On a freezing February morning, members of the union that represents thousands of Ontario health-care workers lined up gurneys near Queensway Carleton Hospital in an effort to shine a spotlight on Ontario’s strained health system during the province’s brief winter election campaign.

Homeless encampments, tax cuts, and highway tolls — the focus of Ontario’s election campaign has suddenly shifted. U.S. President Donald Trump was set to impose crippling 25 per cent tariffs against Canadian products on Tuesday.

Ontario PC Leader Doug Ford is trying his utmost to make the threat of tariffs the entire focus of the election campaign. The other party leaders are trying their utmost to shift the narrative away from tariffs to other big things at stake for Ontario voters.