Elaine Della-Mattia
The Sault Star
September 30, 2003

Calling the provincial election race in Sault Ste. Marie "neck-and-neck," Liberal leader Dalton McGuinty swooped into the city Monday with just days remaining in the campaign.

He told party faithful at the Marconi Hall that the latest polls indicate the Liberal and NDP "are in a dead heat" locally.

The Liberals have not won the Sault Ste. Marie riding since the 1930s.

Introduced to the crowd as "the next premier of Ontario," McGuinty took centre stage between local candidate David Orazietti and Algoma-Manitoulin Liberal incumbent Mike Brown before a lunchtime crowd.

"I know that we are in a very close race here," McGuinty said. "I’m saying to the people of Sault Ste. Marie – join us. We can bring us real positive change."

Incumbent NDP Tony Martin, seeking his fourth-term, responded Monday that NDP polling shows that he is still ahead but it’s not a vote that he’s taking for granted. "We’re still out there pushing hard to the wire," Martin said.

"We’ll work to the end for the last vote and get them all into the ballot box."

McGuinty said that the Liberal team is ambitious and aspires to something better than what currently exists in Ontario.

The new government must make improvements to the health care and education sectors while still living within Ontario’s financial means, he said.

McGuinty’s address focused on his party’s platform to improve health care by expanding the number of hospital beds, shortening waiting lists and increasing the number of doctors and nurses by expanding medical schools.

The Liberals say that since 1995, the number of communities with a shortage of family doctors has more than doubled to 122.

In Sault Ste. Marie, more than 12,000 people do not have family doctors. The city is short at least eight doctors and Northern Ontario is short at least 119, McGuinty said.

He said his government would set up 150 family health teams of doctors, nurses and other health care professionals along the lines of the Sault’s Group Health Centre.

McGuinty told reporters afterwards his government would examine the Sault Area Hospital’s proposal for a new facility and try to get that built, keeping costs under control.

"Let’s make sure we keep those costs under control and we will be there for our share," McGuinty said.

He added that he is willing to sit down and talk to local officials about the new hospital plan but has concerns about escalating costs.

"I also have a sense of responsibility to ensure that we are prioritizing the health care system for this community," he said.

McGuinty promised to stop taking government jobs out of the North but made no specific commitment to return the lost Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corp. jobs to Sault Ste. Marie.

"We will work to ensure that we strengthen the local economy," he said.

Orazietti said "we have been ignored in Sault Ste. Marie for 13 years and it is time for change."

Orazietti, a city councillor currently completing his second term, said the city needs representation inside Queen’s Park where the decisions are being made.

"We can’t afford one more day of NDP representation in this city and frankly we can’t afford four more years of a Tory government that has taken jobs out of Northern Ontario, underfunded our health care, underfunded our education and left us with soaring energy prices," he said.

Earlier in the day in North Bay, McGuinty pledged to build more hydroelectric generating plants to boost the province’s power supply.

"Either we can go without electricity or we can ensure that we have enough electricity. We will proceed in a measured and prudent way to ensure we have enough electricity that we need in the province of Ontario."

The Liberal platform includes incentives to producers and users of wind and solar power. Residents who use excessive amounts of power would pay a higher rate and "smart meters" would record both how much and when the power is used.

The current rate cap would be kept in place until 2006, he said.

But electricity watchdog Energy Probe has said there is no way the rate freeze can last until 2006, noting "there’s just not enough money to go around" to cover the difference between the freeze and the market cost of electricity.

– With files from The Canadian Press