Ontario NDP leader in Timmins to support local candidate

Although a provincial election has yet to be called, party leaders have already begun campaigning. Opposition leader Marit Stiles was in Timmins Thursday.

A provincial election has yet to be called, but the leader of the official opposition of Ontario is not wasting any time. Ontario Liberal Party Leader, Bonnie Crombie has launched her campaign and NDP Leader Marit Stiles was in Timmins this week, to support the nomination of the local candidate, Corey Lepage. Stiles said he is one of about 70 New Democrat candidates at this time.

“What we found is that the number of applications have been coming in really fast as people realize what we’ve been saying all along, which is this election was coming far sooner than anybody expected or wanted,” said Stiles.

Stiles said she’s been touring the province since the spring, anticipating an early election.

She told CTV News that what she is hearing is that seven years after Doug Ford and the Conservatives took office, “life is harder in Timmins; doctors are hard to come by and there aren’t enough supports for people struggling with additcion.”

“I’m really frustrated,” she said.

“You can probably hear it. I’m frustrated because I hear young families who are struggling. I hear small businesses who are shutting down, workers in our, on our main streets who feel like they’re at the front line in a mental health care, an addiction crisis.”

The former MPP for Timmins-James Bay, Gilles Bisson, is now president of the Timmins NDP Riding Association and he joined Stiles at her news conference.

“(Premier Doug Ford) says he needs a mandate to deal with Mr. Trump. We need a mandate to deal with the issues of Ontario,” he said.

“That’s what Marit Stiles and Corey is going to do.”

Stiles promises a ‘new deal’ for the north.

“Our government, when we form government, the NDP is going to get back in the business of building homes again. Up until 1995, we built affordable permanent affordable homes in the province of Ontario, here in Timmins under Gilles Bisson in his first years as a very new and young MPP we built hundreds of units of permanent affordable housing co-op, not for profit, rent-geared to income housing,” she said.

“We have to do that again and we have to treat it like it’s a war effort – because it is.”

Stiles said Ford already has a mandate with his majority government and there’s no excuse to head to the polls early. Stiles said she commits to working with the Premier to protect Ontario jobs and added “snap election” would create more insecurity and instability in the province.