Ontario NDP Leader Andrea Horwath speaks to reporters at Queen's Park in Toronto in December 2018. (Andrew Francis Wallace/Toronto Star)

TORONTO—Ontario NDP Leader Andrea Horwath apologized to Premier Doug Ford Wednesday for posing in a picture with a sign that said “F— Ford.”

The picture was taken with Horwath, NDP MPP Jamie West and a protester at the rally challenging Ford’s changes to health care.

“I didn’t read the fine print on the bottom of that sign and I have apologized personally to Mr. Ford today,” Horwath told reporters at the legislature on Wednesday.

The premier’s office said Ford accepted the apology, which was made in the legislature.

Queen’s Park watchers have frequently commented on the sharply contentious tone of debate between the official opposition and the government. In the past Horwath has placed the blame for that at the feet of the government.

Since Ford took power in June, legislative sittings have been marred by shouting matches, accusations of pushing, and the hurling of insults on multiple occasions.

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