Wynne slams rivals’ response to U.S. tariffs
Liberal leader insists opponents unqualified
Kathleen Wynne says her rivals
for premier have proven they’re not up to the job with flip and “uninformed” responses to the punitive tariffs the Trump administration has slapped on Canadian steel and aluminum.
In Hamilton for the second time in three days, the Liberal leader said Friday that the NDP’s AndreaHorwath — who represents a steeltown riding — and Progressive Conservative Leader Doug Ford don’t have
the experience needed to handle an “emergency situation” such as a looming trade war
with the U.S. “I would just say to both Andrea Horwath and Doug Ford:
you’d better step up your game,” Wynne said in one of her most fired- up appearances of the campaign, as she tries to rebound from third place in the polls with less than a week until the vote.
“Because if you want to be the premier of this province, you’d better understand what’s entailed. Because it’s not good enough to just fling out an uninformed ffuninformed piece of rhetoric, an un- informed bumper sticker, and ttthink that’s going to do the hard job.”
Wynne called on the opposition leaders Thursday to join her call for “swift and sharp” trade retaliation against the U.S. — which the Trudeau administration unveiled hours later — aaalong with a support package f for Ontario steel and aluminum manufacturers to save jobs.
“I was disappointed to see a statement from Doug Ford yesterday that suggests that he’s unwilling to fight Trump,” Wynne said Friday at an event with Hamilton-area Liberal candidates.
“Andrea Horwath really had nothing to say about a support package for the industry either. She didn’t come out and say clearly this is what she would support. Instead, she directed her fire at me and at the prime minister.”
In her statement Thursday, Horwath said the tariffs of 25 per cent on Canadian steel and 10 per cent on aluminum entering the U.S. are “devastating” aand charged that things “Kath- leen Wynne and Justin Trudeau have been doing aren’t working.”
Ford pledged to “work with the federal government to resolve these trade issues and make Ontario open for business again ... We must work domestically to make Ontario and Canada more competitive.”
For the third day in a row, Wynne noted she has met with ttthe governors of 37 states, sena- tors, congressmen and Trump administration officials in efforts to keep trade lanes open, given that Ontario is the largest or second-largest trading partner for many states and that jobs on both sides of the border depend on easy access to eachothers’ markets.
Wynne took specific aim at Horwath, amping up attacks she has been making all week in a bid to lure progressive voters back into the Liberal fold.
“I can tell you I’ve been working my backside off, travelling to Washington, meeting with governors, meeting with the people who are making these decisions, and I’d love to hear a new idea about what Andrea Horwath thinks should be done now,” the Liberal leader said, frustration evident in her voice.
“It is not an adequate response for someone who is saying that she is ready to be the premier of the province six days before an election to say, you know, it’s Kathleen Wynne and Justin Trudeau’s fault that Donald Trump made an irrational decision,” Wynne added.
“You’ve gotta have more, there’s gotta be more depth there. You’ve got to be able to say, ‘Look, I understand that there’s been a lot of work done, I understand that the premier has gone to the United States, but here’s what I’d do differently.’ Let’s hear it. Bring it on.”