Ford blasts NDP leader at local rally
Ontario doesn’t want a return to the Rae Days, Progressive Conservative leader says
For 22 minutes, Ontario Progressive Conservative Leader Doug Ford railed on the NDP on health care and balancing the budget at a rally in Peterborough on Monday night, calling New Democrats “radical activists.”
Much of the time was spent attacking the NDP and its leader Andrea Howath after the rise in NDP support in recent polls.
“I’m sure each and every one of you remembers the Rae Days,” Ford said to the packed auditorium at the Evinrude Centre, recalling the last time the NDP ran Ontario under former Premier Bob Rae.
He also said Ontario suffered under Rae’s NDP government.
“They bankrupted Ontario in less than four years,” Ford said, adding that 125,000 people lost their jobs while Ontario paid the highest taxes in North America.
Ford also criticized Horwath for recently saying she would arrange training for MPPs.
He said on-the-job training isn’t the way to go – he said people such Peterborough-Kawartha candidate Dave Smith are ready to govern.
Ford also said 8,000 people are without a family doctor in Peterborough – and he plans to to fix that.
“We’ll make sure there are enough physicians here to take care of Peterborough – we guarantee that is going to happen,” he said.
Half the space of the room was blocked off and many participants were told to stand at the back.
Some of those supporters brought home-made signs, including Elaine Fritz’s which depicted a goat emptying its pockets for the government.
Fritz said Ford will have a positive impact on the economy and hopes he will explore new sources of energy, including creating ethanol from organic sources such as artichokes.
She said that can be done while scrapping the car-
bon tax, making Ontario more affordable for taxpayers.
The Vapor Advocates of Ontario were also waving their own signs, with the group of about a dozen people wearing stickers saying “I vape, I vote.”
Maria Duic owns a vape shop in Northumberland-Peterborough South riding. She said current government regulations restrict vaping while putting money in the coffers from people dying of tobacco.
Duic says she was a “hardcore Liberal” who is switching her vote to the Progressive Conservatives for the first time in her life.
She hopes a PC government would help lift regulations on vaping, which will help promote healthier options for smokers.
“Vaping is a safer option than smoking,” Duic said.
Gary Stewart, the Progressive Conservative MPP for Peterborough riding from 1995 to 2003, was at the rally and said the election will be close between the PCs and the NDP, but it’s not over yet.
“Anything can change in the last few days,” Stewart said.
Over his years in the Progressive Conservative party he said he’s seen a handful of leaders fail to explain how their platforms would work, which has been their weakness in elections.
Ford has done much better in explaining how he’ll turn Ontario around, he added.
“I think we’ve got a good leader and he’s trying to explain what he’s trying to do,” Stewart said.
As for Smith, Stewart says he’s doing a great job campaigning and hopes to see him in office.
“He’s doing an admirable job getting the word out,” he says.
Crammed at the back of the room, among many other Ford supporters like Duic and Fritz, Sheila Edwards voiced her support for the candidate.
Ford would make an excellent premier, she said, as evidenced by the work of him and his late brother, former Toronto Mayor Rob Ford.
“Him and his brother saved Toronto $1.6 billion without cutting anything,” Edwards said.
NOTE: Watch video of Doug Ford’s speech at www.thepeterboroughexaminer.com.