Erin O’Toole courting voters in suburban Toronto

The conservative leader, Erin O’Toole, advocates with voters in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA). Rich in votes, she will play a major role in the federal election on September 20.

The GTA spans over 50 ridings, the vast majority of which are Liberal-owned, including the 25 seats located in the city of Toronto.

Mr O’Toole, however, has suburban voters in his sights as he wants to increase the Tory vote share across the region.

The party won the majority of seats there 10 years ago, but lost them to the Liberals of Justin trudeau in 2015 and saw its share of the vote drop an additional five percentage points in 2019 underAndrew Scheer.

At a regional transit station in Whitby, Ont., Mr. O’Toole focused on housing affordability, rapid transit projects, tackling gang violence and improving health care.

Mr. O’Toole’s party platform pledges to invest “immediately in projects” of public transport that reduce commute times and create jobs, but does not attach any specific amount of funding.

When asked on Saturday if he would spend at least $ 5 billion on public transit, Mr. O’Toole declined to give details.

“I’m going to build things. I’m going to put shovels in the ground, I’m going to get things done, ”he said, accusing Trudeau of never associating“ ambition ”with“ achievement ”.

Stains on the conservative board

The Conservative Party confirmed on Friday that it dumped Beaches-East York candidate Lisa Robinson after Liberal constituency incumbent Nate Erskine-Smith highlighted Islamophobic tweets posted in 2017.

“We are leading a positive campaign based on bringing the country together and putting the country back on its feet from an economic point of view. And I want my team members to share this, ”Mr. O’Toole said on Saturday.

Ms Robinson denied that the account in question was hers. “The information in Mr. Erskine-Smith’s social media post was generated by a fake social media account that I reported to the police in 2018. I also signed a certificate confirming these facts,” she said in a post on her campaign Facebook page on Friday.

“Racism and Islamophobia have no place in the Conservative Party of Canada or in my countryside. “

Earlier this week, a Conservative candidate in Nova Scotia apologized for social media posts regarding Sharia law and supported the burqa ban worn by some Muslim women.

“In the past, I have shared posts on social media without thinking about how those posts might hurt or offend others,” Central Nova candidate Steven Cotter said in a statement provided by the party.

“I deleted these messages and apologize wholeheartedly to those I have offended. “

Asked Saturday by The Canadian Press to know why Steven Cotter remains a candidate while Lisa Robinson is no longer, Erin O’Toole replied: “We are leading a positive campaign based on the rapprochement and the recovery of the country of an economic point of view. And I want people on my team to share this. “

Steven Cotter is running in a riding won in the past by prominent Tories Peter MacKay and Brian Mulroney, and currently held by Liberal Sean Fraser.

Erin O’Toole has also appeared to give tacit approval to Conservative candidates who are not fully vaccinated to campaign in retirement homes, provided they adhere to public health measures.

The question arose after Conservative Peterborough-Kawartha candidate Michelle Ferreri posted photos of herself on social media in a retirement home after receiving just one dose of vaccine.

“We will monitor all measures, including vaccines, daily rapid tests, mask wearing and social distancing, to keep people safe. It is a commitment that all members of our team must ensure the safety of people during a pandemic election called by Mr. Trudeau, ”said Erin O’Toole.

Trcommon sport and housing crisis

The event in a commuter train parking lot marked the Conservative leader’s second visit in two days to Whitby, a constituency that was Liberal before the election was called, just before he flew to British Columbia to present his closing arguments to voters on the west coast.

The Conservatives have said they will prioritize the construction of four rapid transit projects in the GTA: the Ontario line, which would include a section under Queen Street; an extension of the Yonge subway line reaching Markham and Richmond Hill; the controversial three-stop Scarborough subway extension; and an addition to the Eglington light rail line to Etobicoke and Mississauga.

Mr. O’Toole also focused on the housing crisis, again announcing a series of measures to cool the overheated market and make homeownership within the reach of more Canadians. The plan includes the construction of one million homes in three years and the imposition of restrictions on purchases by foreign investors.

The Liberals also promised to build 1.4 million houses over four years and to prevent foreign nationals from buying them for two years, as well as to curb the practice of “real estate flips”.

“Far too many people, especially young people, are excluded from the housing market,” said O’Toole.

“Too many people are caught in the throes of mortgage and auto payments. They buy gasoline and groceries, while Justin Trudeau increases the cost of everything with his out of control spending, borrowing and debt, ”he said.

Home prices have continued to rise this year – even on the outskirts of the GTA suburbs – as remote working persists and health restrictions during the pandemic have helped people save for big purchases.

The average price of a home in the area rose to $ 1.07 million in August, from about $ 951,000 at the same time last year, according to the Greater Toronto Real Estate Board.

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