TORONTO - Between a weekend workout and hunkering down to prepare for Thursday's debate, Premier Dalton McGuinty fired off a letter Sunday asking Prime Minister Stephen Harper to give Ontario more seats in the House of Commons.
McGuinty chose a day of relative quiet on the provincial election campaign trail to urge Harper to redraw the electoral map so it better reflects Ontario's swelling population.
The premier first broached the subject in June, but decided to renew his request for at least 10 more seats after hearing Harper's own views on democracy when the prime minister addressed the Australian parliament last week.
McGuinty said Harper's description of democracy as "an instinctive sense of fairness, self-restraint and compromise'' doesn't match Ontario's current situation.
"I call on you now . . . to restore representation by population in the House of Commons,'' McGuinty wrote in the letter.
"I continue to urge you to make a simple amendment to Bill C-56 so that Canadians in Ontario receive the same treatment as those in British Columbia and Alberta.''
Likely the last semi-restful Sunday for the leaders before the Oct. 10 vote, all three party figureheads were taking time off the campaign trail to prepare for Thursday's much-anticipated televised debate.
Looking svelte in a pair of grey gym shorts, a T-shirt and white sneakers despite a jam-packed, junk food-filled first week on the campaign trail, McGuinty hopped on his home rowing machine for a quick workout before an afternoon of debate practice.
Progressive Conservative Leader John Tory spent his day surrounded by his top advisers to discuss their strategy for the debate, which will be Tory's first as a provincial leader, spokesman Brendan Howe noted.
Tory, he said, has his homework cut out for him as he prepares to square off against a pair of experienced debaters: McGuinty and NDP Leader Howard Hampton, who took time to watch his son play hockey Sunday before his own debate prep session.
Unlike his rivals, McGuinty is bracing for an assault from both the left and the right flanks, said Liberal spokesman Ben Chin.
"We don't really view it as our best forum, because you have two people attacking our guy and often holding hands while they do it,'' Chin said.
"It's a different situation for us.''
Chin declined to offer details on just how the premier is preparing for the debate.
With the leaders out of the limelight, it was Health Minister George Smitherman who emerged on the offensive Sunday, attacking Conservative incumbent Frank Klees's idea to charge user fees for doctor visits.
During a local debate last week, Klees suggested a modest fee as a means of easing congestion in the doctor's office and discouraging unnecessary visits.
"We think that gives some insight into the kind of policy alternatives that are alive in Mr. John Tory's party,'' Smitherman said of the idea, which Klees has taken pains to point out is his own suggestion, not that of the party.
Smitherman suggested it shows the Conservatives admit they can't cut the health premium and the $2.6 billion it generates annually without taking the money from somewhere else.
"I think to replace the friendly smiling face of the receptionist in a doctor's office with a cash register is something that I'm not in a hurry to see,'' he said.
"It's not keeping with universality and it's not keeping with the Canada Health Act.''
Conservative Tim Hudak noted that Klees's idea is not part of the current election platform.
"It's not PC party policy. It's not John Tory's view,'' he said. "This is clearly the Liberal attempt to talk about anything other than Dalton McGuinty's weak leadership and broken promises.''
Hudak slammed McGuinty for breaking his promise to review the controversial health premium and repeated Tory's vow that a Conservative government would cancel it.
