CityVote Day 24: Jim Flaherty endorses Tim Hudak

Progressive Conservative Leader Tim Hudak got a high-profile endorsement from federal Finance Minister Jim Flaherty at a lunch in Toronto on Friday.

Flaherty told the audience the province can’t afford to re-elect Liberal Leader Dalton McGuinty and he believes Hudak will take the province on a new path

Hudak said the support means a lot to him and he was not upset by earlier reports that Mayor Rob Ford had no plans to endorse him or any other candidate in the provincial election.

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Ford’s spokeswoman Adrienne Batra insisted Friday the decision has nothing to do with his falling support in the polls, though the right-leaning mayor supported Prime Minister Stephen Harper before the federal election in May.

The three main party leaders continued to target vote-rich southern Ontario as time ran out in their election campaigns.

With less than a week to go before the province votes, McGuinty was in Toronto, Kawartha Lakes and Brampton, where he promised to make sure parents are warned about problem teachers.

He also faced controversy when a senior Liberal official resigned Friday evening after she was allegedly caught on tape admitting she bribed homeless people with cigarettes to get their votes.

“I have gone to a shelter in the riding of St. Paul’s with a carton of smokes and said, ‘I’ll give you them after you vote.’ I have done that,” the Liberal’s operational vice-president Nikki Holland had said, later claiming it was a joke.

McGuinty had earlier called Holland’s comments a “bad joke in poor taste,” but did not ask her to step down.

Hudak was quick to pounce.

“If someone in my party were giving out cigarettes for votes, they’d be out the door before they bought the first pack,” he said.

Hudak spent the day glad-handing in Ajax and Toronto; while New Democratic Party Leader Andrea Horwath started out in Toronto and took her campaign bus to London, Sarnia and Windsor.

Horwath criticized McGuinty’s plan to freeze doctors’ salaries when their contract expires next year, arguing it’s hospital executives who are paid too much.

Though polls show a dead heat between the Liberals and Tories, Horwath has the momentum after a strong performance in Tuesday’s televised debate.

Election day is Oct. 6, and Friday is the last day for advance polling.

With files from the Canadian Press