With only a few days to go until Ontario voters head to the polls, PC Leader Doug Ford made a Sunday stop at Algoma Steel to pitch his platform — and pump up his local candidate, Chris Scott.
Two of our Village Media journalists were at the plant to meet him: Kenneth Armstrong of SooToday, and Charlie Pinkerton from our Queen's Park bureau at The Trillium.
Both came to the press conference with important questions to ask. But one required a little more time to get there than the other.
"Hey Charlie, it's nice you flew up here to see me," Ford told Pinkerton, after he identified himself on the microphone.
"I actually drove," Pinkerton replied, eliciting laughter from some of the the steelworkers standing nearby. "It's about 16 hours, just to ask you a few questions. Wouldn't trade it for the world."
"Let 'er rip, buddy," Ford said.
Pinkerton proceeded to ask how the PCs will pay for their billions of dollars worth of campaign promises, and whether a re-elected Ford government would commit to finally reviewing the Lobbyists Registration Act.
When it was his turn at the microphone, Armstrong used the opportunity to ask why Scott, who doesn't live in the Sault, was handpicked as the local PC candidate without a vote from the local riding association.
"Chris knows this riding unlike anyone, in my opinion," Ford replied. "He worked for Ross Romano for years. He knows every detail, has talked to constituents, and he’s just a great representative.”
Armstrong followed up by asking a question related his recent series of articles that showed the suicide rate among northern youth is four times higher than the provincial average.
Ontarians head to the polls on Feb. 27.
