EDITORIAL: Hudak snubs the north

Conservative Leader Tim Hudak likely had no intention of ever showing up at Monday’s northern leader’s debate in Thunder?Bay.

Hudak, who three years ago slammed then Liberal premier Dalton McCuinty for skipping the first northern debate, backed out of the 2014 debate, telling organizers it didn’t fit his schedule.

Instead he spent the day campaigning in Peterborough, boasting about how often he’s already been to the North.

It likely had nothing to do with the fact the Conservatives haven’t won a seat in Thunder?Bay since 1985, or that they’re the perennial third-place finishers behind the Liberals and NDP.

Hudak knows he’s outmatched in the North, but is also in a dogfight in southern Ontario, where he’ll need to pick up seats to topple Liberal Leader Kathleen Wynne.

But what message is Hudak sending to voters in the North?

If he can’t spend one day out of a seven-week campaign in Thunder Bay, how much of a priority is the region going to be if he manages to win the June 12 vote?

With three week’s notice of the date, and organizers bending over backward to find one that worked for him until it was too late, he’s got no excuse for not finding a way to show up.

Hudak’s snub was an insult to Northern Ontario and everyone who lives here – especially his candidates.