NDP candidate challenges Tories to say which public service jobs will be cut

On Saturday, Joe Cimino, NDP candidate for Sudbury, held a news conference in front of Lansdowne Public School to call on the Progressive Conservatives to say which public services jobs they would cut in Sudbury.

Tory Leader Tim Hudak has said he will cut 100,000 of Ontario's approximately one million public sector jobs as part of the party's platform to reduce spending. The NDP says when broken down riding by riding, it represents 934 government jobs that will be cut in each riding.

“Tim Hudak has committed to a 100,000-job-loss plan,” Cimino said in a weekend news release.

“That’s 934 families in each riding across the province. The families who depend on those jobs here have a right to know: Who is Tim Hudak going to fire in Sudbury? How many firefighters, paramedics, educational assistants, and teachers are going to lose their jobs here? I challenge the Hudak Conservatives to say which 934.”

Ontario's New Democrats are trying to get the hashtag #which934 trending and are getting their candidates to challenge their Tory rivals in each riding about which jobs would be lost under the Hudak plan in their riding. In Sudbury, Catholic School Board Trustee Paula Peroni is running for the Conservatives.

Speaking in front of Lansdowne on Saturday, Cimino said he's worried about “the profound impact the Hudak cuts would have on families across the region.

“Stronger communities are not created by cutting services and jobs that families depend on. People here deserve an answer: which 934?” the release quotes Cimino as saying.

“Unlike Tim Hudak, Andrea Horwath and the Ontario NDP have a plan to create local jobs, by rewarding employers for every new job they create with a tax credit, hiring teachers and investing in northern infrastructure.”

Cimino is battling with Peroni and Liberal candidate Andrew Olivier to become MPP for Sudbury. Longtime Sudbury MPP Rick Bartolucci is retiring. Ontarians go to the polls June 12.