‘I could step into the premier’s role at any time,’ says Bonnie Crombie

I’m trying to eat carb free, but I’m going to make an exception. I always make exception for salty fries and now I’m going to make an exception for the chicken burger because it looks delicious. This is deluxe. You know it is deluxe because this town is a single arch town. You’re a fast learner. I love Sudbury actually. I love coming up here and fabulous restaurants. I’ve been indulging. So Sudbury is A1 Arch town, which you have quickly learned a lesson. Now, Sudbury is not currently a Liberal town, at least provincially. It’s NDP. What are you going to do to make it a Liberal town? They’re not a Liberal town yet because they haven’t met me yet. That means you have to be here. I will be. I’ll be spending a lot of time. I love Sudbury. I love the landscape. I love the people who are warm and kind and generous. It has an is abundance, which is my favorite word lately. Abundance of natural resources and critical minerals and very hard working discipline people and the people here. I’ve seen the work ethic and the desire to get ahead and how difficult it has been for them and what I’ve learned over the past few days that I’ve been here. I’ve been here since very early Sunday. They want their voices heard and they want a seat at the table. They’re tired of Queens Park making decisions for them that aren’t relevant for them and that has that I’ve listened to loud and clear. What do you want younger people to know about you? That’s a great question. So I grew up from a work in a working class family. We are Polish immigrants. My grandparents and my mother came after World War 2. And like any new immigrant and many, you have new many new immigrants now in Sudbury that it’s very diverse culture here you you do whatever job you can get, whether it’s on the loading dock or in the mines. And my grandfather worked in the mines as well. And then he was very fortunate just to get a job at the Globe and Mail newspaper. He was the janitor for 40 years and he he raised me with my grandmother and my mom because my mom had an unsuccessful marriage, because my biological father suffer from mental health addiction issues. He was an alcoholic, a gambler, and when my mom left him at a young age. So I feel the same ethics and values that’s of Sudbury and so hard work, dedication but also family, the strength of family, the strength of community, church and that hard work ethic. I was always told get a good education and and you will succeed. And that good education, hard work, grit will help you succeed. And those are the things that have shaped my life. And it was a formula that worked before. And like my grandfather, you could put down a down payment and get a manageable mortgage and buy a large house which they turned into a rooming house and they took in boarders. And my grandmother cooked and while he worked as a janitor and when my mom left my dad, my biological father, we moved in. And so I was raised by this loving little family of immigrants and a House of people I didn’t know but came to know. And I also understand the issue of mental health and addictions, which I know you feel acutely here in Sudbury having some of the highest rates of mental health and opioid use and even suicide rates in the country by by population. And I felt that as a young child and my biological dad died in a men’s shelter called Seton House in Toronto. And I want people to know that about me because obviously the ads show portray a different person who is not me at all. They make things up and unfortunately people believe what they see. But at the core, I’m a product of immigrants who was taught that, you know, hard work and education would get me ahead. And I too believe. And if you listen to my speech this afternoon you will hear, but we need to create abundance and grow our economy and we will do that through education. It is the key to investment in education to solve our healthcare crisis, to solve our housing crisis and we need to invest in our educators and our special Ed teachers as well and assistance. OK. Actually one of the students asked I know it was a lot 1 student said how do you fix the housing crisis. Education is the key so we’re going to just and and training training and so skilled train skill trains. I had the opportunity to meet with skilled labor yesterday. Some of the private private sector unions, the Boilermakers, the the painters union, the pipe fitters, the IBW, just in a range of brick layers, all of them and and you know their Liberal Party used to enjoy a great relationship with the unions and that has changed over the years. And I’m here to say we are back and I want to forge more a stronger and more collaborative relationships with all the unions. And we need training centers. We need great relationships with unions. And we need to get our kids into the trades. These are highly paid, highly skilled jobs. You know, when I was growing up, my choice was, are you going to be a doctor or a lawyer? I asked my kids, are they going to be a plumber or electrician? Because those are some of the highest paid jobs. If you tried to call a plumber or electrician, first of all, you’re waiting for weeks. Second of all, the hourly rate. They deserve it, don’t get me wrong, but these are highly paid, highly skilled jobs and we need to get more of our young people to consider the skilled trades. I have to ask you, I know you’re still leading, but I have to ask you because the Conservatives talk about you all the time in Queen’s Park as the queen of the carbon tax. What’s your reaction to that? I think there is no place for derogatory name calling Trumpisms here in Canada. I think the it’s a mischaracterization because the reality is we only have a carbon tax because of Doug Ford. Doug Ford created the carbon tax here in Ontario because he canceled cap and trade. I have said repeatedly would not introduce a carbon tax that we will have a strong and ambitious climate change policy. He has no policy. We will have a policy that will not tax families, farmers, consumers, that will make polluters pay. But this sort of name calling is so inappropriate in Canadian politics and it’s a mischaracterization because the reality is he created the carbon toxin can eliminate it at any time. You say one more thing, it’s this brand of politics that it really keeps more and more women away from politics because it creates a toxic environment. And I mean, I’ve got tough skin. I’ve been at this a long time. It doesn’t bother me. But I’m here to promote more women in politics and more diversity in politics and and and don’t aspire to this kind of or subscribe to this kind of name calling and mischaracterization. I mean, the reality is there’s a carbon tax in place because of Doug Ford. You’re fighting against the NDP. Here in Sudbury, though, Jamie West is the local member of provincial parliament. How different are you from that party? I’ve been a mayor for the past decade, which means I’m a centrist. I’ve never run a deficit. I’ve never, I’ve never been allowed to run a deficit. Whatever revenue I raise is what I spend. I have a lot of governing experience, both as a member of Parliament, as a city councillor, but running the third largest city in the province, a significant governing experience. And I think that that gives me a lot more, let’s call it gravitas, experience, competence. We are the governing party in waiting. We are the party of proposition, not opposition. We are the ones in the media room each and every week proposing private members bills. And the media has asked me these are good ideas, What if the government adopts them? I said I hope they do because they’re the right thing to do. So I think the significant difference is that, you know, I’m more of a centrist and then I have more governing experience and the reality is I could step into the premier’s role at any time and take over the problems.