The provincial election campaign is officially launched in Ontario. On Wednesday, the four party leaders were in the greater Toronto area, a territory where 40% of the seats in the Ontario legislature are located, to cut the ribbon. Ontarians are called to the polls on June 2.
Premier Doug Ford launched hostilities in Brampton, Peel Region, a northern suburb of Toronto. As is now the tradition in federal elections, provincial leaders will pay particular attention to the region given the number of ridings there. In his first speech of the day, the leader of the Progressive Conservative Party reiterated the importance of Highway 413, a road axis that the party wants to build to reduce traffic in Toronto. The party did not quantify the investments necessary to carry out the project, and the leader Doug Ford did not specify the cost either Wednesday morning.
It was in the rain, in the schoolyard of an elementary school in the neighborhood where he grew up, Etobicoke, that Liberal leader Steven Del Duca announced the promise to build 200 new schools and renovate thousands. others across the province if elected. They will be funded, he says, with funds earmarked for the construction of Highway 413, a project the Liberals will cancel if elected.
Although the Progressive Conservative Party did not quantify the investments needed to build the highway in its election-style budget, Steven Del Duca estimates that canceling the project could save $10 billion, an amount that would be aimed at schools.
The Liberal leader, who is still trying to make himself known in the province, was surrounded by three of his candidates, including Franco-Ontarian Julie Lutete, who is running in Etobicoke North. The candidate worked all night to prepare for the big day, she says. “The party’s culture and priorities, I think are good for Ontarians and immigrants,” she says.
Her task, however, is daunting: she opposes Doug Ford in her own constituency, who has spent his entire life in the neighborhood. A rally worthy of “Ford Fest” — those festive events once organized by Doug Ford and his brother Rob when the latter was mayor of Toronto — is planned for the evening in Etobicoke.
The Leader of the Official Opposition, New Democrat Andrea Horwath, third in the polls for this first day of campaigning, parked her campaign bus in front of Queen’s Park on Wednesday morning to launch her campaign. “We are only 10 seats away from replacing Doug Ford. We can do it,” said the outgoing MP for Hamilton Centre. The NDP leader later took over the leadership of Peel Region, where her deputy leader, Sara Singh, is an incumbent MP.
This story is supported by the Local Journalism Initiative, funded by the Government of Canada.