And so it begins
Posted Sep 7, 2011 06:11:44 AM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
TORONTO – Ontario’s political leaders officially start campaigning today for the October 6th election, but they’ve already been looking for votes.
The Liberals and New Democrats fire up their campaign buses this morning, but new P-C Leader Tim Hudak has had his tour bus on the road for the past week.
Liberal Leader Dalton McGuinty is seeking a third consecutive term, campaigning on a record of improving public services and modernizing Ontario’s electricity system.
McGuinty accuses Hudak of turning the Tories into Ontario’s version of the Tea Party, and says they are practising the “politics of anger, envy, resentment and division.”
Hudak says Ontario can’t afford another four years of Liberal rule, blaming McGuinty for doubling the province’s debt and racking up a 14-billion dollar deficit.
Most polls show the Progressive Conservatives with a slight edge over the governing Liberals, but that gap has been narrowing.
The New Democrats also have a new leader, Andrea Horwath, and high hopes of cashing in on the gains made by their federal N-D-P cousins in the May 2nd election.
The Green party is running a full slate of 107 candidates, with Leader Mike Schreiner taking on veteran Tory Jim Wilson in Simcoe-Grey in hopes of becoming the first Green elected in Ontario.
The opposition parties plan to make a big issue of soaring electricity prices and the Liberals’ green energy policies, at least in the early days of the campaign.
The Liberals will focus on the economy, and will warn voters that the Tories’ plan to scrap green energy initiatives will kill jobs and set Ontario back years.
