Many voters are saying that there are so few differences in policies between the two main parties in Ontario's Oct. 10 election they are having difficulty choosing between them - but they should look a little closer.

The platforms of Liberal Premier Dalton McGuinty and Progressive Conservative leader John Tory have been called uncannily similar and failing to offer the different visions of the province's future to which voters are entitled.

The two leaders have been called soul-mates, identical twins and tweedledum and tweedledee.

These assessments can be understood, because this election does not provide the sharp contrasts between the parties of recent predecessors, when the Conservatives were led by the ultra-right Mike Harris, slashing taxes and services, and his paler successor, Ernie Eves, and the Liberals by the more moderate McGuinty and Lyn Mcleod.

McGuinty and Tory, who has always been a centrist Conservative, are both striving for the same votes in the middle of the political spectrum, which is where most voters are after losing enthusiasm for Harris and his cuts.

McGuinty and Tory also have similarities in style. The Liberal's most frequent boast is that he has headed off conflicts with public servants and the Conservative's first preoccupation as leader was urging the parties to be more civil, while Harris had looked for fights and called one opponent an ass****.

Both McGuinty and Tory would spend a lot more on the key areas of health, education and police. When McGuinty came up with his only novel idea of the campaign, a statutory holiday with pay each February, Tory echoed that it is a time of year when workers need a break, although he probably was motivated more by worry that he would lose votes if he put a damper on an extra day off.

Voters unable to sort out who is whom could look at the New Democratic Party, but polls have shown many reluctant to do so and - to turn back to the original issue, there are differences between the Liberals and Conservatives.

The most striking is Tory's promise to fund private, faith-based schools, which the Conservatives say is fair because the province funds Roman Catholic schools.

McGuinty has countered that this would further divide children of different faiths, who benefit when educated together, and it is a significant issue worth debating in an election.

McGuinty has said that he would increase the minimum wage from $8 an hour to $10.25 by 2010, but only after being pushed when the NDP won votes on it in by-elections.

Tory has replied more cautiously that the minimum wage must be increased and he would set a realistic figure that would allow those receiving it to live in dignity, but give employers time to adjust and avoid job losses.

Tory is promising to cut wait times for doctors' services by allowing patients to use private clinics, providing they accept payments from provincial medicare and do not allow private patients to jump queues, but McGuinty counters this would weaken the public plan by putting its money into private clinics.

McGuinty would reduce emissions that cause climate change by 6 per cent below 1990 levels by 2014, 15 per cent by 2020 and 80 per cent by 2050.

Tory would cut emissions by 10 per cent below 1990 levels by 2020 and 60 per cent by 2050 - slightly more slowly than McGuinty - but there is no way of assuring that either party will keep such distant targets and whether they were dragged out of a hat anyway.

Also to reduce pollution, McGuinty is promising to phase out all coal-fired electricity generating stations by 2014, but failed to meet earlier promised deadlines.

Tory would move immediately to clean up the coal-fired plants, phase out coal when this becomes practical and meanwhile pour millions into developing technology to reduce pollution.

These differences between the parties are not as dramatic as many of the past, but when voters couple them with their records they provide some guide to making a choice.