Battle scarred' Grits face different challenges in 2018

While it wasn't quite on the level of Donald Trump's shocking victory in the 2016 U.S. presidential vote, Ontario's 2014 election produced a result that few predicted: a majority government for a scandal-plagued Liberal Party already in power for 11 years.

With a new leader, Kathleen Wynne, the party out-lefted Andrea Horwath's New Democrats in campaign promises, and Tory Leader Tim Hudak released a hard-right platform that failed to resonate. The much-criticized Hudak infamously skipped the Northern Ontario debate.

Heading into the June 2018 election, Horwath is still there, and stands as the most personally popular party leader. The PCs, meanwhile, under new leader Patrick Brown have taken the moderate conservative tack similar to Bill Davis in hopes of unseating Wynne and the gang.

In a year-end interview, Sudbury.com talked with Sudbury MPP Glenn Thibeault, the province's minister of energy, about his and his party's prospects for 2018 and what he thinks they need to do to defy the pundits and win again.

While the Liberals may have won first in 2003 under Dalton McGuinty, Thibeault said McGuinty is gone and the province is taking a new direction.
 
"There's a lot of battle scars when you've been in government for 15 years,” he said. “But I haven't been there for 15 years, and neither has the premier in that role.

"We are technically new, but I get that people may not see that. We may see it that way in our bubble. However, when looking at what we've been doing as a government over the last four years, the progressive vision that the premier has brought forward was one of the things that actually drew me to her."

He cites policies such as the improved CPP, free prescriptions for people under 25, free college and university tuition and a higher minimum wage as some of the centrepieces he'll be talking about as we draw closer to June.

“Making sure that we can continue to find ways to float all boats and make it better for everyone in the province was ultimately the right thing,” Thibeault said.

While Brown may be trying to move to the centre, Thibeault points out that, after all his attacks on the Liberal plan to lower hydro rates, Brown's People's Guarantee election platform keeps it in place.

"The interesting thing is Brown has been completely against the Fair Hydro Plan, slamming it, saying whatever he wanted to say about it — but then he's keeping it in his plan and is saying he's going to increase it by another 12 per cent," he said. "That just shows that, obviously, there wasn't anything really wrong with our Fair Hydro plan if they're keeping it."

He also points to holes in Tory accounting, wondering how they are going to save the $12 billion they promised without major cuts to programs.

"Not trying to sound as partisan as others have been, but there are $12 billion in cuts in their plan — $6 billion in their money for audit,” Thibeault said. “What does that mean? What are they cutting? I mean, $6 billion is not a small amount.

"There's another $6 billion because they're ending the cap and trade system and putting in a carbon tax. So all of these programs — home retrofits, business retrofits, upgrades to schools and affordable housing — all that's going to be cut. How are they replacing that?"

Those are the sorts of things he and the Liberals will be pounding on as Ontario gets closer to the vote. Most residents, he said, haven't turned their minds yet to June.

"We're six months away from a provincial election and really, people are just starting to notice now that there are options out there,” he said. “When they start looking at them, they're going to see the plan that we have, the plan we've brought forward and have been implementing.”

He also hit on many of the things the Liberals have promised the city – the PET scanner, for example, four-laning Highway 69, all of which he said are on track. Having a cabinet minister advocating for the city is an advantage for Sudbury, he said.

"Now NEO Kids is the one I'm working on,” Thibeault said. "Our asks as a city are just as important. So being able to be a senior cabinet minister at the table also is helpful in having those conversations. To be able to say, hey, Toronto, Ottawa, London, Windsor, you're all asking for 'X,' let's not forget about Sudbury.

"So if you look back at the three years I've been doing this, we've been bringing forward strong policy to make a difference in the lives of people since I've been around. We've done so much, people forget about it — free tuition for 7,900 students in Northern Ontario, along with those who will continue to see their grants improve."

But all politics is local, so Thibeault will be focused on local issues, knocking on doors and, as he puts it, getting his job performance review first-hand.

"For me, it's about, what are the issues here locally?” he said. “It's meeting with stakeholders, meeting with the city. Mining is going to continue to play a huge role, the Ring of Fire is finally getting those roads underway with the feasibility studies and the environmental assessments is so key for us."

But there's no denying that voters eventually tire of governments, no matter what their stripe. Thibeault said he's optimistic because Ontario's economy is healthy and they have a list of accomplishments to show voters.

“It's not easy, right?” he said. “No one said joining a government should be easy ... I didn't come into this with blinders on. I had the blinders off."