Progressive Conservative and Green Party leaders promise positive change – and urge Ontarians to vote – in opinion pieces published by National Observer on the eve of the provincial election.

In May, National Observer invited the leaders of all four major provincial political parties to share their thoughts on the June 7 Ontario election by submitting opinion pieces.

"As I criss-cross Ontario, from Kenora to Timmins, from Windsor to Cornwall, everywhere I go I hear the same message — life is getting more expensive and it is harder to make ends meet," writes Ontario Progressive Conservative leader Doug Ford, who promises to cut taxes and increase government accountability, should he have the opportunity to govern.

Green Party Leader Mike Schreiner zeroes in on his home riding of Guelph, Ont., where he hopes his party will finally see a breakthrough.

"Guelph ... is an inclusive, caring community. We’ve led on a number of sustainability issues from conserving water to waste reduction, community energy to local food," Schreiner writes. "Now we have a chance to lead in doing politics differently. To put people over power. To elect Ontario’s first Green MPP."

A spokesperson for Liberal Leader Kathleen Wynne declined National Observer's invitation on behalf of the incumbent premier, and NDP Leader Andrea Horwath's team did not submit an opinion piece.

In reaching out to the political parties, National Observer left the topic of the opinion pieces open to the leaders, while noting visitors to the site are often particularly interested in questions around energy, public transit, climate change and national politics, as well as finding solutions and public policy.

National Observer also committed to minimal edits for style and grammar. The articles were fact checked prior to publication, and a follow-up request for more information was sent to Ford's team before removing elements from his piece that spoke about specific NDP candidates.

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