Something shifted in the Ontario election this week. Voters have realized that change, for the sake of change, needs intense scrutiny. Anger toward Kathleen Wynne and the Liberal Party is not enough to ensure a smart electoral outcome.

Many American voters felt anger in 2016 leading them to elect a spoiled, petulant bully of a president by a hair’s breadth. The world must live with that result and the consequences of Donald Trump’s incoherent and possibly perilous buffoonery, at least for the near future.

Similarly, many U.K. voters, when faced with a dangerously simple question about leaving the European Union, reacted in anger. Long simmering resentment about ceding British sovereignty, was ensnared in a factually misleading referendum campaign. They, too, narrowly voted to upend their way of life. Today, they find themselves lurching in unchartered waters.

Ontario voters hopefully are smarter. Voting is best done rationally with accurate facts. A strong examination of party leaders and their intent is necessary in these final days of the campaign.

Few would argue that Kathleen Wynne, who was elected by the general population for one mandate, lacks intelligence, energy and compassion.

Breaking ground twice, as the first female premier and as the first gay premier, she never failed to champion women, to push for diversity, and to care for those marginalized by society. She raised the minimum wage, made prescription drugs available to both young and old, and fought hard to take action on climate change while simultaneously promoting a smart business agenda.

Wynne inherited mistakes and she made mistakes herself, which she has admitted. A first class debater, even when she is on the ropes, look for her to hold her own in tonight’s debate at 6:30 p.m. on TVO.

Doug Ford was not supposed to be the leader of the Conservative Party. He was minding his own business when leader Patrick Brown fell on his sword of alleged sexual harassment complaints, inflated membership numbers and dodgy nomination battles.

Brown appears determined to drag the party through the mud with a proposed book and $8 million defamation suit against CTV. Witnesses will be called and accusations hurled. It will be nasty.

Meanwhile, Ford, like Trump, won by the narrowest of margins over his much more experienced female rival, Christine Elliott. Ford is now also alleged to be complicit in nomination violations. Additionally, he has had to manage the apparent theft of personal data from the 407 ETR by one of the party’s candidates, who has since resigned.

Ford’s public persona has so far been uninspiring. Robotic in movement, his unblinking stare is unnerving while his refusal to engage meaningfully with journalists is deeply worrying.

Not only has he never been elected provincially, but as of this writing, he has not released a party platform, making it impossible to verify costs. The party’s website is sparse but commits to reducing taxes for Ontario families.

Finally, there is Andrea Horwath, pleasant and upbeat in manner. A former Hamilton city councillor and community activist, she became leader in 2009 but somehow failed to emerge as a strong political figure.

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In spite of her momentum and clear policies, including drug and dental care for all Ontarians, taking on student debt, and hiring more nurses, Horwath’s campaign stumbled when a $1.4 billion mistake was found in her platform.

Quickly apologizing, she moved forward but then declared she would never order a striking union back to work, an understandable principle for an NDP leader, but one that can have crippling consequences for unsuspecting citizens. Just ask York University students, who were not able to return to their classrooms for two months while Horwath held up back-to-work legislation at Queen’s Park.

These waning campaign days will be noisy. Horwath will have to fight an attack by both the Liberals and the Conservatives. Ford will try to regain the upper hand. Wynne will fight for her political life.

Ignore the noise and emotion. Only you have the quiet democratic power to make your up your own mind. Stay calm. Carry on.

Penny Collenette is an adjunct professor of law at the University of Ottawa and was a senior director of the Prime Minister’s Office for Jean Chrétien.

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