Ontario NDP Leader Andrea Horwath made a campaign stop in Barrie Saturday afternoon.
Along with Barrie area NDP candidates Dan Janssen and Pekka Reinio, Horwath met a crowd of supporters at Casa Cappuccino in downtown Barrie.
Horwath says she was “over the moon,” by the amount of support from Barrie residents. “It’s really fantastic to see so many people come out, there’s so much energy. There are so many young people, there are families, there are seniors. I mean it’s just an amazing feeling to have such a warm welcome with so many folks right here in downtown Barrie. It’s amazing,” she said.
The NDP are looking to secure a seat in Simcoe County in ridings which are usually a fight between the Liberals and Conservatives. However, Horwath says an NDP seat in Barrie is important.
“Well you know this is another kind of community that’s not seen a lot of positive action from the Liberals. Whether it’s issues of everyday affordability of life, for example the selloff of Hydro One. Or whether it’s being able to get proper healthcare, hallway medicine, lack of opportunity for young people, all of these things are pieces that don’t have to be that way,” she said.
Horwath says 25 years of living under the Liberals and Conservatives have made life tough for the families of Barrie, and says the NDP are offering “change for the better.”
“We can actually make change that is for the better and gives families the chance to build a better life here again, to feel like they’re getting ahead,” she said.
Horwath was critical of her opponents’ platforms, saying Wynne could have used her time in power to implement the Liberals’ plan, and that Ford’s promises will only hurt families.
“He’s planning for deep cuts that are going to be very very painful while he gives huge tax cuts to the richest and the most profitable and rich corporations. We don’t think that’s the right vision for Ontario,” she said.
As for hydro rates, a crucial campaign issue, Horwath says her opponents’ plans are the same.
“The only difference is that Wynne’s cronies that are there now, as Mr. Ford likes to call them. If he were to get elected, he would just replace those folks with his own cronies,” Horwath said.
According to Horwath, Ontarians need a public hydro system again, which the NDP has promised as a part of their platform.
As for the next few weeks leading up to the election, Horwath says she will be spending time in cities across the province meeting voters.
“I’m going to talk to as many Ontarians as I can. For me, this election doesn’t have to be a fight between Doug Ford and Kathleen Wynne over who will make the worst premier.
“It’s going to be all about how we can make Ontario a place where families feel secure again, where they feel that they are making gains again, and that we can feel proud that we are leaving the next generation a province that we’ve built for them,” Horwath said.
Horwath is the last of the leaders to make her way through the city. Barrie hosted Ontario Green Party Leader Mike Shreiner, Ontario Liberal leader Kathleen Wynne and Progressive Conservative Leader Doug Ford earlier this week, as they each met with voters in the city.
Barrie residents and people across the province will cast their votes in the Ontario general election June 7.