Leadership

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Premier McGuinty announced on October 15, 2012, that he would resign as leader of the Liberal Party of Ontario and premier of the province once his successor was chosen.[1] On November 2, 2012, Wynne resigned her cabinet post and three days later launched her bd for the leadership of the party.[2][3] Wynne was seen as having the strongest on-the-ground organization among the seven candidates and along with former MPP Sandra Pupatello was one of the frontrunners.[4] She had the most supporters running to be delegates at the convention, with 1,533, and the only candidate to have supporters in place in all 107 of the province's ridings.[5] Days before members were to begin electing delegates Glen Murray announced he was exiting the leadership race and endorsed Wynne's candidacy.[6] Despite running the most supporters for delegate positions Wynne placed second, with 468 delegates, behind Pupatello who had 509 delegates.[7] Pupatello was also believed to have the most support among ex-officio delegates, which are MPPs, MPs, defeated candidates and other Liberal insiders, and was expected to increase her lead over Wynne on the first ballot at the convention.[8][9]

At the convention on January 26, 2013, Wynne surprised many with her strong speech to delegates. In the speech she discussed repairing relations with teachers, working with opposition parties, and took aim at her main rival Pupatello, who doesn't hold a seat, by saying that she was ready to govern and would recall the legislature on February 19. Wynne also addressed her sexuality saying; "When I ran in 2003, I was told that the people of North Toronto and Thorncliffe Park weren’t ready to elect a gay woman. Well, apparently they were." She went on to say that "I don’t believe the people of Ontario judge their leaders on the basis of race, colour or sexual orientation – I don’t believe they hold that prejudice in their hearts".[10][11][12][13][14][15]

When the first ballot results were announced Wynne received 597 votes, trailing Pupatello by only two votes. Eric Hoskins received the fewest votes of the six candidates and was therefore eliminated. Hoskins threw his support behind Wynne while fourth place candidate Harinder Takhar announced he was endorsing Pupatello. On the second ballot Pupatello's lead grew to 67 votes over Wynne. Takhar, who's name was left on the second ballot, finished last and was eliminated from the race. Gerard Kennedy and Charles Sousa, who finished third and fourth respectively, withdrew from the race and both endorsed Wynne. With the support of both Kennedy and Sousa, her win was all but guaranteed on the third ballot. When the results of that ballot were announced Wynne received 57 per cent of the votes compared to 43 per cent for Pupatello.[16]

Public opinion

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Opinion polls originally showed very high levels support for Dunderdale and her party, similar to those seen by her predecessor Williams. However, in the two years since becoming premier support for her and the Progressive Conservative Party has declined dramatically.[17] Between February and March 2011, three opinion polls were released. A NTV/Telelink poll showed that 53 percent of those surveyed would vote for the Progressive Conservative, 17 percent chose the Liberals, 5 percent chose the New Democrats, and 24 percent were undecided. The poll also found that even with 18 percent of those surveyed undecided 65 percent felt Dunderdale was the best choice for premier.[18] An Angus Reid Public Opinion (Angus Reid) poll which was released two weeks later, showing the approval ratings of Canada's premiers, listed Dunderdale as the second most popular premier in Canada with a 55 percent approval rating. 10 percent of respondents disapproved of her performance while 35 percent were not sure if they approved or disapproved of her performance.[19] A Corporate Research Associates (CRA) poll released in March also showed that 73 percent of those surveyed would vote for the Progressive Conservatives, down 2 percent from November 2010. This compared to 18 percent for the Liberal Party and 8 percent for the NDP. 64 percent of those surveyed felt Dunderdale was the best person to be premier of the province; this result was 12 percent lower than what Williams had received in November.[20][21]

After initially maintaining most of the record high support that Williams received during the majority of his tenure as premier, Dunderdale and the PC Party saw a substantial drop in support following the Spring sitting of the House of Assembly. A CRA poll released in June showed support for the party had fallen to 57 percent, down from 73 percent in three months. Dunderdale’s own popularity also took a hit, however 51 percent of those surveyed still felt she was the best choice for premier.[22] Support for Dunderdale and her party stabilized in the months following. A CRA poll released less than two weeks before the dropping of the writ for the election showed that 54 percent of those surveyed would vote for the PC Party. This was 30 percentage points ahead of the NDP who had jumped to second place with 24 percent. Dunderdale was still considered the best choice for premier by 50% of those surveyed.[23] An Angus Reid poll conducted in August showed that Dunderdale was again the second most popular premier in the country. 55 percent of Newfoundlanders and Labradorians surveyed approved of her performance as premier, which was 12 percentage points higher than Angus Reid's last poll which was conducted in May.[24] Throughout the course of the provincial election campaign opinion polls showed that support for the Progressive Conservatives ranged from 53 percent to 59 percent and that Dunderdale remained the preferred choice for premier.[25][26][27][28]

A CRA poll conducted in November 2011, showed a slight increase in support for Dunderdale and the PC Party following their election win. 60% of decided voters supported the party, while Dunderdale was the preferred choice for premier by 59% of those decided.

