Campaigning party leaders have talked about a lot of things during Ontario’s snap election, but somehow, even as they focus on the American tariff threat, they’ve come up short on the province’s longer-term economic problem, the most important issue of all.

All three parties are fixated on government spending plans, not the broader economy. Even PC leader Doug Ford, who is running to protect Ontario from tariffs, has little to offer but a weak and temporary economic fix.