He has family roots in the region and Ontario Progressive Conservative Leader Tim Hudak says the Southwest is becoming reminiscent of hard-hit former U.S. manufacturing states. Thursday, in an editorial-board meeting, he laid out his thoughts on turning that around and prospects of an election.

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Q:The latest opinion surveys suggest only one-third of Ontarians want an election. How do you convince voters it’s time to go back to the polls?

It breaks my heart to admit this, but a politician knocking on somebody’s door or calling them on the phone or putting ads on their favourite show isn’t exactly a pleasant experience . . . But if I ask people does Ontario need to change course, can Ontario, can London, can Southwestern Ontario do better than we’re doing today — and will it take a new team to get us on that — I get a lot of yeses on that.

Q: It’s not even clear from the polls if anybody would get a majority government. If you were to win a minority government, how would you approach finding a dance partner with the NDP and Liberals? Would you dance?

Behind the scenes, I’ve actually established good relationships with both Premier (Kathleen) Wynne and (NDP Leader) Andrea Horwath. We do meet from time to time. Obviously, we don’t always see eye-to-eye on the solutions to the problems, or even sometimes what the problems are, but we can get along. We can talk through things . . . I had a grand total . . . with (former premier) Dalton McGuinty . . . of one meeting. I would build on that.

Q: After the last election and how things shaped out, it appeared there’s a pretty sharp urban/rural divide — the PCs in the rural and small-town areas and the Liberals in metro areas. What’s happened since that would change that?

I think that pockets that were hardest-hit by the downturn . . . moved away from the government in the last election campaign. The areas that were a bit more of an island, in terms of security, tended to stick with the government. So what’s changed? I think the economic insecurity, the concern about jobs, the realization we can’t spend beyond our means in the government, has grown into an issue in big cities as well as small towns. The hunger for change, as a result, has increased across our province.

Q:London has the highest big-city jobless rate in the country. Many of the cities around us are not doing much better. This is a struggling region. What can be done about that?

It’s heartbreaking to see the unemployment we have or to drive through London, through St. Thomas, through Chatham and see the empty shells, the skeleton of what had once been a very powerful and proud manufacturing sector. Not to use too strong of a term here, but I do think that Southwestern Ontario has turned into a Rust Belt area. We need to turn it around. No. 1, you’ve got to balance the books. I simply believe that well-run provinces attract well-run businesses. No. 2, we need to get our energy rates under control. No. 3, we need to lower taxes. That will encourage businesses to bring in a new product line, expand their shop to hire men and women again. The fourth thing . . . is modernize our labour laws. (Manufacturing jobs) are going across the border into Michigan, Indiana and Wisconsin. We need to give workers a choice if they want to belong to a union or not and send a signal Ontario is open up for investment. The fifth thing — the top thing I hear from businesses — is this thicket of red tape, rules and runaround they have to cope with just to get something done. If I can’t reduce the number of regulations by at least one third, I will dock the pay of my cabinet and I will dock my pay as premier as well.

Q:Let’s talk about regulations. Where would you cut?

Everywhere. Right across the board. There are a number of areas, we need a wholesale change.

Q: The counter-argument to that is Ontario has a reputation for being environmentally sound and having a social safety net. How do you prevent cutting so deeply into the regulations and programs where people don’t get alarmed you’re taking away environmental protection or . . . letting business run roughshod over this safety net?

You make sure it is about outcomes . . . the goal you want to get to, as opposed to trying to babysit and micro-manage every step of the way. You’re talking about how much pollutant can come out of a smokestack for a factory, for example. You set that goal and then let them figure out what technology is going to help them get there. You measure it and you make sure you have strong fines, punishment, whatever . . . but you don’t have to babysit every step of the way.

Q:There’s always a fear when you talk about updating labour laws and that jobs are moving south (that) it could suggest to people you also want private-sector wages to drop as well.

No, quite the opposite. Our plan will increase take-home pay. How do you actually cause wages to go up? You increase the demand for workers. That means more jobs in our province. We have to have people that want to set up business in Ontario, that will look for people to hire and that will keep wages up. If we keep our heads in the sand, we’ll see more and more manufacturing jobs pick up and go to Indiana, Michigan and Wisconsin. (Otherwise), when companies like Toyota are looking to build, they’re going to look to Tennessee instead of coming to Ontario.

Q:You’ve talked about putting a moratorium on new wind-farm developments. Would that extend to projects already approved and not yet built? Where would the line be?

They’ve got about 10,000 contracts that are somewhere in the pipeline today and there are different stages of contracts. So you have to be practical. What is going to have the least impact on the taxpayer? So, the contracts that have not been signed, you don’t sign any more. Those that are up and producing power, you respect those. Those that are in-between, the energy minister needs to have a system to make the call: Is it better to follow the contract all the way through and add on the power and build the transmission and the risk of having to export (unneeded power) to the States and pay them to take our power, versus using the termination clause in the contract? You’ve got be thoughtful, practical.

Q: What about local control over where these things go?

Re-establish that. Lambton County, Chatham, Middlesex — you should have a say on these projects.

Q: Final say?

Yes. This is not something new. This is the traditional way of doing it. Just like it exists for a Tim Hortons or a hot-dog stand or a new Walmart coming into town.

Q: Would a Progressive Conservative government support wind farms in the Great Lakes?

You point out an important irony. You had the (Liberal) government that did a moratorium in the lakes (on wind turbines) to protect the fish and the birds. What about people? Why didn’t we take a similar approach to land-based wind turbines? I don’t see adding on wind farms in the lakes, in our provincial parks, on the Niagara Escarpment.

Q: You’ve focused on manufacturing. There are theories the future is hi-tech. Do you think we can still remain a manufacturing centre?

I do. Any solid recovery has to be broad-based. Some people take manufacturing off that list. They call it a sunset industry. My Ontario will always build things, will always fix things. It’s part of our culture. It helped build and define our middle class.

Q:Would you make LCBO workers essential workers and ban the strike that’s threatening?

No, I’d give more choice. You can go east, west, south . . . into a province or a state where you can actually buy a six-pack of beer or a bottle of wine at a grocery store or convenience store or private store. So, why don’t we actually have more choice here in Ontario? Hasn’t the time come? There’s a million people in Ontario that don’t have a primary-care physician. So, if you’re in my shoes, would you spend hundreds of millions of dollars building brand new fancy LCBO stores . . . or would you actually put it into health care or help our kids in the classroom?

randy.richmond@sunmedia.ca

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LONDON-AREA SEAT STANDINGS

(In the Ontario legislature)

Progressive Conservatives: 7

Liberals: 1 (London North Centre)

New Democrats: 1 (London-Fanshawe)

Vacant: 1 (London West)