Ontario’s Liberal leadership candidates are facing off Sunday in Thunder Bay, with the debates likely to start heating up.

The ongoing problems with the teachers’ union is nearly certain to a major topic in Sunday’s debate, with rotating one-day strikes set to begin Monday.

The candidates will likely debate about a local topic as well, specifically the government’s decision to freeze plans to convert a coal-fired generating station in Thunder Bay to natural gas.

The opposition Conservatives have said the Liberals have actually cancelled the project rather than put a freeze on – a claim the Liberals flatly deny.

The debates have been focused on small rural Ontario towns, thought to be key for the Liberals in the upcoming election.

Kathleen Wynne, thought by some analysts to be the front-runner, said she would serve as agricultural minister for a year should she win the leadership.