Home to the sprawling campus of Western University, two major hospitals, the city core and suburban neighbourhoods, the riding of London North Centre is a battleground like few others inWith Andrea Horwath’s NDP and the Liberals under Steven Del Duca duking it out for
The close contest puts Green candidate Carol Dyck in an awkward position on the doorsteps of voters eager to block the Conservatives, despite Ford’s WSIB promise dangled with few details on the eve of the campaign. The WSIB promise has the potential to energize downtown London, with its commercial vacancy rate approaching 30 per cent and a once-prosperous Dundas Street shopping strip that is a shadow of its former self since the early 1990s recession. Many stores remain vacant with people sleeping in front.
The move — part of a larger Conservative strategy to spread provincial agencies throughout the province and boost local economies — could create as many as 3,000 jobs in the city, according to the Conservatives. “There are no timelines, no details, no location, no estimates on the number of positions,” says Kernaghan, a former elementary school teacher.The pressure is on Kernaghan to keep the riding NDP because the party holds neighbouring London West and London-Fanshawe, which local observers say are unlikely to change. Elgin-London-Middlesex, which includes rural areas and the nearby city of St. Thomas, is expected to stay Conservative.
The empty chair at local debates must be something new to keep voters questions muzzled.