It was a campaign pit stop in the heart of Ford Nation, just a 10-minute walk from the Etobicoke home of Ontario’s premier.

But there was no Doug Ford at federal Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer’s speech to Etobicoke Centre supporters Wednesday night.

Nor was there any mention of him — even if the spirit of Scheer’s brief address echoed his provincial counterpart’s promises to back “the little guy.”

“We know who is getting ahead under Justin Trudeau and it’s not hard-working moms and dads, it’s not small businesses, it’s not the very people who are building these communities and create opportunities,” Scheer told supporters Wednesday.

“It’s the well connected. It’s the corporate elite. It’s the people who have the Prime Minister’s Office on speed dial.”

For some party faithful at Etobicoke Centre’s Conservative campaign headquarters, there was nothing amiss about Ford’s absence.

“I think he has his hands full with other things right now,” said Steven Pinnock, who is volunteering for the riding’s Conservative candidate Ted Opitz.

But the Liberals have sought to tie Scheer to Ford, whose slipping popularity in Ontario could spell trouble for Scheer’s fortunes in a province that will be critical to winning the October 21 election.

“Andrew Scheer campaigns in Doug Ford’s backyard today. Will Ford show up? It’ll be hard to tell them apart — Scheer has copied Ford’s platform and Ford’s gimmicky catch-phrases designed to mask deep cuts,” tweeted Etobicoke Centre’s Liberal candidate Yvan Baker ahead of Wednesday’s event.

Speaking to reporters Tuesday, Ford said he had not been contacted by Scheer’s team about campaigning together. While the premier did not show up for Scheer’s Etobicoke appearance Wednesday, the riding’s Conservative MPP Kinga Surma did — and was welcomed with a rousing cheer from the crowd.

Despite the premier’s absence, Scheer’s speech, which was followed by neighbourhood door-knocking with Opitz, echoed the populist bent that helped propel Ford to power last year. Scheer painted the prime minister as a friend to the “corporate elite” and announced that a Conservative government would “eliminate 1.5 billion dollars in corporate welfare so we can put that money right back in your pocket.”

“We’re in it for all of you. We’re in it for all of you doing everything right,” Scheer said.

The carbon tax “cash grab,” boosting small businesses, and putting money in the pockets of working families also featured prominently in Scheer’s Wednesday address. Local small-business owner Lalit Rai said those messages would play well in Ford Nation.

“I think they’re pretty strong, he just needs to steer the middle ground,” he said of Scheer.

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“There’s a lot of Conservative people here. I think a lot of people are worried about taxes, and costs and sustainability of the great new welfare state that was created.”

But steering the middle ground might be harder for Scheer with Ford in the picture, noted attendee Charles Smedmor — which may help explain the premier’s absence.

“He is too much of a bull in a china shop.”

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