NDP Leader Andrea Horwath touts plan for southwestern Ontario during Chatham appearance
She becomes the second major party leader to visit the area
Ontario NDP Leader Andrea Horwath was in Chatham on Tuesday capping off a busy day of campaigning.
"There's a real sense of excitement that something different's going on out here."
Andrea Horwath told reporters today in Chatham that "it's an extremely important next couple days in the southwest"-- she is heading to Windsor and Leamington tomorrow.
—@megdrobertsHorwath, earlier in the day, announced her party will offer every worker three weeks vacation after one year of service, instead of just two weeks
"We know that families struggle to find the time to spend with each other ... We know that employees who take a good amount of vacation time are happier, more productive and healthier," she said.
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On May 20. the NDP admitted to a $1.4 billion error in her campaign's fiscal plan, meaning that if elected, the party would be deeper in the red in its first year than accounted for.
"We've acknowledged that we missed that particular mistake right away ... and we immediately fixed it. And we're honest about it. I think people want to see leadership that's straight-forward and up-front."
When asked about barriers along the 401, Horwath said "I have a press conference tomorrow so I'm not going to trump my own story" <a href="https://twitter.com/CBCWindsor?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@CBCWindsor</a>
—@megdrobertsSupporting small communities
Standing on a patio at a restaurant in downtown Chatham, Horwath talked about her platform touching on "bigger-city" issues, like transit and high-speed rail. But she said issues affecting smaller cities will be addressed as well.
She said she wants to support the farming community and hospitals — as well as placing a "moratorium" on school closures.
"We have too many schools that are being shut down. We want to make sure our schools are saved," she said.
"For me, there's been a growing sense of energy around our campaigns. We were just in Stratford which had an amazing amount of people show up ... There's a real sense of excitement that something different's going on out here."
Liberals on agri-food business
Margaret Schleier Stahl, Liberal candidate for the Chatham-Kent—Leamington riding, said her party has already invested heavily in the region's agri-food business.
"We know that the Liberal government has put money into many of the programs that we've done, like Foodland Ontario," Schleier Stahl said.
"I think we need to gather people together to determine who the [agri-food] experts are and decide what kind of decisions can be made."
She said she has met with individuals about reducing air pollution and putting money back into the region's greenhouse industry.