187 Search Results for wynne

A Twitter friend, Vicki Davidson, has a better memory than I do (at my advanced age, that isn’t difficult). She told me about something I once said, on Global TV, so I went looking, and found this instead, from February 2009:

• More recession madness: Kathleen Wynne, Ontario’s Minister of Education, is genuinely one of the most respected and admired politicians I have ever met. But, this morning on CBC Radio, the quoted nutty union boss said she’s “trying to resuscitate her political career” because she wants to avoid kids losing school days, as they did so often during the Harris era. Here’s a tip, pal: if there’s one politician in Canada who doesn’t need his or her career “resuscitated,” it’s Wynne. If there’s a union boss who needs his credibility resuscitated today, it’s you.

Comments (4)

A couple weeks ago, I wrote this:

Anyone who reads this web site at all knows where I stand. But I figured I would tip my hat to my adversaries in what has been a pretty good race.

Will I be involved in the OLP, going forward? Beyond the convention, no. No way. I am out, full stop.

It’s time for others to step up. I have other plans, and they don’t include the OLP war room or campaign, no matter who wins.

There’s a lot of smart folks, as noted above, to run the coming campaign. They’ll do just fine without old farts like me around.

Good luck to them.

I meant that then, and I mean it now. I’m out. Ten years with an amazing guy like Dalton McGuinty is a great run.

The online nobodies (like this loser, who has been tweeting and commenting under different names all night, or this one, who remains a jerk) have been having a field day tonight about my involvement. Keep at it, losers: neither of you has ever had the guts to step up in a campaign. Nor will you. (You’re cowards.)

I don’t regret supporting Sandra Pupatello for one solitary moment. I supported her because she was (and is!) an amazing, passionate, talented woman, and it was such a privilege to volunteer for her.

Katheleen Wynne, as I’ve noted elsewhere, is a also terrific person, and she obviously ran an amazing campaign. I wish her the very best.

But, as noted a couple weeks back, I won’t be back in the campaign or the war room. It’s time for new blood, new ideas, new faces.

Now, I need a beer.

Comments (14)

Ontario is facing long-term economic challenges, and of the provincial Liberal leadership candidates with a serious chance of succeeding Dalton McGuinty as Premier, Sandra Pupatello understands that best.

Ms. Pupatello speaks with knowledge and conviction about jobs and the economy. In her former role as minister of economic development and innovation, she worked closely with business and industry.

Of the other candidates, only Harinder Takhar has demonstrated a similar focus. It is the overarching issue facing the next premier. As they meet this weekend, Liberal delegates should reflect on what the economist Don Drummond tried to drill home in his report issued less than one year ago: “We can no longer assume a resumption of Ontario’s traditionally strong economic growth and the continued prosperity on which the province has built its public services. Nor can we count on steady, dependable revenue growth to finance government programs.”

It is all well and good to do as Kathleen Wynne, the other leading Liberal leadership contender, and some of the other candidates have done in this campaign, and emphasize social issues. Ms. Pupatello would doubtless also like to live in an idyllic society, but she understands that what is required first is economic and fiscal leadership.

Again from the Drummond report: “Unless policy-makers act swiftly and boldly … Ontario faces a series of deficits that would undermine the province’s economic and social future.”

Ms. Wynne is a tenacious and earnest competitor. But her strategy is flawed. Offering herself up as the conscience of the party might appeal to some delegates who equate Liberal values with leftish activism.

In fact, that is what the NDP already does, and the idea that Wynne-led Liberals would hive off support from the social democrats is a stretch. It could just as well work the other way.

Under Mr. McGuinty, Ontario started to adjust to its immense fiscal challenges, including confronting public-sector pay demands, even at the risk of alienating the Liberals’ base. Finance Minister Dwight Duncan announced this week a glimmer of light, that Ontario’s deficit is $3-billion lower than projected, thanks in part to some of these difficult decisions.

Ms. Pupatello seems to understand that deeper deficit financing is not the answer, and that this is the start, not the end, of what is required. Yet she is not endorsing anything more radical than a better managed version of the status quo.

If elected, she may yet have to follow some more of Mr. Drummond’s advice and pursue more aggressive change: “Do not hang onto public assets or public service delivery when better options exist. Consider privatizing assets and moving to the private delivery of services wherever feasible.”

Ms. Pupatello has another advantage over her opponents, and not just in the Liberal leadership race but among opposition parties as well: She is an effective communicator, exuding a personal warmth that may help her sell the inevitably tough fiscal medicine Ontarians will have to take in the years ahead.

