Thunder Bay Chronicle-Journal is the daily newspaper of Northwestern Ontario.
THERE was no way Kathleen Wynne was going to let herself get put into a situation of having to respond to a challenge to debate other party leaders in Northern Ontario. Dalton McGuinty did that and came off looking bad when he refused an invitation that Tory Tim Hudak and New Democrat Andrea Horwath accepted. They spent much of their time in a 2011 face-off in Thunder Bay hammering the then-premier for being a no-show. Northerners do not take kindly to snubs — real or perceived — from politicians from southern Ontario.
With more and more people sensing an election when Wynne’s government presents a budget May 1, the premier has been in full campaign mode. At least once a week for some time now her government has issued policy proposals across the political spectrum.
Hudak and Horwath insist these are not good ideas though neither of them has yet come up with a firm policy framework of any kind. Wynne spoke to an audience of over 200 Northern mayors, councillors, and business leaders at the Northwestern Ontario Municipal Association’s annual conference in Fort Frances late last week and ended with a bang.
If the other parties force an election by voting down the budget, Wynne proposes they come north and debate Northern issues in the campaign that follows.
Wynne has had the North on her radar since she took office. She held her first cabinet meeting here and with first one and now two ministers from Thunder Bay, and a serious chance of losing seats across the province given the Liberal record, she’s taking no chances.
Being seen to set the tone is important political optics and issuing a debate challenge if an election is held puts her out front. But she will hardly have an easy time of it if the debate happens.
The overall Liberal platform is about jobs and growth but the biggest northern growth opportunity in decades remains mired in talk and confusion. The Ring of Fire should have been on the way to development by now but some miners are backing away while all parties await negotiations on aboriginal participation that are proceeding glacially if at all. A planned announcement today by northern cabinet ministers might signal a breakthrough. We hope so.
For her part, Horwath responded to Wynne Friday: “The Liberals have ignored the needs of Northern Ontario for too long,” she said in a prepared statement. “I’m happy to debate Kathleen Wynne and Tim Hudak on northern issues anywhere in the North, any time.” Boom.
Horwath promptly made plans to come to Thunder Bay the next day for an event.
Hudak hadn’t responded by Friday afternoon but we are certain he will not be the only leader to avoid a Northern debate — and suffer McGuinty’s embarrassment.