Ford joined by Nipissing MPP Vic Fedeli and Sault MPP Ross Romano (well, sort of)

Newly elected Ontario PC leader Doug Ford says he’s going to fight for northern Ontario if he becomes Ontario’s next premier.

Ford was joined by Nipissing MPP Vic Fedeli during a conference call with reporters from northern Ontario Friday morning.

“My message today is very clear: Northern Ontario can count on the PCs,” Ford told reporters. "Under the PC government, northern Ontario will have a strong voice. Northern Ontario will be open for business. Northern Ontario will have lower hydro bills, northern Ontario will have shorter wait times, and better health care, and northern Ontario will see an end to the sweetheart deals of Kathleen Wynne’s millionaire friends and more money in your pocket instead of the government’s pocket.”

“Northern Ontario will have a very, very big say in every decision made at Queen’s Park.”

Ford touched on some issues affecting northerners during the conference call, including passenger rail.

“The Liberals’ cuts to the Northlander passenger rail leaving many communities in the north with [no] way to get around,” Ford said. “...you always provide people with proper transportation. It just opens their lives up for employment, for you know, entertainment.”

“When they bring the train back, they’re going to be able to find good-paying jobs that might be half an hour away, and it gives them that opportunity to find good employment.”

The Ontario PC leader also said he’s committed to breathing life into the Ring Of Fire project, hinting that building roads and infrastructure to support the mining project could help the province’s economy.

“I’m tired of talk,” said Ford. “We’re going to start building roads, there’s billions of dollars of chromite up there that needs to be mined, we just have to get there.”

Sault MPP Ross Romano participated in today's conference call, but had difficulty scoring any points because of technical issues.

When asked by a local reporter how Ford would push Essar Steel Algoma out of insolvency protection, Ford was hoping that Romano - who had originally been scheduled to join Ford and Fedeli on the conference call - would assist him in answering the question.

“I was up in the Sault, and I was speaking to the representative Ross Romano, and I’m not too sure Ross if you’re on the line or not, but that’s one of his major concerns and we’re going to do everything we can to help the people up there. We’re going to try and sit down and see how we can be of assistance to Algoma.”

Realizing Romano was not on the call, Ford then asked Fedeli to ‘finish this off,’ referring to the question posed to him regarding the local steel plant.

“It’s not just the bankruptcy protection, it’s all of the pressures that have been on the company,” said Fedeli. “When you’ve got the highest electricity rates in North America, when you’ve got so many business pressures being put on you.”

“I think that’s why Ontario is going to elect Doug Ford as our premier,” he continued. “He stands up for the little guy, he’s going to fight for us, just the way he’s continued to fight in the past.”

“I know that Doug is going to make Ontario open for business.”

Ford began speaking out against the ‘terrible, terrible’ carbon tax when Romano joined the conference call.

“Why don’t you jump in on this, since this is your hometown there?” Ford said.

“It’s certainly a very concerning area for our community, and it’s left people in this community for the last several years feeling the sense of hopelessness, a sense of concern,” said Romano. “There’s people being a little bit afraid to invest in the economy locally.”

“What you’ll be hearing me say….” Romano said as the connection began to break up moments after he had joined the Conservative conference call.

The connection issues then resolved themselves somewhat and Romano was able to rejoin the conversation.

“.... significant hurdle that we need to overcome, and something the Liberals have ignored for too long.”

SooToday has no idea what Romano said during the time we couldn't hear him.

Later in the day, Ford issued a written statement about northern Ontario.

"I have always stood up for the little guy, and today, I want the little guy to know there's hope," said Ford.

"The Ontario PC Party is strong and united, with one goal in mind, sending the Wynne Liberals packing."

"My message today is clear; northern Ontario can count on the Ontario PCs. Under a PC government, northern Ontario will have a strong voice. The region will have a say in every decision made in Queen's Park."