Last night's Ontario election debate was, in a word, boring. Devoid of substantive discourse or visionary answers it was just another stop on the 28-day trail to the polls. So here is our less dull, more cheery and hopefully enlightening analysis.

Soundbites: Liberal leader Dalton McGuinty scored a blow with "remove yourself from the bubble Mr. Harris" when fielding a healthcare question. But Premier Harris fired back in response to Mr. McGuinty's pledge to review hospital closures. "Reviewing is a buzzword for I'm not prepared to tell you now" said Harris. And when it came to Bill 160, the controversial education reform Bill, McGuinty was in a full flurry of rhetoric and just as he wound up, Premier Harris landed a clear blow with a dismissive "that's a nice speech Dalton but …"

Not to be outdone, NDP Leader Howard Hampton landed a nify line late in the evening with "here we have Mike Harris 1 and Mike Harris 2" in an obvious effort to paint himself as a real alternative to the governing Conservatives.

The questions: The best question of the evening came from veteran Global TV journalist Robert Fisher. First he nailed all three leaders to the wall on each of their pledges for a Patients Bill of Rights. Each party promises that patients in hospitals will be seen in 15 minutes, beds will be available for those that need them, blah, blah, blah … but Mr. Fisher rightly asked: What if you're not seen in 15 minutes How do you guarantee such an assessment Who enforces these timelines What recourse and legal remedies do patients have if their "patient rights" are violated

You could hear a pin drop through the TV screen. None of the leaders came within 100km of answering this question. But what would you expect from three people who all believe that more spending is the only answer for healthcare These men wouldn't recognize a hospital budget if it hit them over the head. Instead, they need to talk about outcomes like reduced waiting lists, lower out-of-province consultations, and less ambulance emergency re-directs or critical care by-passes … just to name a few.

The worst question came from CITY-TV reporter Colin Vaughn. It seemed as though he was reading from the Regina Manifesto as he peppered Harris to guarantee that there would be no privatized health-care or charter schools or vouchers in Ontario after June 3rd. Fully 30% of our healthcare expenditures are already private endeavours and heaven forbid we allow choice in our education system. Such a question was truly out of character for Mr. Vaughn who is arguably one of the more astute and well-connected journalists at Queen's Park.

Rhetoric: Hands down Howard Hampton wins for his assertion that 100 million Americans are shut out of their healthcare system. Ah, no, not true! And Mr. Hampton should take a look at the number of Ontarians heading stateside by choice and by government directive for care because our rationing model of healthcare is collapsing under the weight of its own unfunded liability.

Body Language: All three leaders need help in this department. Mike Harris mimicked Bill Clinton with that annoying half-thumb, clenched fist, pointing gesture. Howard Hampton needs to keep his hands out of his pockets and on the podium where people can see them … especially when he's talking about dipping into other people's pockets to hike taxes. And Mr. McGuinty looked wooden, disconnected and was clearly overpowered by the passion of Mssrs. Hampton and Harris.

Winners/Losers: No clear winners in this encounter but voters are the definite losers. Ninety minutes of a fine spring evening was abandoned for a futile, couch-bound search for vision and political leadership for our province. I should have cleaned my garage instead.