It could all come down to this.

With public opinion polls suggesting a competitive three-way race in the Oct. 6 Ontario election, the lone opportunity for voters to see the major party leaders on the same stage may prove pivotal.

So circle Tuesday, Sept. 27 on the calendar — Liberal Premier Dalton McGuinty, Progressive Conservative Leader Tim Hudak, and NDP Leader Andrea Horwath all have.

That’s the night the three leaders will square off in a Toronto television studio — likely the CBC Broadcast Centre, though that has yet to be finalized.

On Friday, the Ontario TV Debate Consortium, which is made up of CBC, CTV, Global, Sun News Network, and TVOntario, announced the 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. event.

It’s not official yet, but sources told the Star that it’s expected TVO’s Steve Paikin, who has skillfully presided over federal and provincial debates for years, will moderate.

Insiders said the negotiations among the three political parties moved quickly. The Liberals’ Charlie Angelakos, the Tories’ Leslie Noble, and the New Democrats’ Elliott Anderson had a 30-minute meeting Friday morning to hammer out the details.

A Star-Angus Reid online poll released Tuesday suggests the election could be a close contest.

Hudak, who has led for months in every survey though his margins have narrowed in recent days, is at 38 per cent, McGuinty is at 31 per cent and Horwath is at 24 per cent. Green Leader Mike Schreiner, who was not invited to debate because his party has no seats in the Legislature, is at 6 per cent.

Angus Reid interviewed 1,002 people between Aug.25 and 28 and the results are accurate to within 3.16 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.

This will be the fourth such debate for McGuinty, who has governed for eight years and led his party during the 1999, 2003, and 2007 campaigns.

His experience could play a factor since he is facing off against a pair of rookies — Hudak and Horwath have only helmed their parties since 2009 so for many Ontarians this will be their first chance to see who might replace the two-term premier.

The timing of the debate may also have some impact. In 1999, the televised exchange was two weeks before the election and in 2007 there were 19 days between the broadcast and the vote. But this year, as in 2003, there are just nine days from the debate to Election Day.

Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading...

Read more about: