OTTAWA - As the election campaign enters its final week, Progressive Conservative Leader John Tory is lashing out at Premier Dalton McGuinty, accusing him of ducking real voters and campaigning in a political bubble.
In an impassioned speech to about 50 volunteers in an Ottawa suburb Wednesday, Tory said McGuinty is afraid to talk to real people because of his party's record. McGuinty snubbed a woman Tuesday who wanted to talk about funding for religious schools and brushed past a cancer patient last week during a visit to an Ottawa hospital, he said.
"Those people don't get inside Dalton McGuinty's political bubble,'' Tory said to applause. "The real people that have the real problems don't get inside his political bubble.''
That's an insult to every single person in Ontario, Tory said.
"He goes from one sanitized photo opportunity to the next, avoiding contact with anyone who might happen to disagree with his sorry record as the premier of this province,'' he said. "You have to ask yourself this question _ what is Dalton McGuinty afraid of?''
Unlike McGuinty, Tory said he's been listening to voters, changing his stance on his controversial pledge to fund religious schools and agreeing to put it to a free vote after getting an earful from voters.
Conservatives hoped the promise of a free vote would "depoliticize'' the issue and allow Tory to concentrate on more winnable proposals. Although voters continue to raise the issue at the door, Tory tried Wednesday to focus on the doctor shortage in Ontario which he said hasn't improved under the Liberals.
Tory said a Conservative government would hire a full-time doctor recruitment specialist to ensure doctors stay in Ontario but the party couldn't say what kind of budget the office would have. The province would spend $400 million each year on doctor and nurse recruitment, Tory said.
"We're going to do whatever it takes to get some of those doctors to come home,'' he said.
