Leaders swing through Windsor-Essex focused on health care, electricity issues

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NDP leader Andrea Horwath was in Essex on Sunday morning touting her party’s commitment to bolster home care, while Liberal leader Steven Del Duca visited Windsor and called for an independent review of this area’s supposed hydro shortage.

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“We know (home care) has suffered the last number of years,” said Horwath speaking in the backyard of local residence. “We know we can fix that so people can get the home care they need and deserve.”

If elected, the NDP would commit to hiring an added 30,000 nurses and 10,000 PSWs to help improve the ability for people to remain at home to get the care they need instead of a hospital bed.

Her party would also eliminate Bill 124 to help give nurses and health care workers a significant pay raise above pre-pandemic levels. She also plans to turn PSW jobs into full-time permanent jobs instead of part-time.

With the impact on long-term care homes and loss of over 4,000 lives in the facilities during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, “there is a real understanding now how Doug Ford’s cuts to health care have hurt people,” Horwath said.

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Meanwhile, Del Duca committed Sunday to learn whether energy cuts under Premier Doug Ford and Conservative government — which ripped up some renewable energy contracts after elected in 2018 — had any connection to the potential loss of LG Chem’s planned $2.5-billion investment in Windsor.

“Windsor’s manufacturing industry is an engine that drives Ontario’s economy,” he said. “The fact that Invest WindsorEssex was just two weeks ago comparing the region’s lack of electricity capacity to “a Third World country” and now claiming local power supply is not an issue does nothing to build confidence for current and future investors.”

If elected, the Liberal party will ask the Independent Electricity Systems Operator (IESO) to conduct an independent review into the government’s renewable energy cuts.

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“Ontario Liberals will fix Windsor’s electricity shortage, get to the bottom of what happened with LG Chem and reveal the true state of the region’s energy supply so investors have the confidence they deserve,” Del Duca said.

Horwath also weighed in on the electricity issue: “I know we can do so much better when it comes to making sure the electricity infrastructure is up and running and making the investments necessary to have a strong electric vehicle market. We can and will go to bat for Windsor — not just with words, but with the kind of actions that will convince LG Chem to come to Windsor-Essex.

“Unfortunately, the Ford government did nothing over the past four years to make sure that the electricity capacity was here to support the LG Chem plant.”

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But Ford has countered Windsor will have sufficient power for not only LG Chem should it choose to reconsider and locate here, but also any other potential economic investment.

During a campaign stop two weeks ago at Valiant Machine and Tool in Windsor he pledged to invest about $1 billion on five new transmission lines in southwestern Ontario.

“We have the three transmission lines moving forward in a rapid fashion and that’s going to be able to handle all the electricity needs that are needed in Southwestern Ontario,” Ford said. “But we have two more ready to go. We’ll make sure we have enough electricity for any company that wants to open up here.”

Essex County’s demand for electricity is expected to double in the next five years — arising from 1,000 to 2,000 megawatts — thanks to a growing population, expanding greenhouse industry, new EV battery factory and its supply chain.

“We will stop at nothing to build the necessary infrastructure to support these investments,” Ford said.