Andrea Horwath continued her trip eastward as reporters and voters grilled her on a possible alliance with the Liberals to take down Doug Ford.

The NDP leader was touring Kingston, Smith Falls and Nepean promoting the party’s universal pharmacare plan.

Throughout the stops, Horwath was continuously prodded on whether she would collaborate with Steven Del Duca’s Liberals to end Ford’s chances at a second mandate. It’s a question that both progressive party leaders have faced throughout the campaign but has grown increasingly relevant as they have struggled to overtake the PCs in the polls.

According to iPolitics’ elections dashboard, Ford’s PCs have consistently stayed at the top of Mainstreet Research’s polling, and the NDP hasn't broken past the Liberals for second place throughout the campaign.

Horwath has consistently stated her party is aiming for a majority, a sentiment Del Duca shares, despite the dismal polling status. There's a lot riding on this election for Horwath. It will be her fourth shot at the premiership, and there have been questions as to whether or not she'll be able to stay on as party leader if she isn't able to topple Ford.

READ MORE: It might be now or never for Andrea Horwath

Her rhetoric has consistently been: “defeating Doug Ford is job number one.” That doesn’t explicitly rule out a progressive team-up, but Horwath and her party have been gunning for the Liberals throughout the campaign.

“I can certainly understand why Mr. Del Duca wants to run away from the Liberal record. It was disappointing, it toppled their government and left them with only seven seats in the legislature. So, I get it. I get why he wants to pretend that that never happened. But it did happen,” Horwath said in Kingston.

At a photo op with the party’s Lanark—Frontenac—Kingston candidate, Drew Cumpson, Horwath was met outside the bus by a local resident who questioned her on collaborating with the Liberals in an effort to stop Ford.

Horwath went after the Liberals’ 15-year record in response, which the woman did not agree with.

“Well, that’s not an answer to the question,” she said, before walking away.

“Yeah, well, it is. I’m running to be premier of a majority government,” Horwath retorted.

Kingston and the Islands was won by New Democrat Ian Arthur in 2018, for the first time since 1995, in traditionally Liberal territory. However, Arthur is retiring and a recent poll by Mainstreet Research found Liberal Ted Hsu, a former MP, has a significant lead.

Lanark—Frontenac—Kingston, a reliably Conservative riding, is home to controversial PC-turned-independent Randy Hillier, who is retiring amidst criminal charges for his actions during the “Freedom Convoy” protest in Ottawa.

READ MORE: MPPs unlikely to remove Hillier despite fresh convoy charges

In Ottawa West—Nepean, Horwath assembled with young NDP voters in the back yard of an elderly supporter’s house to discuss expensive drug costs.

The NDP lost in the riding last election by 175 votes to the PCs’ Jeremy Roberts. Chandra Pasma, the New Democrat from 2018, is running again with the hopes of ekeing out a win that was out of grasp four years ago. Another recent Mainstreet Research poll found Roberts in a tie with the Liberal candidate.

Asked why she was just in Nepean and not aiding Ottawa Centre incumbent Joel Harden’s re-election campaign, Horwath said, “We're traveling the province to engage Ontarians in a conversation about the fact that there can be hope here in Ottawa, but all around the province.

“There can be hope that the things that are so badly broken can be fixed, and you can actually elect a government that's prepared to fix the things that matter most to you.”

Horwath sticks to hopes of majority despite polling in third

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