Andrea Horwath rules out coalition

The NDP is promising a new hospital in Brampton and an expansion of Peel Memorial so it offers a full range of health services.

Meanwhile, NDP Leader Andrea Horwath ruled out any sort of coalition with the Liberals after Progressive Conservative Leader Doug Ford tweeted earlier Monday that his opponents were making a backroom deal.

Horwath said health care has not kept up with the booming population in the area. “The long waits in Brampton have gotten worse and worse, while the number of patients left on gurneys in hallways has grown ... I will work closely with the City of Brampton to make it happen,” said Horwath of the expansion she is proposing.

Speaking in Brampton, flanked by local NDP candidates, Horwath said a site is already under consideration and that funding and timelines for the city’s third hospital will be determined in the days to come.

The NDP platform pledged $19 billion in capital funding over 10 years for health care as well as an immediate $1.2-billion injection to ease wait times and overcrowding.

Horwath said she would absolutely not form a coalition with the Liberals, adding Ford is the one who likes to make such deals, referring to his earlier promise to developers that he would open up the Greenbelt, which he later said he would not do after hearing from voters who did not approve.

The NDP has been polling ahead of the Liberals and behind the Tories.

Liberal Leader Kathleen Wynne said “we’re only in the sixth day” of a lengthy campaign, so it’s far too early to speculate about political coalitions.

“I’ve never talked about who we’re going to work with or not work with,” said Wynne.

“There’s a strong consensus emerging that Doug Ford does not have the path forward for the people of the province — that his agenda of cutting across education, across health care, across services, is not where we should be going,” she said.