Ontario election 2014: Andrea Horwath calls PC coalition idea 'bullspit'
CBC News | Posted: June 10, 2014 5:29 PM | Last Updated: June 10, 2014
NDP leader makes strongest stance yet as Liberals raise coalition question
NDP Leader Andrea Horwath says she calls "bullspit" on the idea she would form a coalition with the Progressive Conservatives.
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For days the Liberals have been hammering Horwath with accusations that she would support the Tories in a minority government scenario, a theme Liberal Leader Kathleen Wynne continued to raise at a campaign stop in Kingston on Tuesday.
"The fact is [Horwath] has not ruled out the possibility of working with Tim Hudak," said Wynne. "In fact, one of her candidates said last night something like a lot of good could come from that, out of the NDP working with Tim Hudak. Well, I don't see that good."
Wynne was referring to comments NDP candidate Michael Prue made Monday in a TV panel discussion with PC MPP Christine Elliott (Whitby-Oshawa) and Liberal candidate Eric Hoskins (St. Paul's).
The candidates were asked if they had learned anything while speaking with voters during the campaign.
Hoskins raised the spectre of a PC-led government undoing progress he said the Liberals have made in health care and education. Elliott called Hoskins's comments "fear mongering," then Prue said this:
"There is a lot of goodwill that could come about here and I am not worried ... the fact is that we will be there to make sure that we will be honest brokers and that stuff will stay in place."
The Liberals jumped on Prue's comments, alleging they amounted to open talk of an NDP-PC coalition.
Horwath, however, poured cold water at the idea during a campaign rally in Essex Tuesday morning.
"I heard a little something about the Liberal press release that went out this morning and I am going to say very clearly: I call 'bullspit' on the idea that we will have a coalition with Tim Hudak," she said to cheers from party supporters.
Horwath has been asked for days at press conferences whether she would rule out formal coalitions or propping up either the Liberals or the PCs in a minority government.
Her go-to answer has been to say she could not support Hudak's plan to cut 100,000 public sector jobs, nor would she support "corrupt" Liberals.
Horwath said she is going to respect the decision of voters when they cast their ballots on Thursday, and she trusts that people will elect a government that "makes sense for the people" — one of the NDP's election slogans.
Wynne issues appeal to left-leaning voters
Wynne on Tuesday continued to make a direct plea to left-leaning voters, asking for them to support her party as a way to stop Hudak and his plans for deep civil service cuts.
"There are only two likely outcomes," said Wynne in Kingston Tuesday. "Right now this race is effectively tied. One of us will form the next government of Ontario: It will be Tim Hudak or it will be me. I cannot win without the support of every person who cares about the publicly supported health-care system and the publicly funded health-care system."
Wynne also criticized the NDP for refusing to support her party's "progressive budget."
"You can vote to stop Tim Hudak, but you can't do that by voting NDP," said Wynne. "That actually is not going to stop Tim Hudak."