At 84, Bill Davis is getting frail, but he still knows how to send a bracing political message. Beneath his playful Brampton banter lies a withering wit.

The former Tory premier gave an encore performance the other night to rally support for one of his favourite causes, the TVO educational network he founded more than four decades ago. Holding forth before a Who’s Who of the Tory Ontario he once helmed, the Liberal elites who now rule, and a few stalwart New Democrats who wielded power in between, he laid down Davis’s law:

We need more decorum, decency and civility in public life. While Davis didn’t allude to our mayoral mayhem, his dignified speech provided a welcome respite.

His message goes beyond the need for co-operation amid competition. Davis offers living proof of how mutual respect and even personal friendship can persevere among partisan rivals.

Videotaped testimonials from two of Ontario’s most successful NDP leaders spoke volumes: Stephen Lewis and Bob Rae recounted Davis’s political prowess, but also his personal compassion. Both spoke evocatively of how the Tory premier of the day extended a hand across the floor of the legislature.

But Davis’s broad appeal went beyond the personal to the political: In his prime, he was the original crossover hit.

Despite his Progressive Conservative antecedents, he reached out across the ideological spectrum. Unlike today’s union-bashing Tories, he sat down with labour leaders regularly.

The species is now endangered, but Davis was a Red Tory — or more precisely, pink: He governed from the progressive flank of the Progressive Conservative party, positioning it in the middle of Ontario politics and securing its place as the province’s natural governing dynasty (until his departure when the PCs veered sharply right).

Despite his middle of the road, pipe-smoking impulses (tobacco, for the record), Davis was no partisan pushover. He built up a formidable campaign team, dubbed the Big Blue Machine, by tapping into modern advertising and polling techniques. And he surrounded himself with savvy, compassionate political aides — cerebral Tories with heart — who helped him keep his ear to the ground while perched in the premier’s office from 1971-85.

Reflecting on the private counsel he got from his political staff, Davis offered some very public advice to Premier Kathleen Wynne and PC leader Tim Hudak:

“Madam premier, I’m sure you’ve discovered something in your new responsibilities: It’s not just you, but it’s the people around you, the people helping you, the people advising you, that makes a difference.” (In the last Liberal leadership race, Davis made clear he preferred Wynne.)

And then Davis did what he does best: He made a jibe that jolted his audience — and made Hudak’s jaw drop:

“Tim, I would say to you, you need some people around you who are middle of the road.”

People burst out in laughter. Then their eyes widened.

“I’m teasing now,” Davis mused.

“A bit.” It was a mischievous way of diluting his humour disclaimer.

To all who are acquainted with Davis’s barbed banter, it was clear he was only half-joking. Perhaps only a quarter-joking.

Then, turning more serious (than he already was), Davis continued.

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“You’re very determined,” he told Hudak. “I’m a Tory, I respect what you stand for. At the same time, I say to both of you (including Wynne) . . . that it’s very important that you treat one another with respect.”

Roping in the NDP’s Andrea Horwath, Davis said all parties must take the high road: “I say to all three of you, that’s what I’d like to see at Queen’s Park.”

Message sent.

Davis has always relied on humour to say what had to be said, and Hudak has been on the receiving end before. Davis once shared his late mother’s advice: “William, in all things, moderation.”

Another suggestion: “You’ll never get criticized for the speech you don’t give” — advice Hudak ignored when he launched intemperate attacks on “foreign workers” in the 2011 election.

Hudak didn’t get the message then, and there are signs the union-bashing leader still hasn’t. Perhaps that’s why Davis felt compelled to restate his moderation admonition the other night.

Message resent.

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Martin Regg Cohn’s provincial affairs column appears Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday. mcohn@thestar.ca , Twitter: @reggcohn

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