Will he or won’t he? Signs that Ford may call an early Ontario election stack up [Video]

Inside Ontario’s legislature, the halls are decked, the sounds of children’s choirs singing Christmas carols waft down the corridors, and in the air there’s a feeling of an election.

Staff and politicians alike are abuzz with early election speculation, seeing signs big and small stacking up as the legislature prepares for its winter break.

Some see the government’s fast-tracking of several bills as an indication it wants to clear the legislative decks before a spring election call. Others point to a year-end deadline Premier Doug Ford has given his Progressive Conservative caucus members to decide if they’ll stand for re-election.

Some say the $200 “rebate” cheques the government plans to mail to Ontario households early in the new year are evidence an election will soon follow, while others note that government ad spending is at the highest level ever.

Speculation has been building since Ford repeatedly refused to rule out …