Ontario NDP leader Andrea Horwath visited Redline Brewhouse in south-end Barrie, Tuesday evening, following a tour of North Bay where she also participated in a leaders' debate.
Horwath, who spoke to BarrieToday over the phone while on her way to the Bayview Drive brewery, said she tries to hit the city whenever she can to support the party's local candidates.
“We always try to stop in the Barrie area. We have some great candidates there and we want the people there to know that New Democrats speak for them,” she said.
In the June 2 provincial election, those NDP candidates are Pekka Reinio in Barrie-Innisfil and Beverley Patchell in Barrie-Springwater-Oro-Medonte (BSOM).
Both Barrie ridings are held by Progressive Conservative (PC) incumbents Doug Downey (BSOM) and Andrea Khanjin (Barrie-Innisfil).
When Horwath was asked if she believes Barrie and the surrounding area is a conservative stronghold, she disagreed.
“I don’t think there is such a thing as a stronghold anymore,” Horwath said. “I think the COVID-19 pandemic has shown us just how much is broken in Ontario and I think it's got people thinking on how we can fix it.”
Horwath mentioned the cost of living, housing affordability and the health-care system as some of the topics on the minds of voters.
“People in Ontario should be able to afford everyday life. That's not the case. They should be able to receive the health care they need without shelling out of their own pockets. That's not the case,” she said. “And, of course, our seniors and loved ones who are more vulnerable should be able to have a dignified quality of life, and we see how broken long-term care is.”
In the 2018 provincial election, the NDP finished in second place behind the PCs in both Barrie ridings.
With the Liberals still without an announced candidate in Barrie-Innisfil, Horwath was asked if she believed the time was right for her party to close the gap.
“I think it's the perfect time for Ontarians to ask themselves the question of what matters most and who is the party that is prepared to fix the things that are broken,” she said. “We can’t 'unsee' the things we saw during this pandemic. We can’t pretend that our health-care system, which was on its knees before Doug Ford was elected and he started cutting it as soon as he was elected, we can’t pretend that it is suddenly better again.”