The Liberals have not really recovered since winning the last election with a minority. Mr. McGuinty failed to adjust to the party’s reduced circumstances, and allowed the opposition to define the political agenda.

Ms. Pupatello was out of politics during this shambolic interlude, and is largely untarnished by it.

With Sandra Pupatello, the Liberals will have focused and energetic leadership to make up for lost time and lost credibility. She is the best choice for Liberals.

Comments (2)

Ontario Liberals are fortunate to have two experienced, capable women at the top of the list of candidates vying to become the party’s next leader – and the province’s premier – next weekend.

Sandra Pupatello and Kathleen Wynne are going into the leadership convention set off by Dalton McGuinty’s surprise resignation as the apparent favourites – and for good reason. Both have strong track records in government. Each makes a persuasive case that she is the Liberals’ best choice now.

It’s a close call, but on balance we favour Sandra Pupatello. Of all the candidates, she stands out as the one with the energy, personality and message that will give her party the best chance to hold on to power in what promises to be a closely fought contest with Tim Hudak’s Progressive Conservatives and Andrea Horwath’s New Democrats. After a year of lurching from one crisis to another, the Liberals badly need to change the channel with a new leader and a new approach. Going with Pupatello would be the most convincing way to do that.

In a meeting with the Star’s editorial board, Pupatello left no doubt what her priority would be as premier: “Jobs and the economy is the number one issue in every part of Ontario.” As minister responsible for trade and economic development from 2006 to 2011, she made her mark selling the province to the world. At the same time, she has made it clear that for Ontario the road to economic success cannot be “a low wage race to the bottom” like that being pushed by the far right.

Pupatello has also demonstrated her commitment to social justice throughout her life, and as minister of community services and education in the McGuinty government. She promises a “frugal government with a social conscience.” That’s the right message for these times of tightened budgets; it’s what voters need to hear after too many reports of wasted money in areas like the ORNGE scandal.

Pupatello brings two other important cards to the table. Her roots in Windsor (where she plans to seek re-election) allow her to counter the unfortunate, but undeniable, anti-Toronto bias in Ontario politics. And she sat out the 2011 election, and so had the good fortune to watch the government’s recent stumbles from the sidelines while adding a stint on Bay Street to her resume. As a result, it will be easier for her to campaign on a message of change when an election eventually comes.

All signs are that her main rival for the top job is Kathleen Wynne, who over a decade as an MPP and minister built an impressive record of accomplishment in three important ministries. As education minister, in particular, she drove improvements in Ontario’s school system that have made it a leader in the English-speaking world. That will be at the top of the McGuinty government’s most enduring accomplishments, and Wynne can claim much of the credit.

The knock against Wynne is that she is not “electable” – code, as she puts it herself, for being “a lesbian from Toronto.” No one knows how that would play out in 2013. But the bigger problem for her, and for other recent ministers in the leadership race, is that she is so closely identified with a government that is discredited in the eyes of many voters. That would make her an easier target for Hudak and Horwath in the next election campaign.

There’s always a chance, of course, that a convention decided by delegates and horse-trading among candidates could take an unexpected twist. Gerard Kennedy, sitting in third place going in, is trying for a comeback after falling short in previous leadership bids at both the provincial and federal levels. He has talent and experience in spades, but can’t seem to shake the perception that he is yesterday’s man.

Harinder Takhar has made a surprisingly strong showing in the race so far, but is dogged by controversy. Charles Sousa and Eric Hoskins, both strong assets for the Liberals, will have to wait for next time.

Whoever wins on Saturday will face an uphill climb to keep the Liberals in power. Any government accumulates heavy baggage after nearly a decade in office, and this one is certainly no exception. Sandra Pupatello is best placed to give the party a new face and energetic new leadership – while keeping it true to the values that make it distinct.

Comments (13)

Toronto Star, January 17:

Liberal leadership front-runner Kathleen Wynne is rejecting Tory speculation that she would formally join forces to govern with the New Democrats if chosen premier at a party convention this month.

“I have not talked about a coalition,” Wynne said after a luncheon speech to the Toronto Board of Trade…

Toronto Star, January 16:

Kathleen Wynne, a front-runner to succeed Liberal Premier Dalton McGuinty, and NDP Leader Andrea Horwath are willing to work together to avert an election.

Wynne, who is in a tight leadership race with former Windsor West MPP Sandra Pupatello, said she would co-operate with Horwath or Progressive Conservative Leader Tim Hudak.

