THUNDER BAY – Kathleen Wynne believes Thunder Bay will stay Liberal, despite some polls projecting that the party’s three-decade long hold on the city could be threatened.
Flanked by Thunder Bay-Superior North candidate Michael Gravelle and Thunder Bay-Atikokan candidate Bill Mauro – two long-time city MPPs who have served a combined 38 years in the provincial legislature – the Liberal leader backed the party’s record in Northwestern Ontario as well as the achievements of those two cabinet ministers.
“These are two of the hardest working members that we have in this province,” Wynne said of Mauro and Gravelle. “I know they’re going to be back in Queen’s Park. They’re going to be working back in Queen’s Park as part of our government.”
Wynne on Wednesday made her first visit to Northwestern Ontario since the writ was officially drawn up for the provincial election, addressing a crowd of about 100 supporters at Gravelle’s Thunder Bay campaign office on Algoma Street.
Entering the room to chants of “four more years,” Wynne downplayed the importance of polling trends that have painted a bleak picture of the likelihood of the Liberals continuing their 15-year reign in government.
“We know that the conversations at the door, we know that the calls you’re getting in your campaign offices and the volunteers who are coming out, the money that’s being donated – those are the measures of how a campaign is going,” Wynne said.
“What we do is on the ground, talking to people about the decisions that they’re making on an hour by hour basis.”
Mauro passionately highlighted the Wynne government’s commitment to Southern Ontario public transit funding that brought work to the city’s Bombardier plant and directing hundreds of millions of dollars towards northern highways investment.
“There are a variety of issues that the premier has shown clear and concise leadership on,” Mauro said to supporters. “Now it’s up all of you and Michael and I to go out there and try to do everything we can not only in our two ridings but right across this province and make sure people absolutely understand that this lady is one of the best premiers in the history of this province.”
Wynne encouraged supporters to compare her party to their competition, labelling Progressive Conservative leader Doug Ford as lacking a cohesive vision for the province who will cut across the board and New Democrat leader Andrea Horwath as having a similar but mistake-ridden plan while the Liberal platform is practical and can actually be implemented.
Wynne emphasized their budget commitment to increase the Northern Ontario Heritage Fund Corporation by $85 million over the next three years to bring the fund’s annual allocation to $150 million.
She disputed the notion that upping the program’s funding is a form of vote buying in Northern Ontario.
“We look at the evidence of what the investments through the NOHFC have done. The thousands of jobs that have been created, the great businesses, the great partnerships with entrepreneurs that have allowed businesses to thrive and economies to do better in the north,” Wynne said.
“I think that’s all the evidence we need that we need to do more of that. We need to build on the success of the NOHFC and make sure more of those businesses, more of those opportunities in municipalities are realized.”
Four years ago, during her first campaign to be premier, Wynne had said she would not consider her term to be successful if there wasn’t meaningful progress on the Ring of Fire. Reminded of that statement on Wednesday, she stood behind her government’s record despite a shovel not breaking ground.
“It is absolutely a success that we have an agreement with three of the First Nations that the planning is now happening. It’s not something that will happen in the future. The road is being planned and that is the key to getting the Ring of Fire built,” Wynne said.
“It is exactly where I wanted us to be at this point.”
