This article isn’t for everyone.

Don’t get me wrong. Throughout this campaign I have spoken to all Ontarians about our positive, realistic plan for Ontario. I’ve visited every region of our province. And I’ve met with people from every walk of life

But today, I want to speak to a very specific group of voters.

If you have voted NDP in the past, or are thinking of voting NDP this election, I am speaking to you.

If you are passionate about social justice and helping the most vulnerable in Ontario, I am speaking to you.

And if you want to stop Tim Hudak’s reckless approach, I’m speaking to you.

The fact is you and I are not very different. Like you, I care deeply about my kids and grandchildren, but also about other people’s kids getting a chance to succeed in life. And like you, I am convinced that if Tim Hudak is given the slightest opportunity, he will destroy and dismantle so much of what you and I care about in this province.

I am talking to you because you have the power to choose a positive, progressive direction for Ontario, and avoid the path of destruction presented by Tim Hudak.

Just about every observer of this election has said that the government I lead presented the most progressive budget in decades. It is a budget that would see more investment in the education and future of your kids. It would provide better care for your aging parents. It invests in jobs and growth, while also helping people save for a decent retirement. It provides the biggest single infrastructure investment in Ontario history: $29 billion — $15 billion in the GTHA and $14 billion elsewhere in Ontario. This will create the new transit, roads and bridges so essential to our economy and our quality of life.

As for Tim Hudak, well, we all know where he stands. He wants to fire 100,000 people across this province. Education workers, firefighters, nurses and water inspectors. He wants to slash spending in health and education. He hasn’t got a secret agenda to do this; he’s been very open and clear about it.

In Tim Hudak’s Ontario you’re on your own.

That’s not my Ontario. And I know it’s not your Ontario.

The good news is that there’s something you can do about it. You can vote to stop him.

But the reality is you can’t do that by voting NDP. Andrea Horwath has said she’s open to supporting a Hudak government — refusing to rule out joining the PCs in a coalition. That’s how much the NDP has lost its way. It’s not the party of Jack Layton or Ed Broadbent or Stephen Lewis. In an effort to win just a few more seats in the Legislature, Andrea Horwath has abandoned the people the NDP once professed to defend. In doing so, she’s created the very real possibility of a Tim Hudak-led government.

Michele Landsberg, a treasured Star columnist for so long and one of our country’s great social-democrats, spoke for so many when she said in these pages last week: “We are simply heartbroken by the (NDP’s) right-wing swerve, its use of conservative language that can only reinforce the Hudak party line, and its heedless neglect of long-honoured principles of social justice.”

In a very real sense, a vote for Andrea Horwath is a vote for Tim Hudak.

If you want a progressive government, you need to vote for one. If you want a plan that shares your values, there is only one party and one leader that have put one forward

Sometimes in our democracy, a relatively small number of people can make a huge difference in an election. In fact, they can decide the outcome of the election. This is one of those times. And you are one of those people.

This election is razor-thin close. And it is up to you to decide whether our province, whether our kids and grandkids, will have a progressive government or a reactionary government. A government that builds up Ontario or one that tears us down.

On June 12, I ask you not just to stop Tim Hudak and his wrecking crew, but to elect a government that shares your values, your ideals and your priorities.

Kathleen Wynne is leader of the Ontario Liberal Party and premier of Ontario.

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