Election about investing or cuts, Trudeau says
OTTAWA — Prime Minister Justin Trudeau rallied Liberal candidates Wednesday, saying the coming election will be a choice between “cuts and austerity or investing in Canadians” as he pointedly warned that the middle class “cannot afford another Doug Ford.”
While the Ontario premier has vowed to stay out of the federal campaign, Trudeau and other Liberal candidates are only too happy to highlight the controversial cuts implemented by the Progressive Conservative government at Queen’s Park and suggest that the federal Conservatives would take a similar approach if elected in October.
“On the campaign trail, conservative politicians love to say that they are ‘for the people’ but we all know too well what happens once they’re in office,” Trudeau said,
citing Ford’s 2018 election slogan.
“We’ve seen repeatedly just how far they are willing to go to help the wealthiest few, how quickly they’ll make cuts to public health, cuts to municipalities, cuts to health care, cuts to child care, cuts to education, cuts to the services Canadians rely on most because they refuse to understand that you cannot cut your way to prosperity,” the prime minister said.
Ford’s government is down in
the polls after its spring budget laid out spending cuts to a range of programs.
Speaking to candidates at a downtown Ottawa hotel, Trudeau framed the Oct. 21 federal election as a choice between competing agendas of the Liberals and Conservatives while omitting any reference to the New Democrats.
“In October, Canadians will have a clear choice to make — cuts and austerity or investing in Canadians,” Trudeau said. “The middle class can’t afford another Doug Ford and it’s up to every single person in this room to make that case by sharing our positive, ambitious vision for the future,” he said
In a speech that previewed the election themes for the Liberals, Trudeau touted the government’s record since taking office in 2015 and warned that such progress would be jeopardized if the Conservatives won power.
“The things we’ve done over the last four years have measurable impact on all Canadians,” Trudeau told some 200 of the Liberals’ 230 nominated candidates who gathered for the twoday campaign session.
“During our mandate, Canadians created over 1 million new jobs. We’ve negotiated three of the largest trade deals in the world, lifted over 300,000 kids out of poverty, cut taxes for 9 million Canadians,” he said.
While the formal campaign for the Oct. 21 election is not expected to begin until after Labour Day, the unofficial campaign by all parties is now expected to kick into high gear.