At a hastily called caucus meeting shortly after 6pm on Monday evening, Dalton McGuinty made the surprise announcement that he is stepping down as Premier of Ontario, and resigning as leader of the Liberal Party.  In addition, he also announced that the Lieutenant Governor has accepted his recommendation to prorogue parliament, shutting down the legislature, and putting all current bills and debates on hold.  Given several recent controversial items including: ORNGE; back to work legislation for teachers; and the “contempt motion” against Energy Minister Chris Bentley related to gas plant cancellations; both the mood within the legislature and public perception was becoming increasingly negative by the day. Having recently been given 20,000 previously unreleased and unknown pages related to the gas plant issue, and with a rising and contentious price tag for their cancellation, opposition parties had become ever more hostile towards the government.  Based on this, some media pundits are suggesting that in proroguing government, McGuinty is essentially buying the future Liberal leader and next Premier some time by dismissing the legislature, and shifting the focus of the media from the existing controversies, and onto a liberal leadership race.
 
Though PC leader Tim Hudak and NDP Leader Andrea Horwath praised McGuinty’s 22 year service to the legislature, both also implored the Premier to reconsider proroguing parliament – something which is not likely to happen.  Hudak responded to the news by saying that: “Given the scope of the challenges our province of Ontario faces, now is not the time to close down the legislature and walk away”.  Perhaps even more poignantly, Horwath said in her press release that: “We have important work to do and stopping that work while the Liberals select a new Leader isn’t serving the people who elected us”.
 
The Liberal leadership selection process, which has yet to be announced, will likely result in numerous contenders stepping forward. Possible successors may include several high ranking cabinet ministers such as Finance Minister Dwight Duncan, or Municipal Affairs and Housing Minister Kathleen Wynne; as well as up and coming MPPs like party president Yasir Naqvi or possibly Toronto area MPP Glenn Murray. Retired and past cabinet ministers such as George Smitherman and possibly Sandra Pupatello should also not be discounted. As in any leadership race, candidates will be busy courting various voting blocks by proposing and debating a wide range of policy issues. The forthcoming leadership race presents a significant opportunity for stakeholder groups to have their issues debated on a provincial stage. In addition, due to yesterday’s events, the likelihood of a general election occurring next year after the liberal leadership race is all but a certainty.  Both opposition parties are well aware of this, and will almost certainly begin to increase their communications with stakeholders as if a campaign has already begun. It is critical that all interested parties stay tuned – the future of the province and its legislative landscape are about to change.
 
The team at Grassroots PA will be monitoring all aspects of this situation closely.