Toronto Star, January 15:

Star: NDP leader Andrea Horwath said Tuesday that she would be open to collaboration with the next Liberal leader. Would you entertain a formalcoalition with the NDP?

Wynne: I will be reaching out to both Tim (Hudak) and Andrea (Horwath). I want the opportunity to talk to both of them. And not in a one-off, take-it-or-leave-it way, but I want to figure out how we’re going to do this, how we’re going to establish a relationship. Whichever or both of them are willing to have that conversation, I’m willing to work with them. I don’t know the level of formality. That has to come out of those conversations.

 

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Quote:

Former CAW president Buzz Hargrove isn’t a Liberal, but if he had a vote in the current Ontario Liberal leadership race, it would go to Sandra Pupatello.

“She’s the one with experience and she knows how to work with people,” Hargrove said Tuesday of the former Windsor West MPP and Liberal cabinet minister.

“She’s not a left politician,” Hargrove said Tuesday, referring to Pupatello’s reputation as a centrist in the race compared to more left-leaning candidates such as her main rival Kathleen Wynne.

“But (Pupatello) also knows in order to make a province like Ontario work you have to be working with the labour movement, not slapping it in the face as Mr. (Conservative Leader Tim) Hudak is guaranteed  to, or as Mr. (Premier Dalton) McGuinty did to the teachers,” said Hargrove, who retired as CAW president in 2008. “She’s smarter than that.”

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By Greg Crone, who has forgotten more about the Ontario Liberal Party than I’ll ever know.  The definitive take on the OLP leadership race so far.  I’ve added bolding on the stuff I think is important.

**

The results of the local delegate selection meetings are now known. What are the main takeaways? Here are seven:

First, Sandra Pupatello elected more delegates than any other candidate, and is therefore the frontrunner. Prior to last weekend, pundits were talking about Kathleen Wynne coming out of the delegate selection meetings as the frontrunner, and the main question to be settled was by how much. That equation is now flipped. Pupatello is ahead of Wynne, 504 to 463. News reports Monday referred to Pupatello and the “two frontrunners.” But the fact is it is now Wynne who is chasing Pupatello and playing catch-up. Lesson learned: There is only one frontrunner and we know who that is. 

Second, Wynne has to be surprised she came in second. The Wynne campaign went to some lengths to persuade the news media that it was the most organized. If that is still true, how does it account for the second-place showing? Now the Pupatello campaign must be seen to be equally as well-organized. Lesson learned: Don’t talk about how well you are doing. Just keep your head down and keep working.

Third, Wynne might have made a mistake doing a press conference with Glen Murray last Thursday as he exited the leadership race. The purpose was to telegraph momentum for the Wynne campaign, but the results of the weekend delegate selection vote do not indicate that any delegates went to her as a result of Murray’s endorsement. He simply had few to give, otherwise he would not have pulled out of the race. The endorsement might have had the opposite effect, spurring both Pupatello and her campaign to work even harder. Lesson learned: Momentum is great, but it has to be real. People will know it when they see it.

Fourth, commentary in the news media that many of the 67 independent delegates who were elected would have been Murray supporters who can be added to the Wynne column is simply not credible. Those independents were elected for a host of individual, very local reasons that are as varied as the number of the delegates. For example, Steve Del Duca ran a slate of independent delegates in his Vaughan riding and eight were elected. Why? Because Del Duca is co-chair of the convention, he is officially neutral, and wanted independent delegates coming from his riding. Yet some media commentators have seemingly labelled them as Murray delegates who now belong to Wynne. That’s simply not happening. Lesson learned: They call them “independents” for a reason. No one owns them, and their support has to be earned. 

Fifth, Gerard Kennedy came in third, but he elected about half as many delegates –  257 – as frontrunning Pupatello (504). He is therefore a weak third. Is there a path to victory for him? Maybe, but it is hard to imagine what it is. Why wouldHarinder Takhar or Charles Sousa roll the dice and go to Kennedy rather than go to either Pupatello or Wynne to crown the winner? Lesson learned: In order to come from behind, your starting point can’t be too far back. 

Sixth, Takhar must be elated that he came in fourth and Sousa disappointed that he came in fifth. The reason for Takhar’s strong result is that his campaign simply made a coolly rational calculation as to what it could and could not do, and concentrated its efforts in a well-organized and effective way. For example, Takhar was competing in only a little more than 50 ridings compared to the more than 90 ridings in which Sousa compete. As a result, Takhar won dozens of delegates far afield from his Mississauga base, in places like Guelph and Windsor, while Sousa came up short. If Takhar is in this to win respect, after this weekend he has more than earned it. He has put together an organization that delivers.  Lesson learned: The ground game is everything.

