CityVote Day 9: Hudak, Horwath campaign in GTA, NDP promises tuition freeze

Progressive Conservative Leader Tim Hudak and NDP chief Andrea Horwath were vying for votes in the GTA Thursday, where traffic congestion became one of the big issues on the ninth day of the election campaign.

The Toronto Board of Trade is calling on the provincial party leaders to make gridlock a more prominent issue in the campaign to the Oct. 6 vote. The group says commute times in the GTA are quickly approaching the two-hour mark, possibly leading to up to $15 billion in lost revenue.

Liberal Leader Dalton McGuinty, who was campaigning in Thunder Bay and Sault Ste. Marie Thursday, once again highlighted his plan to expand GO Transit’s train service — a move he says will ease traffic congestion and create jobs.

Hudak stopped at a Canadian Tire in Richmond Hill, a candy shop in Unionville and has an event planned in Markham Thursday.

Since the start of the campaign, he’s attacked a Liberal jobs plan for new Canadians, has promised to eliminate the harmonized sales tax (HST) on home heating and hydro bills and is vowing to put provincial prison inmates to work 40 hours a week, picking up garbage and cleaning graffiti.

The PC leader is also promising to make the Ontario sex offender registry public. OPP Commissioner Chris Lewis has spoken out against that proposal.

During his stop in Richmond Hill Thursday, he continued to insist the safety of children should come before the privacy of sex offenders.

Horwath campaigned at Ryerson University Thursday morning where she promised to freeze tuition fees for four years and eliminate interest on the provincial portion of student loans. She also pitched a youth employment program earlier this week.

Jobs and affordability issues have played high in her campaign so far.

McGuinty has also pushed hard on the education front, touting his government’s all-day kindergarten program, and promising a 30 per cent reduction in tuition fees for families earning less than $160,000 a year.

The Liberal leader is the only candidate who hasn’t yet agreed to a debate on issues facing northern Ontario. He says he can’t make the date set by organizers and didn’t receive alternates.

A televised provincial leaders debate happens Sept. 27.

With files from The Canadian Press

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