Andrea Horwath and Tim Hudak found a lot of common ground in the North Friday morning.
Progressive Conservative leader Hudak and the NDP’s Horwath both focused on job creation and affordability during an hour-long Northern leaders’ debate at the Valhalla Inn that was more of a question and answer format.
Both leaders took their shots at Liberal leader Dalton McGuinty, who was unable to attend the debate and instead campaigned the Toronto area.
Hudak said it was disappointing that McGuinty wasn’t on stage with him and Horwath.
“It’s kind of par for the course,” Hudak said. “Dalton McGuinty’s been AWOL.”
On mining and forestry, Hudak repeatedly said that his party would cut red-tape and scrap the Far North Act to create jobs.
“The kind of jobs that are the ticket to the middle class,” Hudak said.
Horwath, along with scrapping the Far North Act, said changes to the Mining Act would come under an NDP government to make sure resources taken from Ontario would create jobs in Ontario.
“I think we need to do a lot better making sure those processing jobs are here,” she said.
After Hudak said the PCs would remove HST off of hydro and home heating costs immediately rather than years later like the NDP plan, Horwath said the PCs have taken a number of policies from her party’s play book.
“I’m not surprised he’s familiar with our platform,” Horwath said.
It was one of only a few shots taken at each other in an otherwise mild debate.
Hudak did criticize the NDP’s plan to repeal the Far North Act saying Horwath would just replace it with “Far North Act Junior”.
The PCs would give an equal share of gas tax revenue to every municipality in Ontario, rather than one in six currently in the north, and let local leaders choose where the money should go.
“I say let you decide,” Hudak told a room full of northern leaders.
Horwath said it’s not fair to stretch the gas tax funding to every municipality. The NDP would contribute an additional $70 million for three years to help municipalities with infrastructure.
“I don’t think you should have to fight other municipalities for a piece of the pie,” Horwath said.
Both leaders also committed to keeping the province’s wood supply at the current 26 million cubic metres at the very least. Hudak said municipalities relying on forestry would receive a share of stumpage fees. Horwath said wood supply needs to be there but so do affordable electricity rates for the mills that process the wood.
Neither leader addressed the first question from Northwestern Ontario Municipal Association president Ron Nelson, which asked about each party’s plans for an industry hydro rate.
Hudak used the question to sound off on the Liberals green energy projects, which would be shelved by the PCs.
“End these experiments we’re seeing on our hydro bills,” Hudak said.
While she did say the fact that Northern Ontario can produce cheap electricity but pays higher prices than other provinces is like “rubbing salt in a wound”, Horwath took shots at the Liberals and former PC governments for the current price of electricity. The NDP would end the deregulation of hydro and put it back in the public’s hands she said.
Nelson said it was unfortunate that neither leader addressed the panel’s question.
“We were looking for a commitment to a long term industrial rate and where the industrial rate was going. Unfortunately that one didn’t happen,” Nelson said.
But otherwise the debate was a very beneficial and positive experience Nelson said. While he’s disappointed that McGuinty chose not to come, Nelson wants to focus on the positive that two provincial leaders came to discuss northern issues.
“We’re just very very pleased that they took time and were able to rearrange their schedule to be here,” nelson said.