Seventh, Eric Hoskins must also be very disappointed, coming in sixth and last place with 104 delegates. It is difficult to see how he cannot be the first candidate to drop off the ballot. Hoskins is in many ways an attractive candidate, with a picture-perfect family, and he spoke thoughtfully about policies. But he ran an outsider campaign, labelling himself a “dark horse” and underlining his gold-plated resumé and international humanitarian work – which are impressive, but have little to do with provincial politics. Lesson learned: It is hard to be successful in politics if you position yourself as being above politics. You can win in politics only by doing politics better than anyone else.

So what’s next? Three main things.

First, you have to believe that there is a lot of effort being made to reach out and talk to the 67 independent delegates and the 420 or so ex officio delegates. Who are they? What are they thinking? Which way are they leaning? Can their support be won? Each campaign will be finding out.

Second, the campaigns and the candidates themselves are talking to one another about second-ballot support. It is a delicate business, and must be done in a respectful way. If you are Pupatello or Wynne or their campaigns, you don’t want to presume anything or take anything for granted. You don’t want to insult lower-tier candidates by assuming they can’t win, because they and their supporters are likely going to go into the convention keeping the flame of hope alive. Yet the conversations have to happen. Wynne likely did not help herself with comments over the weekend that Ontario might soon have its first female premier. Maybe so, but the other candidates, all men, are perhaps not yet ready to concede they cannot win the leadership. Why alienate those whose support you will soon need? 

Third, it doesn’t matter how many delegates you elect if they don’t actually attend the convention to vote. People get sick, get into accidents, and sometimes just don’t show up. A huge effort is being made to talk to these delegates, make sure they pay their delegate fee, make their hotel and travel arrangements, and do everything else necessary to ensure they present themselves at the convention to vote. This is all the more important for delegates coming from outside Toronto. It is all about numbers, and the ability to count. It only takes one vote to win.

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TORONTO – Is this place cursed?

Politically, it sure seems that way.  If you’re a politician, natch, you always make sure to come to seat-rich Toronto.  But God help you if you come from seat-rich Toronto.

Case in point: the ongoing Ontario Liberal leadership race. The governing party’s exceedingly civil contest to replace Dalton McGuinty has been moving along briskly for a few weeks, and will conclude at Maple Leaf Gardens at month’s end. The race features a half-dozen candidates from the Toronto area and one who isn’t.  Delegate-selection meetings took place over the weekend, and – surprise, surprise – the contestant who isn’t from Toronto won big.

She’s the Grit warrior princess, Sandra Pupatello, and (full disclosure, etc.) she’s the one I personally favour to become Premier.

Pupatello’s got all kinds of things going for her: she’s been a successful cabinet minister, she’s a formidable campaigner, she’s an inspired speaker, she’s feared by New Democrats and Conservatives alike, she’s been out of politics and far from the controversies that have raged at Queen’s Park for the past year and a bit.

But one of her biggest assets? She isn’t from Toronto. She’s from Windsor, and she’s damn proud of it.  If you run into her in an elevator, in fact, she’d likely tell you she’s from Windsor a half-dozen times before you disembark.

At the start of the Liberal leadership race, Pupatello also told anyone who’d listen that she expected no more than to “in the middle of the pack” when delegate-selection stuff had concluded. She wasn’t alone.  Media and political hacks anticipated the same thing.

Over the weekend, however, something very unexpected happened. The front-runner, Kathleen Wynne, dropped to second place.  And Pupatello surged into first, and is now the candidate to beat.  

So what happened?  Simple.  The Curse of Toronto.

Being from Calgary – and having lived in B.C. and Quebec – I can personally testify to the fact that the rest of the country loves to hate Toronto.  That may be mean, that be unfair, but they mostly do.

Now, Wynne is a thoughtful, smart, decent person.  She’s terrific.  She had loads of money, she had a well-organized campaign, she hadn’t made a lot of mistakes.

But she is also from deepest Toronto, and she literally embodies the place.  As the Sun’s Jonathan Jenkins and Antonella Artuso wrote yesterday, Wynne is seen as being “too Toronto…Wynne’s the urban, left-leaning Torontonian poster child they talk about. She was a card-carrying member of the ultimate flake club — the Toronto District School Board — which one auditor described as ‘misguided and dysfunctional’ during her term as trustee. She even joined a legal battle to fight a provincial law which required the board to balance its books.”

