Families can’t afford cuts, Trudeau says
Liberal leader tells Ontarians federal Conservatives will slash four times as much as Ford
Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau is trying to head off the prospect of a Conservative government after Monday’s election with warnings of the consequences if Andrew Scheer becomes prime minister.
During a campaign stop in Whitby on Friday, Trudeau said a government led by Scheer could be in cards once the ballots are counted.
“There is a chance that there could be a Conservative government,” Trudeau said.
“Between now and Monday, here’s what people in Ontario need to ask themselves: Are you ready for even more harmful Conservative cuts, cuts that would four times larger than Doug Ford’s?” Trudeau said.
He cited $53 billion in spending reductions pledged by the Conservatives, which would result in “massive cuts to programs and services.
“Ontario families can’t afford any more Conservatives cuts. You need a government that will invest in you and give you the support you need to succeed,” he said.
It’s a message Trudeau then took around the Greater Toronto Area Friday, from Whitby to Orillia to Barrie, and intends to do again in the region Saturday.
He delivered his most impassioned version of the message to a crowd of about 1,000 supporters in Vaughan Friday night.
Speaking off the cuff, as he had done the previous night in Montreal, Trudeau highlighted the government’s record on the economy, and cited low unemployment and the environment, with its carbon pricing strategy and ocean protection plan.
He opened his remarks by telling the audience that Friday would have been the 100th birthday of his father, former prime minister Pierre Trudeau, who died in 2000.
“I think about him just about every day. It is a moment to pause and reflect on the values he shared, the values he raised us with, but also the vision he had for this country … a just and generous society that looked to the future with passion and optimism,” said Trudeau, who mentioned it was his son Xavier’s 12th birthday.
“I have a pretty good reason to think about the future,” he said.
Several Liberal candidates were present at the Vaughan event, including Bill Morneau, the candidate in Toronto Centre and finance minister, who has been helping Liberal candidates in ridings around the GTA and Quebec.
With the campaign now its final stages, the majority hopes of both the Conservatives and the Liberals have been put in doubt by the surprise surges in popularity for the New Democrats and the Bloc Québécois.
Trudeau declined Friday to muse on the reasons for the stronger-than-expected showings of those two parties, saying only that “you can’t take any votes for granted.”
Trudeau spent Friday in the Greater Toronto Area and, on Saturday, will be in Niagara, Hamilton, Brantford and Milton before he heads west.
During a stop in Orillia, at a main street café, Trudeau told the packed crowd of supporters, “We need a progressive government, not a progressive Opposition.”
The hectic schedule for the final days will take Trudeau to many ridings the Liberals don’t currently hold but think they have a shot at winning. “We’re on the front foot in the last days and going hard,” a party strategist said.
The Liberal leader started the day in Markham where he signed a shovel to highlight the pledge that a re-elected Liberal government would support the $5.6-billion project to extend the Yonge St. subway 7.4 kilometres north from Finch Station to Highway 7.