Premier Kathleen Wynne is swinging through southwestern Ontario.
The Ontario Liberal leader stopped in Chatham to speak with local leaders. She also paid a visit to the Chatham-Kent Museum.
Wynne attracted a crowd of residents on her stop and took a number of questions including on the sell off of Hydro One.
She says the province retains some key controls, but is using the cash from the sale of the Hydro One shares to meet the infrastructure need municipalities are calling for.
"When mayors sit down with, doesn't matter where in the province, their number one concern is making sure that there's infrastructure money flowing from the province to the municipalities," says Wynne. "You know that Ontarians are retaining more than 40% at this point of Hydro One, you know that we're building assets with all of the money that came in from the broadening of the ownership of Hydro One and it's being made into a better company."
Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne stops in Chatham and speaks with residents on July 27, 2017. (Photo by Stefanie Masotti)
Wynne says the Hydro One sell off will help create a sustainable future.
"We need to build infrastructure in this province and that's what we're doing," says Wynne. "We're retaining control in terms of the ability to remove the board, the ability to remove the CEO, making Hydro One into a better company, but building infrastructure that's desperately needed across this province."
Wynne was also questioned on government action to help workers left without severance or pensions as part of Sears store closures.
"In terms of people losing their jobs, it is painful whenever someone loses their job in this province," says Wynne. "We are working very hard with organized labour, with communities, with the private sector to bring more jobs to the province, to grow the jobs in the province and in fact — Ontario's economy is growing, but not everybody is sharing equally in that; I get that."
Wynne is expected in Windsor on Friday at 9am for event at the University of Windsor which is followed by a roundtable discussion on labour at St. Clair College at 9:50am before heading to a meeting with Windsor Mayor Drew Dilkens at city hall set for 11:45am.
— with files from Stefanie Masotti, CTV Windsor