate. Meanwhile, Ford himself has said he's too busy governing and doesn't want to get involved in the federal election.

"I'm going to continue focusing on the province,"Ford toldCBC News Monday.

But the Conservatives also believe that associating a rival with anunpopular politician can work to their advantage. That's whyScheer has been trying to tie Trudeau toformer premier Kathleen Wynne,who suffered a crushing defeat to Fordin the provincial election last year.

Scheer, who was in Vaughan, Ont., today to announcepolicies he says will help first-time homebuyers, didn'tinvokeWynne's name during his announcement, unlike Trudeau who mentioned Ford four times before he took any questions from reporters.

But when given the opportunity,Scheer blasted the former premier, along with her predecessor Dalton McGuinty.

"The architects of the failed Kathleen Wynne/Dalton McGuinty government that raised taxes, ran massive deficits, mired in scandal and corruptions are now working for Justin Trudeauand they're following the same playbook," Scheer said.

"I think it's important for peoplein Ontario to know that JustinTrudeau will follow the exact andhas been following the exact same playbook that Kathleen Wynne and Dalton McGuinty ran here in Ontario," Scheer said.

"Voters here understand what happens when you let Liberalscontinuetheir corrupt ways, continueto run massive deficits, continue to break their promises and lie to the people they are elected to serve."

And just recently, the Conservatives launched ananti-Wynne ad. Itshows the Toronto skyline under ominous dark clouds, as the announcer claims the Wynne government "plowed Ontario deeper into debt" drove upthe costs of gas and hydro and that "Justin Trudeau will do to Canada what Kathleen Wynne did to Ontario."

Trudeau and Scheer, it seems, hope they canmove votes by reminding Ontario voters what they dislike about these leaders, current and former. Because it's here in this vote-richprovinceand in several Greater Toronto Area ridings where the election could be won or lost and it's why both leaders have made severalstops herein the first couple weeks of the campaign.

Scheer was in Vaughan, and the King-Vaughan riding is a main target for the Conservatives. It was won by the Liberals in 2015in a close raceand the Tories believe they have a good chance of swinging it back.

Meanwhile, Trudeau'sHamilton stop soughtto drum up support in a ridingthe party is determined to keep. Hamilton East-Stoney Creek isa riding with a significant labour baseand one that had been in the NDPfold, until former Hamilton mayorBob Bratina took it for the Liberals in 2015.