As Ford returns campaign to southwestern Ontario, Windsor West candidate doesn't take media questions
NDP candidate Lisa Gretzky says PC candidate 'missing in action.'
Progressive Conservative Leader Doug Ford began the last day of his re-election campaign in the same place it started in late January: the southwestern Ontario border city of Windsor.
Wearing a Canadian hockey sweater with the name bar of "NEVER" and the number "51," Ford made a short address, then took questions from reporters at a local union headquarters.
But when asked for one of his party's candidates, Tony Francis in Windsor West, to take a question about lack of participation in debates, Ford called the question "unfair."
"I'd rather have our candidates door knocking ... You know what the best debate is? When Tony's out there knocking on doors. I'm the one who makes that decision," Ford said.
"It's not about the media — it's about the people. We'd rather have our candidate, Tony, knocking on hundreds and hundreds of doors, listening to the people of Windsor West."
Ford focused primarily on the impending trade war with the U.S., with direct messaging for President Donald Trump wrapped into his plea to Ontario voters.
"No one agrees with President Trump declaring an economic war against his closest ally, his closest friend," he said.
"We're going to fight like we've never fought before. I'm going to make sure we protect the families, protect the business, the jobs and communities."
Ford, who says he wants to remain premier "forever," said he's looking for a clear mandate from Ontarians to "outlive" and "outlast" the Trump administration.
"He's all over the place. And as far as I'm concerned, it's mass chaos and his own team doesn't even know what's going on down there. Canada will never be the 51st state."
Ontarians head to the polls Thursday following a four-week campaign.
NDP candidate looks to return to Windsor West
The Conservatives hold two of the three Windsor-area ridings, with Windsor West currently in the grasp of the New Democratic Party's Lisa Gretzky, who's running again.
Ford said Francis will give people in the city a stronger voice.
"When you have one group [compared to] one person … and an MPP who sits there like a lump on a log and doesn't do anything, well now we have a voice," he said. "God willing, people will come out."
Gretzky called that resorting to personal attacks.
"When the premier gets desperate and doesn't have facts to rely on, he resorts to personal attacks," she said.
"I'm hearing the opposite. People are asking me, 'where is the conservative candidate for Windsor West?' Why can't he do these all candidates debates and knock on doors and make phone calls to people?"
Francis 'missing in action:' Gretzky
Gretzky said while she has been door knocking and connecting with voters, Francis "seems to be missing in action" and "invisible in this area."
"The Conservatives are taking the people here for granted and they think they can pull one over on the people of Windsor West," she said.
Gretzky has held the seat since 2014. In the last election only about a third of eligible voters cast a ballot in the riding.
At the doorsteps, she said people are feeling "upset about a very expensive early election."
Gretzky said concerns about health care system, the public education system and affordability are top of mind for voters in her riding.
"Those are really the three main things that are coming up at the doors," she said.
"Housing affordability, grocery affordability, the education and the healthcare system, are things I've been concentrating on for 10 years now through successive governments and that's something I'm going to continue to focus on."
With files from Pratyush Dayal and Chris Ensing