Ontario premier Kathleen Wynne faces dangerous tractor driving accusations

PARIS, Ont. – Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne is facing accusations of dangerous driving — on a tractor.

Wynne was campaigning today at a farm in southwestern Ontario where she promised new funding for the agriculture sector if the Liberals win the June 12 election.

She drove a red tractor down a muddy lane on the farm to a waiting bank of journalists and cameras, with farm owner Sandra Vos sitting next to her.

Tractor safety guidelines say drivers should not have any passengers, and not long after Wynne’s announcement ended the Progressive Conservativessent out a news release saying Wynne “set a very bad example.”

The Tories cited Health and Safety Guidelines for Ontario Tobacco Producers that farm tractors have killed 250 people on Ontario farms in a “recent fifteen year period,” many of them were the result of extra passengers falling off.

Wynne has not responded to the Tories’ criticism, but many Twitter users posted a similar photo of PC Leader Tim Hudak sitting on a tractor — with another man standing next to him.

When asked about the Hudak photo, which was taken last year at an agriculture event, the Tories responded that the tractor in that photo wasn’t moving.