Kathleen Wynne admits Sault Ste. Marie byelection 'tough' for Liberals

Premier Kathleen Wynne admits it will be hard for her Liberals to retain the Sault Ste. Marie seat that has been in the governing party’s fold since 2003.

Premier Kathleen Wynne, shown here during an event in Windsor, admits it will be tough for the Liberals to hold onto the Sault Ste. Marie seat in the upcoming byelection. Wynne was in Sault Ste. Marie on Tuesday helping with the campaign.  (DAVE CHIDLEY / THE CANADIAN PRESS FILE PHOTO)  

Premier Kathleen Wynne admits it will be hard for her Liberals to retain the Sault Ste. Marie seat that has been in the governing party’s fold since 2003.

Campaigning in the northern city Tuesday ahead of a closely watched June 1 byelection, Wynne was philosophical.

“I think byelections are always very tough for government, you know,” the premier told reporters there.

“Obviously, the people of Sault Ste. Marie will decide, but I’m not going to make any predictions,” she said.

“But what I will say is that Debbie Amaroso is the strongest candidate and she will be a terrific representative for Sault Ste. Marie at Queen’s Park,” Wynne said of the former mayor carrying the Liberal banner.

NDP Leader Andrea Horwath — whose candidate local councillor Joe Krmpotich is emerging as the favourite — said the Liberals’ April 27 balanced budget does not appear to have helped them.

“We had a budget that didn’t even include the Ring of Fire. For northerners that’s a big issue. There’s lots of opportunity up there and this government has done nothing to realize that opportunity and it’s been frustrating,” said Horwath.

That’s a reference to the massive chromite deposit discovered a decade ago, about 500 kilometres northeast of Thunder Bay, and long touted as a panacea for northern Ontario’s economy.

“They make promise after promise after promise but this year the Ring of Fire is not even in the budget. That’s a worry,” she said.

Wynne countered that the Liberals have already “committed a billion dollars to build infrastructure, to open up the Ring of Fire.”

“We are working very, very hard. I mean, I met as recently as last week with the nine chiefs of the Matawa First Nations and we’re working with them to make sure that as we move forward on this project, that we do it in a way that allows for communities to take part in the economic development that will come from the Ring of Fire,” the premier said.

“There’s nobody in the province that wants to get shovels in the ground on a road more than I do,” she said of the thoroughfare that’s needed to access the chromite, which is used in stainless steel.

Progressive Conservative Leader Patrick Brown said the budget is hard to sell in the Sault.

“The budget is hurting them up there. There’s a lot of anger up there,” said Brown, who predicted his candidate, local councillor Ross Romano, is “going to exceed expectations.”

“We’re the underdogs there. This has been a Liberal and NDP seat … for practically the last 50 years,” he said.

“What I feel is that there is renewed support for the PC party in northern Ontario. I certainly feel that at the doors. They like our modern, inclusive, pragmatic PC party.”

Both Brown and Horwath have challenged Wynne to a leaders’ debate in Sault Ste. Marie during the contest, but the premier said she squares off enough against them weekly in the Legislature.

The byelection is being held to elect a successor to former minister David Orazietti, who resigned over Christmas.

Regardless of who wins, it will not change the balance of power in the 107-member legislature.

The majority Liberals currently hold 57 seats — including that of Speaker Dave Levac — while the Tories have 29 and the New Democrats have 20.