THUNDER BAY – Two challengers looking to unseat the 15-year incumbent Liberal in Thunder Bay-Atikokan are hoping winds of change that seem to be blowing across the province reach Northwestern Ontario and sweep them into Queen’s Park.
Progressive Conservative candidate Brandon Postuma and the New Democrat’s Judith Monteith-Farrell joined Bill Mauro on stage Wednesday for a candidates’ forum hosted by the Thunder Bay Chamber of Commerce, where all three made their case for why voters should choose them and their party in next week’s provincial election.
Mauro, seeking his fifth consecutive term after first being elected in 2003, pointed to the diversification of the local economy, higher rates of people pursuing post-secondary education and increased funding for northern highways as significant indicators of the Liberals track record.
“The results are all around us,” Mauro said. “We have brought significant investment and job creation to this community. I would say possibly unprecedented in any other 15-year window of any government in Ontario’s history.”
Monteith-Farrell, taking her first try at elected office, agreed that the Liberals’ presence over their 15 years in government has been felt but argued that’s not necessarily a good thing.
“The problem is that we are living with some of the decisions and we’re living with the consequences of that,” Monteith-Farrell said. “We know people are struggling. We know that our hospital is in crisis and we know that there are people – 816 of them – waiting for long-term care beds.”
Public opinion polls have indicated a strong likelihood of either a PC or NDP government after June 7, with the Liberals languishing behind in third place.
Postuma insisted voters should keep that in mind and look to align local representation with the party that could be in power.
“This is an opportunity for the north. A PC government is forming government in the next election. We need a seat at the table,” Postuma said. “For too long a cloud of uncertainty has lingered over Northwestern Ontario. It’s time for a change.”
Mauro on multiple occasions during the hour-long debate took pride in the resurgence of the local Bombardier plant, which he said added more than 1,000 jobs as a result of the Liberals’ investment in public transit.
The previous PC government had the plant operating at a fraction of where it is now, he insisted.
“In the mid-1990s Mike Harris and the Conservatives announced they were no longer in the mass transit game. The city of Toronto stopped procuring vehicles. Our plant went down to 200 to 250 employees,” Mauro said.
“In the 2003 election we said we’re back in the mass transit game. We started putting billions of dollars into mass transit. The city of Toronto started procuring vehicles again and our plant went to 1,000 to 1,500 total employees.”
Despite PC leader Doug Ford in April not willing to guarantee future work to Bombardier, Postuma said he would push to keep the plant busy after a number of the current contracts expire in a year.
“I will absolutely advocate for projects and making sure that we have a seat at the table with the government,” Postuma said. “There’s definitely some work to be done. We need to have a seat at the table to make sure contracts are being directed to jobs in Thunder Bay.”
Monteith-Farrell, echoing Mauro, said higher Canadian content requirements could be a possibility to fix problematic parts arriving from the company’s foreign facility and added management has been brought in from other countries.
“I think we have to look at that but government can only interfere so much in a private business but I think if we work in consultation with the workers and with the employer and say this is unacceptable and it’s jeopardizing your contracts for the future, I believe we can play a constructive role,” Monteith-Farrell said.
The candidates were also asked about small business tax policies, prescription drug plans, college funding and how to encourage population growth.
Debate invitations were only extended to parties that had representation in the provincial legislature prior to the start of the election campaign.
