Assuming the Liberals win the provincial election in June (and that certainly isn't a given) how long do you expect Katherine Wynne to remain as leader?

SwP thumbnail graphicBy Pepper Parr

February 19th, 2018

BURLINGTON, ON

 

The public got a first look at the four people who want to lead a provincial Progressive Conservative government.

Elliott PC

Christine Elliott

Christine Elliot a former member of the Legislature who lost her run for the leadership twice.

Ford Doug

Doug Ford

Doug Ford who wants to do for the province what his brother did for the city of Toronto.

Caroline Mulroney who started out running for a seat in the York constituency, where she was acclaimed as the candidate. The Gazette has always believed that Caroline Mulroney was setting herself up to replace Patrick Brown as the leader of the party.

caroline-mulroney-1

Caroline Mulroney

Little did she know that Patrick would self-destruct in the way he did which gave Mulroney the opening she thought she would have to wait for.

And little did she know that Brown would have his Lazarus moment and rise from the politically dead to have a seat at the debate table.

Tanya Granic Allen

Tanya Granic Allen

Then there was Tanya , a gutsy young lady who proved to be the brightest voice during the TVO debate. She kept being identified as a single issue candidate: she wants changes made in the provincial sex education curriculum, – but she had just as much to say about the rot in the PC party.

Of the four Granic Allen is the one that would give Premier Wynne a run for her money.

Patrick Brown resigning

Patrick Brown resigning as Leader of the Opposition. He has since filed nomination papers as a candidate for the leadership of the Progressive Conservative party. It is confusing.

The day after these four debated on TVO, Patrick Brown filed his nomination papers and is waiting for the Progressive Conservative party to sign off on his nomination. How they do that after booting Brown from the PC caucus is something they will have to figure out.

The Progressive Conservatives are looking for a leader and trying to find a vision, a direction they can sell to the public.

Everyone is assuming that the Liberals have all these things – and indeed they do have a formidable leader with a very clear message. They also have terrible polling results but the Liberals are tight and they have solid campaign depth.

However, should the Liberals win the provincial election in June – just how long do you expect Kathleen  Wynne to remain as leader?

wynne-at heritage dinner

Kathleen Wynne: Will she stay on the stage if she wins the provincial election in June?

She has fought the good fight and she has weathered some storms – will she want to serve another four year term as leader of the Liberal party?

And how many of the younger members of her Cabinet are going to want to continue to wait for their chance to grab that brass ring?

There are at least four that will want to jump in.

Ontario is not looking at just a new Progressive Conservative leader – it is looking at a sea change in the demographic that is going to lead the province.

Interesting and confusing times ahead.

Salt with Pepper reflects the views, observations and opinions of the Gazette Publisher.

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2 comments to Assuming the Liberals win the provincial election in June (and that certainly isn’t a given) how long do you expect Katherine Wynne to remain as leader?

  • Stephen White

    Given the shenanigans and nonsense going on in the PC Party a minority government of either Liberal or PC stripes isn’t beyond the realm of possibility. The reality for the Liberals is that there really are very few alternatives to Kathleen Wynne.

    The two obvious contenders are Charles Sousa and Eric Hoskins. After them, the talent pool wears really thin really fast. However, given the sorry state of the Ontario economy, not to mention a health care system that most finding sadly lacking on so many levels, it is hard to imagine that either gentleman can lay claim to competent management and administration. That raises the possibility of a run by a federal Ontario Cabinet Minister making the jump to provincial politics. My guess is that the most likely contender would probably be Environment Minister Catherine McKenna. McKenna at least has some gravitas, represents a Liberal riding, and has some stage presence which is more than can be said for most of Wynne’s Cabinet, our local MPP included.

    The provincial Tories really need to get their act together, and fast! This leadership contest looks like a cross between the Gong Show and America’s Got Talent. If they snatch defeat from the jaws of victory again then its time to disband the party.

  • Hans

    Granic Allen and others who refer to “rot” in the PC party have given the Liberals and NDP a great campaign topic and she is already a traitor to the party that she wants to lead; i.e., who would want to vote for a party that is described in that way by a leadership candidate?

    Rob Ford made Toronto a laughing stock. If that’s what Doug – with only the political experience of a one-term councilor – wants to do for Ontario, he should quit now.

    Ontario’s best election outcome, IMO, would be a minority government with Wynne retiring soon thereafter.