Plows, Produce and Politics: Ontario Leaders Curry Favour With Rural Voters
Posted on: Wednesday, 19 September 2007, 09:02 CDT
TORONTO (CP) - Plows, produce and politics all collided on the road to the Ontario election Tuesday as the three main campaign caravans crossed paths at the province's biggest farming event, with each leader trying his hand atop a tractor and getting face time with rural voters.
Though the stump speeches were heavy on rural platitudes and short on policy, Progressive Conservative Leader John Tory gave growers something to chew on with his proposal that public institutions be required to serve Ontario-grown produce.
That would mean schools, jails, hospitals and government buildings, among other institutions, would have to buy their broccoli, cauliflower and fruit from Ontario producers.
"What I want to have in place are very clear guidelines that say if you are using taxpayer money in a public building, whether it's at a college or a hospital . . . you are buying and serving Ontario produce," Tory said at Roosberg Farms in the town of Athens.
New Democrat Leader Howard Hampton, meanwhile, was all smiles as he relished the federal byelection win his Quebec cousins rang up Monday.
Hampton said the Quebec victory, coupled with four provincial byelection wins in Ontario since 2003, shows the party is on the rise.
On another front, Premier Dalton McGuinty signalled that the furor over funding private religious schools could soon take a back seat in the campaign.
McGuinty has largely focused his attacks on Tory's pledge to extend public funding to private faith-based schools. Polls suggest Tory's plan has been met with trepidation by most voters.
On Tuesday, McGuinty suggested the campaign's focus would soon shift.
"Look, people will take all kinds of things into account," McGuinty said after visiting a rural school near Kingston, Ont. "I think they're concerned about a number of issues, and I'm going to speak to those."
Source: Canadian Press
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