  1. ^ "Dalton McGuinty resigns and prorogues legislature". CBC News. October 15, 2012. Retrieved January 28, 2013.
  2. ^ "Wynne poised to announce Ontario Liberal leadership bid". Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. 1 November 2012. Retrieved 29 January 2013.
  3. ^ "Kathleen Wynne launches Ontario Liberal Party leadership bid". Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. 5 November 2012. Retrieved 29 January 2013.
  4. ^ Radwanski, Adam (11 January 2013). "This weekend determines pecking order in Ontario Liberal leadership race". Globe and Mail. Retrieved 29 January 2013.
  5. ^ Benzie, Robert (8 January 2013). "Kathleen Wynne leads Liberal leadership race". The Toronto Star. Retrieved 29 January 2013.
  6. ^ Benzie, Robert (11 January 2013). "Ontario Liberal leadership: Glen Murray drops out to support Kathleen Wynne". The Toronto Star. Retrieved 29 January 2013.
  7. ^ Chown Oved, Marco (24 January 2013). "How the Ontario Liberal leadership convention works: Candidates, delegates, ballots and voting". The Toronto Star. Retrieved 29 January 2013.
  8. ^ Diebel, Linda (15 January 2013). "Ontario Liberal leadership: Sandra Pupatello says politics is in her DNA". The Toronto Star. Retrieved 29 January 2013.
  9. ^ Jenkins, Jonathan (14 January 2013). "Ontario likely to see first female premier in Sandra Pupatello or Kathleen Wynne". The Toronto Sun. Retrieved 29 January 2013.
  10. ^ [13/01/the-race-for-premier-frontrunners-kathleen-wynne-and-sandra-pupatello-address-the-liberal-party-convention/ "The Race for Premier: Frontrunners Kathleen Wynne and Sandra Pupatello Address the Liberal Party Convention"]. Torontoist. 26 January 2013. Retrieved 29 January 2013. {{cite news}}: Check |url= value (help)
  11. ^ "Kathleen Wynne's Speech At Ontario Liberal Convention". The Huffington Post. 26 January 2013. Retrieved 29 January 2013.
  12. ^ Radwanski, Adam (27 January 2013). "For Ontario Liberals, the convention speeches mattered". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved 29 January 2013.
  13. ^ Leslie, Keith (27 January 2013). "Kathleen Wynne Chosen As Ontario Liberal Leader, Next Premier At Convention". The Huffington Post. Retrieved 29 January 2013.
  14. ^ Howlett, Karen (27 January 2013). "Impassioned speech and help from right-of-centre Sousa win the day". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved 29 January 2013.
  15. ^ "Kathleen Wynne – Speech to Liberal Convention Delegates". NetNewsLefger. 26 January 2013. Retrieved 29 January 2013.
  16. ^ Mohammad, Adam (27 January 2013). "Liberal leadership: Kathleen Wynne to become next premier of Ontario". Ottawa Citizen. Retrieved 29 January 2013.
  17. ^ "Dunderdale, Tories slip again in latest tracking poll". Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. 6 September 2012. Retrieved 12 December 2012.
  18. ^ "Provincial Tories Still Have Big Lead: Poll". NTV News. 2011-02-16. Retrieved 2011-02-17.
  19. ^ "Saskatchewan's Wall Becomes Most Popular Premier in Canada" (PDF). Vision Critial/Angus Reid. 2011-03-02. Retrieved 2011-03-02.
  20. ^ "Support for the Progressive Conservative Party Remains High" (PDF). Corporate Research Associates. 2011-03-07. Retrieved 2011-03-08.
  21. ^ "PCs, Dunderdale Still Dominate: Poll". Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. 2011-03-07. Retrieved 2011-03-08.
  22. ^ "Tories drop, NDP surge in new poll". Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. 2011-06-07. Retrieved 2011-06-07.
  23. ^ "NL PCs Lead by a Wide Margin Going Into Election" (PDF). Corporate Research Associates. 6 September 2011. Retrieved 14 September 2011.
  24. ^ "Wall, Dunderdale and Selinger are Best Rated Canadian Premiers" (PDF). Angus Reid. 6 September 2011. Retrieved 14 September 2011.
  25. ^ Sweet, Barb (6 October 2011). "In-depth poll points to PC win". The Telegram. Retrieved 29 October 2011.
  26. ^ "Newfoundland Liberals distant third, Tories leading over NDP in Environics poll". The Telegram. 5 October 2011. Retrieved 29 October 2011.
  27. ^ "Dunderdale's PCs continue to lead according to poll". The Telegram. 20 September 2011. Retrieved 29 October 2011.
  28. ^ "Liberal support in freefall: poll". Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. 30 September 2011. Retrieved 29 October 2011.