THUNDER BAY – Tim Hudak will not be in Thunder Bay this coming Monday for the Northern Leaders’ Debate.

The PC Party in a statement says, “It’s unfortunate that organizers of the NOMA debate made the decision to pick a date that only worked for some parties, not all.

“Given the important issues that face the North it was our hope that there would have been an equal opportunity for all parties to communicate their plans for the North.

“We were led to believe that there was a desire to have that comprehensive discussion.”

This is a sharp contrast from 2011. In the 2011 Election Campaign, Mr. Hudak stated he was “Delighted to have this opportunity to bring our message of change to a northern leaders debate with Andrea Horwath and Dalton McGuinty, if McGuinty decides to show up”.

The PC Party is not willing to share where their leader will be on Monday. Asked if Northern Issues matter, or if the resources in the North are important to help fuel the province, PC Party spokesperson Will Stewart responded, “Tim as said as much on the future of the North, in our white paper and in our Million Jobs Plan. He even fielded a few questions on it in a media scrum earlier this week”.

“Again, not sure why it has come to this. With so much time left in the campaign, there must have been another date that NOMA could have picked. I don’t know why they decided to issue the release making it final when they knew we could not be there”.

So despite being a solid critic of the Liberal leader missing the debate in 2011, in 2014, it is the Progressive Conservative leader who isn’t showing up.