THUNDER BAY – With less than a week remaining before the provincial election, Doug Ford touched down quickly in Thunder Bay looking for northern support in his quest to form a Progressive Conservative government.
Joined by three of his Northwestern Ontario candidates, the PC leader made a brief visit to the city Friday morning, joining about 100 party faithful at a breakfast event at the Valhalla Inn.
Ford did not take questions from local media, instead having a photo line for supporters.
Making his fourth visit to Thunder Bay this year but first during the official campaign, Ford delivered a 10-minute speech that largely contained the same talking points that have been present during his other appearances in the city.
“We’re going to make sure this province thrives like it has never thrived before. We’re going to blaze a new trail of prosperity and opportunity and growth,” Ford said. “I always say the government doesn’t create jobs but we create an environment to create jobs.”
Aside from referring to the assembled trio of Thunder Bay-Atikokan candidate Brandon Postuma, Thunder Bay-Superior North hopeful Derek Parks and Kenora-Rainy River candidate Greg Rickford as part of his “all-star” team, Ford did not mention any specific Thunder Bay or Northwestern Ontario issues.
As he has often done, Ford pledged to end what he calls “hallway health care” and the leader repeated his commitment to create 15,000 new long-term care beds in the first five years, followed by another 15,000 in the subsequent five years.
“What’s happening right now is a lot of seniors are taking hospital beds and they need long-term care beds,” Ford said. “Right at this second, as we’re talking, there’s over 30,000 seniors waiting for long-term care beds. That’s going to be priority No. 1.”
Perhaps defending against attacks from the Liberals and New Democrats that a PC government would result in widespread cuts, Ford emphasized there wouldn’t be a rush of public sector workers finding themselves unemployed.
“No one is going to lose their job. No one is losing their job,” Ford said. “When the economy gets going and things are booming we’re going to need more nurses, more doctors and more teachers.”
However, one person that he said would lose their job is Hydro One chief executive officer Mayo Schmidt, who Ford has taken to call the “$6-million-man.” The board would also be out, he added.
“Hydro One is just an absolute disaster. You see that we have the highest hydro prices in North America. As I talk to families across Ontario and the businesses across Ontario, it’s not sustainable,” Ford said.
Ford, who was next bound for Sault Ste. Marie, called the U.S. tariffs on Canadian aluminum and steel exports on Thursday "devastating news."
"We have the smartest people in the entire world in Ontario. We have to make sure our companies are competitive by lowering taxes, getting rid of some of the regulations that are staggering," Ford said. "Make it easier for businesses to compete and we will compete. We can easily compete against the U.S. and the rest of the world."
