Meet Ontario's New Premier
As the Liberal leadership convention wound to a close on Saturday night, the province of Ontario found itself with a new Premier-elect and newly minted leader of the Liberal party, Kathleen Wynne. As MPP for Don Valley West since 2003, Wynne has held several high-profile portfolios in cabinet. Most notably, Wynne served as Minister of Education from 2006-10, Minister of Transportation in 2010, and most recently as Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing and Aboriginal Affairs since 2011. After she is sworn in by Lt. Governor David Onley, Wynne will make history as both Ontario’s first female, and first openly gay Premier. It is also notable that Wynne represents a Toronto riding, the first Premier to do so since Bob Rae ended his tenure in 1995.
Results of the Convention
While some pundits had pegged front-runner Sandra Pupatello as the favourite to win the Liberal leadership, Wynne, who had been in a close second place for the past few weeks, was able to edge out her rival and win decisively after several backroom dealings with other candidates.
Eliminated after the first ballot was Dr. Eric Hoskins, who in defeat chose to endorse Wynne. Pupatello, who held a narrow lead after the first ballot, secured the endorsement of candidate Harinder Takhar. Pupatello again held a slim lead after Takhar was eliminated on the 2nd ballot; however, in a surprise move, both Charles Sousa and Gerrard Kennedy elected to drop out of the race before the 3rd ballot and shift their collective support to Wynne. After the 3rd and final ballot, buoyed by the support of Hoskins, Sousa, and Kennedy, Wynne came back to defeat Pupatello, winning the leadership in convincing fashion garnering 1,150 votes to Pupatello’s 866 at the final count.
Some of Wynne’s Policy Platform Highlights Included:
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Prioritize ring of fire road corridor development
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Create a cabinet committee on Northern Ontario, and invest in northern infrastructure
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Along with her role as Premier, Wynne also committed to taking on the portfolio of the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Affairs for at least the first year of her term
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Streamline regulations impacting agri-food industry – develop single access point to government for agricultural community
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Re-introduce Ontario Local Food Act
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Ensure a sustainable horseracing industry, and increased municipal autonomy and local control on the siting of green energy infrastructure
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Return to pre-recession debt-to-GDP ratio by restricting overall spending increases to 1% below GDP growth after 2017-18.
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Create a sustainable model for wage negotiations.
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Implement the adult component of the Mental Health and Addictions Strategy
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Reintroduce Great Lakes Protection Act
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Continue to expand full day kindergarten
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30% tuition reduction grant for university students
What to expect in the Legislature
In the aftermath of her victory, Wynne stated that she plans to hold a Liberal caucus meeting in the coming week, and that the currently prorogued legislature will resume as scheduled on February 19th. Wynne has indicated that as Premier, she will strive to be more willing to work with the opposition parties than her predecessor, and plans to meet separately with both PC leader Tim Hudak and NDP leader Andrea Horwath in a bid to avert an election.
Concerning the election, it is something that most pundits agree is coming; the larger question, however, is when it will take place. Both the PC and NDP parties likely recognize that it is not in their best interests to allow Premier Wynne to settle in to her new job; nor to allow the public to forget the scandals that plagued the Liberal government in the months leading up to prorogation.
The PC party is currently leading in the polls, and has been gearing up for an election for several months now, it is likely that they will want to press their advantage as soon as possible. For the government to be brought down, however, it will take a cooperative effort from both opposition parties. Although NDP support within the province is currently as high as it has been in years, it is not clear when they will be inclined to work with the PCs to force an election. There is also still a chance that leader Andrea Horwath will choose instead to avert an election for the time being by forging a deal with the Liberals.
Although the likeliest date for a forced-election remains sometime in the spring, it is possible that we won’t see an election until the fall, or later in the event the NDP chooses to make a deal with the Liberals. Most pundits agree that although there is a chance that an election won’t happen, it is remote at best. In any case it is a situation that is worth monitoring – this is most definitely a three horse race, and all parties will be seeking to bolster their support by making creative new policies aimed at different interest groups.
Grassroots will continue to monitor the events and news coming from Queens Park for all our clients in the weeks and months ahead.
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