TORONTO — Ontario government ministers who took on the Trudeau Liberals are among the premier’s top performers, according to strategists.

The rookie government under Doug Ford quickly went toe-to-toe with federal cabinet ministers after taking office in June, and the confrontational approach made many ministers stand out.

Asked by iPolitics to list the best and worst ministers, those who disappointed, and those who show promise, strategists for all three major parties pointed to those who sparred with their Ottawa counterparts.

Conservative strategist and Summa Strategies vice-chairman Tim Powers gave top marks to Environment Minister Rod Phillips and Finance Minister Vic Fedeli. Meantime, Scott Reid, a Liberal strategist and principal at the speechwriting outfit, Feschuk.Reid, chose Trade Minister Todd Smith and Social Services Minister Lisa MacLeod as Premier Doug Ford’s top performers. Finally, NDP strategist and principal at Earnscliffe, Kathleen Monk, picked Health Minister Christine Elliott and Seniors Minister Raymond Cho as Ford’s best soldiers.

Phillips, MacLeod, and Smith have all put the federal Liberals under direct attack.

Even before the election, Ford had set the stage for a clash with Ottawa over climate change and how to fight it. He pledged to scrap Ontario’s carbon price and to launch a legal challenge to Trudeau’s carbon tax. From the start, Phillips’ meetings with his federal counterpart, Catherine McKenna, were frosty, but the two both admitted recently there are some areas of environmental policy where they’re on the same page.

On the conflict front, though, Powers says Phillips has outperformed his colleagues.

“Phillips did a good job managing an extremely controversial element,” Powers said. “Of all the issues of tension, consternation, and conflict that have been part of the early days of the Ford government, the one that, perhaps surprisingly, is less contentious, is the actual Ontario environmental plan.”

Staying with clashes with Ottawa, MacLeod has handed the feds a $200-million bill to cover the costs of a spike in irregular border crossers seeking asylum. Her federal counterpart, Ahmed Hussen, sparked controversy in the early days of the Ford government by calling MacLeod’s rhetoric on the matter “not Canadian.”

While Reid doesn’t agree with MacLeod’s policies, he says she’s sold them with “energy and skill.” In particular, he liked her communications on the government’s overhaul of its social-services funding, which rolled back income-assistance increases promised by the former Liberal government.

On the personal front, as well, he said MacLeod expertly handled an attack from her former leader, and now Brampton mayor, Patrick Brown.

“She showed great political agility in replying to Patrick Brown’s boneheaded insults from his boneheaded book, and positioning herself as both strong and sympathetic, all at the same time,” he said.

Finally, Smith — who is also Economic Development minister and government House leader — has been the No. 1 sparring partner for federal Intergovernmental Affairs Minister Dominic LeBlanc. The two have disagreed chiefly over the renegotiated NAFTA.

Smith, though, has often been offered to journalists as a catch-all defender of the government on issues ranging from behaviour in the legislature to PC MPP Amanda Simard’s decision to bail on her party and sit as an Independent.

“He appears to be the early-odds favourite to become the fix-it, safe-hands minister that every government needs,” Reid said.

Powers billed Smith as one to watch in the months ahead, describing him as a “pitbull” in the premier’s corner. He said Smith’s promotion in the fall to Trade minister (from Consumer Affairs) likely won’t be the last bump-up Ford gives him.

Fedeli is another minister who’s frequently in Ford’s corner.

Powers pointed to Fedeli as a minister who’s lived up to expectations, but says the real test will come with the Tories’ first budget next year.

“I think he’s living up to billing,” Powers said. “You can’t say that about every minister, but I think, certainly, Fedeli and Phillips would be the two more obvious ones, for me, in a government that’s heavily dominated by the premier.”

Monk thinks Elliott, the runner-up in the Progressive Conservatives’ March leadership race, has performed best.

The health minister’s most notable policy so far was the decision to keep Ontario’s safe-injection sites open — in spite of the premier’s personal opposition to them.

“She speaks well, and at least lends them a touch of credibility,” Monk said.

Powers, though, said the jury’s still out, both on Elliott (who has kept a lower profile than other ministers) and fellow leadership contender Caroline Mulroney, slotting them both in the “ones to watch” category. Powers said Elliott has so far stayed away from the limelight, and, while Mulroney has had more air time, much of it was due to government controversies, such as invoking the Notwithstanding Clause.

“I think that, given the opportunity, (Mulroney) can grow and thrive,” Powers said. Whether that actually happens, though, will come down to the government’s “management style,” he said.

Monk’s runner-up for top minister is Cho. Noting he’s the only racial minority in the Ford cabinet, she called him someone “who has quietly gone about the work of his Seniors and Accessibility portfolio. This is important work, and, hopefully, Minister Cho will share his plans for seniors in the new year,” she said.

Cho has kept a very low profile since being sworn into cabinet last June.

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