With the writ expected to drop this afternoon, the provincial campaign trail is already a busy one with the Ontario Liberal leader in Barrie today to make the rounds.
Steven Del Duca made stops at Debb’s Place in the south end and to Homestead Artisan Bakery in downtown Barrie. He was joined at Homestead by Barrie-Springwater-Oro-Medonte (BSOM) Liberal candidate Jeff Lehman for a tour of the city.
Lehman is running against incumbent MPP Doug Downey in BSOM, which makes for an interesting race in the north end, but the south-end riding still has no candidate for Del Duca’s party.
The provincial Liberal leader told BarrieToday that would be changing.
“We are going to be running a full campaign, including having a full roster of candidates,” said Del Duca. “I know that Barrie-Innisfil is a growing community that needs a strong champion at Queen’s Park and there will be an Ontario Liberal candidate in that riding, who could deliver the way I know Jeff will deliver for Barrie-Springwater-Oro-Medonte.”
Premier Doug Ford is said to be meeting with Ontario’s lieutenant-governor at 3 p.m., Tuesday, to request that the provincial legislature be dissolved, marking the official start of the election, which happens June 2.
Progressive Conservative (PC) incumbents Downey and Andrea Khanjin, in Barrie-Innisfil, are both running for re-election.
When Del Duca was asked if he was worried about the Barrie area being a PC stronghold, he smiled and motioned to Lehman.
“Have you met Jeff Lehman? Most in this community have. Jeff is someone in this community who has served for 12 years as mayor. He is someone who has a demonstrated track record of delivering real progress for Barrie’s families as councillor, as a mayor, as someone who has chaired the Big Cities Mayors caucus,” said Del Duca.
Del Duca said he and Lehman have spoken over the years about investing in affordable housing and making sure renters and first-time home buyers have a chance at success.
He also talked about affordable transportation.
On Monday, the Ontario Liberals announced “buck-a-ride,” which is their promise to cut transit fares across the province to $1 per ride, if elected on June 2.
The election promise would cost $1.1 billion next year and could take 400,000 vehicles off the road each day, according to the party. The plan would continue until January 2024 and would include making monthly transit passes $40.
Del Duca said that when he was the provincial transportation minister, he visited the city’s Allandale Waterfront and Barrie South GO stations with Lehman and often spoke about how to make expansions to the GO network.
“To be back here today to talk about how we’re going to make life so much more affordable for Barrie residents, buck-a-ride provincewide is one example,” he said.
Del Duca was asked if the buck-a-ride was in response to Ford’s 2018 campaign slogan, “buck-a-beer,” when the party pledged to reduce the minimum price of beer from $1.25 to $1.
“It's a response to the fact that we are now in an affordability crisis in this province, and we as Liberals want more people taking public transit. This will make life more affordable for them,” said Del Duca.
