Toronto·The Campaigner

Horwath in Wynne's riding: 'Please consider joining us'

With election day less than a week away, Andrea Horwath is pitching Liberal-leaning voters on the idea of casting a ballot for the NDP. And she's doing it in some very symbolic ridings.

Horwath goes to Liberal-friendly ridings, asks Wynne supporters to back her

CBC News · Posted: Jun 01, 2018 12:45 PM EDT | Last Updated: June 1, 2018

Liberal Leader Kathleen Wynne, left, and NDP Leader Andrea Horwath are both pushing hard to convince undecided, left-leaning voters that their respective parties are the best choice on June 7. (CBC)

With election day less than a week away, Andrea Horwath is pitching Liberal-leaning voters on the idea of casting a ballot for the NDP. And she's doing it in some very symbolic ridings.

Meanwhile, perhaps sensing that one of the PCs only footholds in the north could go orange, Doug Ford is campaigning in Sault Ste. Marie.

Liberal Leader Kathleen Wynne is scheduled to be at a rally in Mississauga tonight, one of her many stops in the battleground city during this campaign.

Here's where we are on day 24.

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The moment

Andrea Horwath said on Friday that voters who want to avoid a PC win should cast their ballot for the NDP. (CBC)

Horwath started her day in Liberal territory this morning with a campaign stop in Don Valley West, where Wynne is trying to hold onto her seat in the Legislature.

"As we get closer and closer to Thursday, it's becoming very apparent that the new premier is either going to be Mr. Ford or me," she told reporters.

"And what I am saying to all voters is, if you're interested in having that positive, hopeful future, then please consider joining us. Please consider joining us on Thursday."

Later today, Horwath travels to St. Catharines, where longtime Liberal incumbent Jim Bradley is facing possible defeat. Bradly has held the riding since 1977.

For her part, Wynne is not prepared to surrender her base of support to the NDP just yet.

"People better look very carefully at the ability of each of the leaders to tackle the challenges, the real challenges, that we're confronting in this province and make their assessment based on what they see," Wynne said this morning.

"There are very serious issues confronting us, and you know, if the best response from a leader is a slogan, or an uninformed response, then people need to know that."

Riding to watch

Etobicoke North, population 118,045 profile by Lucas Powers

If Ford Nation had a capital, it would be Etobicoke North. Doug Ford represented roughly the same geographical area when he was a Toronto city councillor, and his familial ties to the riding run deep. His late brother, former Toronto mayor Rob Ford, was a long-time councillor in the ward and the pair built a strong and diverse base of support in the west Toronto suburb.

Ford is going into the June 7 election as the frontrunner in the riding, but some seat projections published by various political observers suggest that Ford's lead is slim and the riding is still in contention.

After all, it's been held by popular Liberal incumbent Shafiq Qaadri since 2003. Qaadri, an experienced political operator, recently made headlines when he crashed an Andrea Horwath campaign event in the riding. He later apologized for the vexing move. Etobicoke North is also represented federally by Liberal Kirsty Duncan.

If the PCs form government after the election but Ford fails to secure Etobicoke North, the Tory leader will have some interesting decisions to make.

Poll tracker

The NDP remains slightly ahead of the PC party, according to CBC's poll tracker. Get the full breakdown.

Where the leaders are

Ford: Breakfast in Thunder Bay (8 a.m.), Announcement in Sault Ste. Marie (11:30 a.m.) Rally in Kapuskasing (5 p.m.)
Horwath: Announcement in Toronto (9 a.m.), Rainbow Flag & & Transgender Flag Ceremony in Toronto (12: 30 p.m.), Announcement in St. Catharines (3 p.m.), Campaign event in Welland (4:45 p.m.)
Schreiner: Announcement on affordable housing in Guelph (2 p.m.)
Wynne: Roundtable with students in Waterloo (2:30 p.m.), Rally in Mississauga (7 p.m.)

We're tracking the Ontario leaders on the campaign trail. See where they have stopped.