Ontario election talk turns to jobs, health care

Party leaders made campaign stops across the province Thursday, talking about jobs, health care and their vision of the province, as the election campaign rolled into its second day.

Ontario Progressive Conservative Leader Tim Hudak visited Ottawa Thursday morning, where he highlighted health care and education as his party's primary concerns as promised to cut government spending by 2 per cent in every area but those two.

Hudak said he will "enforce the law" when it comes to physicians who charge patients for illegal user fees. The promise comes after Hudak refused on Wednesday to state whether or not he'd go after doctors who charge service fees.

The Ontario Liberals used the opportunity to pounce on the PC leader's remarks as evidence that Hudak would introduce user fees to pay for his election promises.

Health Minister Deb Matthews told The Canadian Press that Hudak must clarify his position on user fees. Matthews said Hudak's key fundraiser, Shaun Francis, is the president of MedCan, the largest private health service provider in Canada.

"This makes me very nervous," Matthews said Thursday.

"He has got a huge hole in his budget. He's got to fill it somehow, and if he is hinting that he's going to let these illegal user fees pick up the slack on health care -- that's a very disturbing suggestion and one that I think Ontarians will reject," she said.

Clean energy jobs

Meanwhile, Liberal Leader Dalton McGuinty started out Thursday by threatening the demise of tens of thousands of new clean energy jobs under a Progressive Conservative government.

At a campaign stop at London's University of Western Ontario, McGuinty announced that Samsung would locate its fourth Ontario plant in the city, creating 200 jobs manufacturing components for solar energy modules.

The plants are part of the province's $7-billion green energy deal with Samsung. Three other plants will be built in Windsor, Tillsonburg and Toronto producing solar inverters, wind turbines and blades.

"It is about laying down a strong foundation of manufacturing excellence when it comes to renewable technologies," McGuinty said.

But McGuinty warned that Hudak has vowed to kill the green energy deal, putting thousands of jobs at risk.

Northern election platform

NDP Leader Andrea Horwath was also talking about job creation during a stop in Sudbury on Thursday, pledging to protect northern Ontarians and to show "some respect for the people of the north" -- a task she said the Ontario Liberals have failed to do.

"Liberal policies cooked up in Queen's Park backrooms have left a legacy of boarded windows and chained gates," Horwath told supporters.

If elected, Horwath promised to create a northern Ontario committee which will probe natural resource issues and pitch recommendations to the government. The committee, which will solely be composed of members from the north, will also act as a review body for all legislation affecting northern Ontario Horwath said .

"It's time Queen's Park showed some respect for the people of the north and the communities of northern Ontario," she said.

The NDP leader said that, in exchange for job guarantees, she will also spend $300 million over three years to extend a northern Ontario industrial electricity program that is set to end in 2013.

The announcements were part of a northern election platform Horwath said would stem the loss of jobs in the region.

The Liberal incumbent in Thunder Bay-Superior North, Michael Gravelle, told The Canadian Press that the NDP proposal prompted "a strong level of concern" in its potential to render the industry less competitive.

If protection measures are implemented, he said, "the retaliation will be swift and it will cost thousands of jobs."

"Mining is a global industry and we need to continue to work with it," Gravelle said.

Hudak admits he doesn't speak French

Also Thursday, Hudak revealed that he may find himself in a bit of a bind when communicating in French. He told reporters during a campaign stop in the nation's capital that, "I wish I could stand before you today and I say I speak French. I don't."

Hudak added, however, that he has attracted a number of francophone and bilingual candidates, such as Marilissa Gosselin in the eastern Ontario riding of Glengarrry-Prescott-Russell. And if he has "the opportunity and the time ahead, I'll improve my language skills," Hudak said.

Despite the Progressive Conservative leader's promise, Liberal party president Yasir Naqvi nevertheless hammered Hudak on his language skills.

"This is a bilingual province," Naqvi told The Canadian Press.

"I come from eastern Ontario which has a huge population. It is an important aspect."

Naqvi, who is seeking re-election in Ottawa, immigrated to Canada from Pakistan. He said he is taking French lessons to improve his language skills, which he described as "intermediate level" French.

Campaign music

Hudak also came under fire for his choice of campaign music on Thursday.

Hudak, who has been using the song "Moves" by Vancouver's New Pornographers for his exit music at rallies, was slammed on Twitter by the group's lead singer Carl Newman.

Newman tweeted "Tim Hudak, who told you it was cool to use my song in your political campaign? Might I suggest instead ‘Illegal Alien' by Genesis?"

Hudak, of course is not the only one to use top-40 hits during rallies.

Although Horwath does not have a set play list for her rallies, she's used music by Pink and Lady Gaga in the past. And on Wednesday, the NDP Leader walked into a Toronto rally with Florence and the Machine's hit "Dog Days Are Over" blasting in the background.

Heading into the election, the Liberals held 70 seats in the 107-seat legislature, while the PCs held 24 and the NDP held 10. Three seats were vacant. About 8.5 million voters will be eligible to cast a ballot on Oct. 6.

McGuinty is seeking his third straight majority, while Hudak and Horwath are attempting to rally enough support to unseat the premier in their first election as party leaders.

The latest Nanos Research poll for CTV and The Globe and Mail suggests the Tories hold a slight lead over the Liberals with 35.4 per cent support compared to 31.9 per cent support for the Liberals. The NDP sit in third at 22.8 per cent.

McGuinty is expected to stop in Woodstock late on Thursday, while Hudak has several stops planned in eastern Ontario and Horwath is set for Thunder Bay.

On Sept. 27, all three Ontario party leaders will meet for a televised provincial election debate -- the only scheduled moderated verbal contest the leaders will have before the Oct. 6 election.

The event is set for 6:30 to 8 p.m., but the format and moderator have yet to be announced.

With files from The Canadian Press and CTV Toronto's Natalie Johnson