Retaining talent, education, and supporting the Francophone community are all priorities for Ontario Liberal leadership hopeful Mitzie Hunter.
Hunter is in Timmins this week, meeting with local Liberals and connecting with people in the community.
It's her second trip to the city this year, with her first being prior to announcing the leadership bid.
“It’s certainly very important to me. I worked quite a bit on northern issues when I was minister of education and I know how important it is to our economy and our future in Ontario,” she said.
There are three clear aspects Hunter said she's hearing.
She noted the strong Francophone community in the province and said they need to make sure the language, culture and health is reflected in provincial policies.
As communities look to grow and compete economically, she talked about how to retain some of the "best and brightest" locally.
"There are great jobs here in the north, a great quality of life here in the north and so that’s something that we need to focus on," she said.
Retention of talent is a topic she consistently hears.
"There are jobs that often times go unfilled because the specific talent has not been attracted for the position and that’s something that we have to solve,” said Hunter.
Education is part of the Hunter's answer.
She said a big aspect is the post-secondary system and the flexibility of how students are learning.
She also wants to make sure that students have the best quality of education from the earliest learners to post-secondary.
The Scarborough-Guildwood MPP is one of seven Liberals elected in 2018.
In that election, the Liberals went from governing the province to losing official party status. She's one of five people vying to be the new leader of the provincial party.
Focusing on affordability and opportunity, she wants to reboot the party.
“I bring a tremendous amount of experience to our party, both within the party as a Liberal having served in cabinet with three very large and critical portfolios. But also outside of government, and outside of politics. That’s where I bring my economic development lens and the work that I’ve done to help communities to really talk about how they create jobs, how they build attractive communities and something that I bring as an experienced leader to this role,” she said.
Wanting to bring the party together, she's set "bold" goals.
One of her challenges is knocking on a million doors after a new party leader is chosen in March.
Hunter said she's also committed to the north.
“I hope the north sees in me someone who values the north. I see our northern communities as a backbone of Ontario and it’s what makes Ontario the strong, robust and diverse province that we have,” she said
