Horwath visits Peterborough as Wynne ‘concedes’ election
NDP leader visits downtown coffee shop
Ontario NDP Leader Andrea Horwath visited Peterborough Saturday.
She was greeted by about 100 people outside the Dreams of Beans Cafe where she spoke about Liberal leader Kathleen Wynne’s surprise announcement Saturday that she has conceded that her party will not form the next government.
Recent polls show the NDP and the Progressive Conservatives, led by Doug Ford, in a close race as election day nears. Ontario goes to the polls Thursday.
Wynne acknowledged on Saturday morning that she will no longer be premier after the June 7 election and encouraged voters to elect Liberal candidates to prevent the NDP or PCs from securing a majority.
“Kathleen Wynne is playing a dangerous game and that’s not what the people of this province deserve,” Horwath said.
Peterborough-Kawartha Liberal incumbent, Jeff Leal, believes Wynne made an unselfish decision.
“I kind of believe it’s an admirable one (decision) for the people of Ontario,” he wrote on his Facebook page Saturday.
“The premier was stating the obvious — whatever government is elected on June 7, it’s critically important that there be Liberal representatives to hold that government accountable.”
Additionally, Horwath believes Ford’s solutions won’t help everyday families.
“What I can tell the people of Peterborough is this: Doug Ford’s cuts will mean the closure of about 50 beds in the hospital. We’re going to see more laying off of frontline hospital staff and more community schools in the area close,” she said.
“We can’t afford more cuts to our hospitals. We can’t afford privatization in our healthcare system. We cannot afford more selloffs of our public assets.” A person in the crowd yelled, “We cannot afford Ford.”
‘‘ ‘Kathleen Wynne is playing a dangerous game and that’s not what the people of this province deserve.” ANDREA HORWATH Ontario NDP Leader
“The bottom line is we cannot afford Ford,” Horwath replied.
Horwath told supporters she wants to assure the province that she will not give up her fight against Ford’s cuts.
“This is about the future of Ontario and I believe that a vote for Kathleen Wynne or a vote for Doug Ford gets us to the same place and that’s not a place that Ontarians want us to be,” she said.
“People have a very serious decision to make. They can go from bad to worse and have a government that cuts and privatizes our services.”
Following her talk, Horwath walked with supporters to the Taste of Downtown event to meet more locals and to answer questions. “I know for sure that we can have the kind of province that not only we can be proud of, not only we can build a great life ourselves in, but also the kind of province that we know will serve the next generation as well and help the next generation to build a good life here,” she said.
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