With the Progressive Conservatives mired in leadership chaos, NDP Leader Andrea Horwath says only her party can provide an alternative to Premier Kathleen Wynne’s Liberals.

Horwath told a campaign rally Friday in Regent Park that the New Democrats would bring “change for the better” if elected June 7.

“When it comes to who’s in shape to take the reins of this province, certainly the Conservative party is not showing itself to be an option,” the NDP leader said after a speech to 120 cheering partisans at the Daniels Spectrum.

“We see the Conservatives staggering through a leadership crisis and nomination controversies and disputes over memberships and money,” she said.

“Their current interim leader and candidates in the leadership say they need to ‘root out the rot’ within their party. We see them fighting over what they stand for. It’s a party going backwards — and trying to drag Ontario with it.”

Noting Ontarians want change after almost 15 years of Liberal government, Horwath promised the New Democrats would ease hospital overcrowding, return Hydro One to public ownership, and improve public services “from child care to your kids’ classroom to transit and affordable housing.”

“In this campaign, I’m going to work to replace the cynicism people are feeling today with hope,” she said.

Speaking with reporters, Horwath conceded it is a challenge to gain profile for the NDP’s plans because the Conservatives’ travails have dominated media coverage since ex-leader Patrick Brown’s fall from grace Jan. 25.

“You get drawn to things like a train wreck — doesn’t necessarily mean you want to be in it.”

Interim Ontario Progressive Conservative leader Vic Fedeli says he informed party executives of his lack of confidence in Patrick Brown hours before the ousted PC leader launched a bid to reclaim his job. (The Canadian Press)

The ongoing PC leadership race being contested by Brown, former MPP Christine Elliott, ex-Toronto councillor Doug Ford, rookie candidate Caroline Mulroney, and anti-sex education activist Tanya Granic Allen is attracting the lion’s share of attention in provincial politics right now.

But Horwath said once that is settled March 10, Ontarians’ focus will return to more substantive matters such as pharmacare, wages, and electricity rates.

“I’m the scrappy third-party leader and I’ve been around for a while so I do my best and I’ll keep doing my best.”

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Indeed, the spring election will be Horwath’s third at the helm of the party — she finished behind the Liberals and the Tories in 2011 and 2014.

“We’re going to have a lot more to say over the next 104 days. We’re going to release an election platform that I know New Democrats will be very proud of,” she said, mindful of supporters’ past disappointments.

“And we’re going to run the biggest campaign the NDP has ever run in Ontario, because I am running for premier and the NDP is in it to win it.”

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