THUNDER BAY – Doug Ford believes his subsequent trips to Thunder Bay will be done as the leader of Ontario.
The Ontario Progressive Conservative leader on Tuesday made his first visit to Thunder Bay since taking helm of the party, capping a tour of Northwestern Ontario that included previous stops in Kenora, Dryden and Sioux Lookout.
Ford delivered a 30-minute speech largely absent of local issues, let alone identifying potential solutions, that was still well-received by the crowd of more than 200 people at the Finlandia Club.
“When I come back as premier, I can’t wait to stand before each and every one of you, look you square in the eyes and say, ‘we did it, we did it, we did it,’” Ford said, telling the crowd the June 7 election would mark a new day for the province.
“Nothing drives me more crazy than politicians coming out in an election, you know, ‘I’m going to do this, I’m going to do that, I’m going to do this’ but it never happens. That was another clear message I said to the people putting our policy together, if we can’t do it 100 per cent – because I’m hitting every single town again – don’t put it in the policy.”
Ford spent most of his speech taking Premier Kathleen Wynne and her Liberal government to task on topics ranging from social issues like health care and education, to economic challenges such as hydro rates and fiscal mismanagement.
In particular, Ford’s pledge to “cap all taxes and trade Kathleen Wynne” while railing on the province’s carbon tax drew a strong round of applause from the audience.
In an interview opportunity with media following his speech, Ford – a vocal opponent of streetcars while sitting on Toronto city council – was asked about committing to guaranteeing work at the local Bombardier plant and made it clear the company has to step up.
“Bombardier, I want to keep people employed. It’s absolutely critical but they have to be competitive. Most importantly, they have to be on time,” Ford said.
“Everything being equal, I’m going with the Ontario company. I’m going with the Canadian company. But they can’t be charging us for being late for deliveries. I love the people, the frontline people of Bombardier, but the management – man these guys have to get their act together.”
Earlier in the day the PC leader was asked about the Ring of Fire, after he previously claimed during the leadership contest he would hop on a bulldozer and start building a road to move the mining development forward.
“We’re learning on certain issues. That’s going to be No. 1. It is a complicated file,” Ford said.
“We want to get this done but we aren’t going to go in there with our eyes closed. We’re going to go in there with our eyes open and it has to make sense for the taxpayers.”
Ford pledged to the province’s doctors and frontline health staff that “help is on the way” said during a trip to Sioux Lookout he saw an opportunity to find efficiencies by getting long-term care patients out of hospital beds and into a more appropriate facility.
“When they told me that it’s costing the hospital $3,500 per day to house long-term patients in hospital versus I think it’s $130 a day for long-term beds, it just makes economic sense. We need to make sure we get the shovels in the ground and get it done,” Ford said.
Brandon Postuma, the PC’s candidate in Thunder Bay-Atikokan, said Ford came to the region with his eyes and ears open.
“The one thing with Doug we’re seeing is he’s not pretending to have every answer in the book but he’s willing to find the people who do have every answer in the book,” Postuma said. “We need someone who is going to hear the needs of the north and act on them.”
