Horwath, Wynne make final stops
Leaders bolster their parties in region as election day looms
As this roller-coaster provincial election campaign draws to a close, New Democratic Party Leader Andrea Horwath and Liberal Leader Kathleen Wynne made final stops in Waterloo Region on Tuesday.
Horwath visited first in Kitchener, where she spoke with party volunteers, candidates and media, and later in Cambridge’s Preston section, where she canvassed a few homes with candidate Marjorie Knight.
Meanwhile, Wynne was mobbed by appreciative fans at a rally and barbecue Tuesday evening, hosted at the Kitchener campaign office of Kitchener South-Hespeler Liberal candidate Surekha Shenoy.
Both Horwath and Wynne spoke about the clear choice facing voters on Thursday. Horwath called it “stark.”
On Tuesday night, Wynne seemed to be there to thank Liberal supporters, as much as to motivate them.
“You have been the wind at our backs as we have made changes in this province,” Wynne told the crowd of 200.
In her talk, Wynne acknowledged the “real hunger for change” in the province, and the likelihood that her third-place
Liberals will lose the election after running Ontario the past 15 years.
She said there are “huge risks” ahead as voters choose between the Conservatives and New Democrats, and painted her party as the practical centrists.
“Let’s just make sure we have enough Liberals at Queen’s Park ... that we hold the two extremes to account,” she said to roars of applause.
As Wynne posed for photos with supporters afterwards, Zahid Akhter of Cambridge said he has been a Liberal supporter ever since immigrating here from Pakistan 20 years ago.
“Every time a Liberal is in power, the economy is always good,” he said, pointing to the expansion of the Cambridge hospital and the widening of Highway 401 as signs of progress.
It was Wynne’s third appearance in Waterloo Region since the election began May 9. Horwath has been here four times. Progressive Conservative Leader Doug Ford has been in the region twice.
Earlier Tuesday, at a campaign office in south Kitchener, Horwath described the choice that voters must make between her party and the Conservatives, tied for first place in the polls.
Ontario voters must decide between an NDP plan that spends more on essential services and a Conservative plan that she said will cut back on them.
Horwath didn’t mention Wynne. Instead she saved her fire for Ford.
She was asked about recent developments in which Ford’s sister-in-law, Renata, sued him for $16.5 million. Renata is the widow of Doug’s late brother, Rob.
Renata claims that Doug has deprived her and her children of millions of dollars, including shares in the Ford family company, and a life insurance policy. The allegations have not been proven in court, and Ford has said he is “floored” by the accusation.
However, Horwath said she “wouldn’t blame people for wondering, if Doug Ford is not prepared to take care of his own family, how is he going to take care of the families of Ontario?”
After a stop in Kitchener, Horwath visited the Preston section of Cambridge, where she knocked on doors with Knight.
Residents inside the homes had been given a heads-up that Horwath might be stopping by.
“One thing about Andrea, she’s honest,” said Michael Devoy, a retired teacher who greeted Horwath at his door. He said he and his wife, Grace da Silva, had already voted for the New Democrats in advance polls.
“What you see is what you get. She’s very authentic. She’s not going to promise the world just to get elected.”
The 2018 campaign was a tumultuous one, both at the provincial level — with
Liberal support evaporating to the point where they may lose party status after Thursday — and at the local level too.
In a shocking move, popular KitchenerConestoga Conservative MPP Michael Harris was abruptly removed from caucus in April for a texting flirtation that had happened six years earlier.
Many constituents were unhappy to see him go, then further outraged when leader Ford appointed a replacement instead of letting party members decide. That replacement was Mike Harris Jr., son of the former premier.
As the election became more volatile, mud was flung in many directions.
Some of it ended up on Fitzroy Vanderpool, the NDP candidate in Kitchener South-Hespeler. He is a world boxing champion and owns a gym where he helps underprivileged youth.
The Toronto Sun recently published photos and interviews showing Vanderpool in photos at Capers Sports Bar in Kitchener five years ago, with bikini-clad members of the Female Oil Wrestling Federation.
On Tuesday. Vanderpool said he had been a “celebrity guest” for the event.