June 3, 2014 – Anna Mehler Paperny, Global News

Ontario’s three main party leaders are set to duke it out in a debate Tuesday evening. We were going to suggest a drinking game but worried about giving you all liver failure. So here, instead, is a list of phrases to watch for over the course of tonight’s debate.

“Million Jobs Plan”

• Not a million jobs – not even half a million, depending whose fact-check ofHudak’s math you prefer. But whatevs.
• Who’ll say it: Tim Hudak, hawking the title of his platform and his plan to – you guessed it – create jobs.
• Why: Because people like jobs. And big round numbers, even if their authenticity’s questionable.

“Government that makes sense”

• Sounds like a Mike Harris throwback, but this is actually an NDP slogan.
• Who’ll say it: Andrea Horwath
• Why: The implication is that her plan is what makes sense to your average Joe Ontarian – as opposed to the other candidates, who make no sense.

“Government as a power for good”

(or variations on this theme)

• Makes you feel all warm and fuzzy, right?
• Who’ll say it: Kathleen Wynne
• Why: Much of Wynne’s plan displays an interventionist, redistribution-of-wealth streak. Plus she wants Ontarians to think of their ruling party as something other than a gas plant bogeyman.

“Gas plants”

• They were cancelled. You may have heard.
• Who’ll say it: Hudak and Horwath, at every possible opportunity.
• Why: To remind voters of that most unpopular and damning of Liberal scandals, the fallout from their mid-campaign cancellation of gas plants in Oakville and Mississauga.

“Corruption”

• Yikes. Corruption is bad.
• Who’ll say it: Hudak and Horwath. A lot, probably.
• Why: To cast the Liberals in a less-than-laudatory light, à la gas plants, MaRS, Ornge…

“MaRS”

• Not the planet, sadly, but the Discovery District’s multi-million-dollar construction project, which the Liberals are apparently buying out for about $317 million.
• Who’ll say it: Hudak.
• Why: In the days since his party leaked the documents, he’s been painting this as yet another hidden Liberal boondoggle and misuse of government funds.

“Bailout”

• In case “MaRS” sounds too benign.
• Who’ll say it: Hudak.
• Why: See “MaRS” above.

“Mistakes were made”

• Because no one does passive voice like a politician.
• Who’ll say it: Wynne
• Why: It’s become one of her most oft-repeated lines (along, to her credit, with “sorry”) regarding gas plants. Translation: Someone made mistakes but I swear it wasn’t me also I wasn’t even Premier now can we PLEASE talk about something else?

“Middle-class Ontarians”

• Everyone likes to think of themselves as middle class, even though the definition of “middle class” is a horrifically tricky one to agree on.
• Who’ll say it: Everyone.
• Why: It’s become code for the Average Joe politicians are there to fight for, duh. Because they care.

“Working families”

• See “Middle-class Ontarians,” above.

“Union bosses”

• How this became shorthand for Evil Organized Labour we’re still not sure. But why not.
• Who’ll say it: Hudak
• Why: It’s a way of playing on class resentment and the conviction that that the other guy gets a better job deal than you, as well as quashing critiques that Hudak’s plan will go after organized labour, contracts and benefits.

“Leadership”

• Because who doesn’t like leadership, right?
• Who’ll say it: Everyone
• Why: Because she/he is a leader, duh. And the other two are not.

“Doesn’t add up”

• The other guys’ platforms, that is.
• Who’ll say it: Everyone
• Why: There’s been no shortage of numbers thrown around, many of them dubious. But this is also a quick, easy way to discredit your opponent’s policies.

“Taxpayer” (esp: “Respect for…”)

• Just about everyone gives the government money: You want them to play nice with it, right?
• Who’ll say it: Everyone, but Hudak and Horwath more.
• Why: While its use is universal, it’s usually accompanied by promises to spend your money really frugally, and suggestions everyone else is just throwing themselves Scrooge McDuck parties with it.