Ouch.

Now, being from Toronto really shouldn’t matter, but it does.  Every card-carrying Grit is aware of the fact that, in all of Ontario’s rich history, there has really been only one Premier from downtown Toronto (George Drew, look it up).

That’s not a fluke; there’s a reason for it.  In the rest of the province – and in the rest of the country, since the beginning of time – folks have had quite enough of downtown Toronto telling them how to live their lives.  

Ontarians, thusly, want someone to be their representative in Toronto.

Not someone who simply represents Toronto to them.
 

Comments (5)

Here’s Radwanski in the Globe:

“Either Sandra Pupatello exceeded her own expectations, or she did a good job of lowering everyone else’s.

The Ontario Liberal leadership candidate who came into the weekend saying she would be happy to place second in preliminary voting instead emerged with the lead, claiming 27 per cent of the more than 1,800 delegates elected to attend their party’s convention later this month. That puts her two percentage points above Kathleen Wynne, who conversely raised expectations last week by enticing erstwhile candidate Glen Murray to drop out of the race and endorse her.

The effect, particularly given her strong support among the 400-plus party elites who will automatically be granted delegate status, is to establish Ms. Pupatello as the frontrunner in the race to replace Premier Dalton McGuinty. How much that means depends largely on the judgment of a clump of candidates, running well behind her and Ms. Wynne, who seem destined to be also-rans.

Gerard Kennedy, in third with 14 per cent of delegates, probably does not have the broad appeal that could make him a real contender on the convention floor. The same is even more true of Harinder Takhar, despite a head-turning performance this weekend which left him narrowly trailing Mr. Kennedy with 13 per cent. Meanwhile, disappointing returns have made the prospects extremely dim for Charles Sousa (11 per cent) and non-existent for Eric Hoskins (6 per cent).”

What really happened? Well, nothing’s official, as there is still some counting and re-counting to do. But, bottom line, Pupatello won, and she won big.

She had said at the start of the race that, once the delegates were selected, she expected no more than to be in the middle of the pack. She was telling the truth. That’s what she, and we, expected.  None of us expected her to be at the front of the pack after the so-called LEMs.

Something happened, however. Lots of Ontario Liberals are speculating what that might be. Personally, I think it’s this:

The Curse of Toronto.

Being from Calgary – and having lived in B.C. and Quebec – I can personally testify to the fact that the rest of the country loves to hate Toronto.  That may be mean, that be unfair, but they mostly do.

But so, too, does the rest of Ontario.  I’ve lived in Ottawa and Kingston, and the only parcel of land I own on this Earth is a rocky patch in rural Ontario.  It has no cell phone coverage, no wireless, no garbage pickup, no nothing.  Thus, you’re forced to talk to your neighbours.  And, to a one, they all say that Toronto is a nice place to visit.  But they’d hate to live here.  And, if you get a couple beers in them, they’ll say they hate Toronto.  Too crowded, too busy, too noisy, too dangerous, they say. (They’re wrong, but that’s what they think.)

Until last night, the OLP leadership frontrunner was Kathleen Wynne.  She is a thoughtful, smart, decent person.  She’s terrific.

But she is also from deepest Toronto, and – clearly, to many OLP members – she embodies Toronto.  Now, that really shouldn’t matter, but it does.  Every card-carrying Grit is aware of the fact that, in all of Ontario’s history, there has really been only one Premier from downtown Toronto.

That’s not a fluke; there’s a reason for it.  In the rest of the province – and in the rest of the country, since the beginning of time – folks have had quite enough of downtown Toronto telling them how to live their lives.  They want someone to be their representative in Toronto, not someone who simply represents Toronto to them.

I’ve been wrong many times before, but I think that’s what happened this weekend.  What’s your take?

(Oh, and congrats, Pupatello!)

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As all of the OLP delegate-selection stuff begins today, I figured I would be uncharitably nice. Just this once.

The Eric Hoskins folks have run a creative, fun campaign, with “dark horse” and whatnot. They have made him a bigger name than he was going into this. In a campaign as short as this one, that’s no small achievement. Congrats to Bruce et al.

The Harinder Takhar people have also done a great job – at debates and elsewhere – transforming Harinder into a player. At the start, I ran into a member of the frontrunner’s campaign, and he was nasty and dismissive about Harinder. They’re not that way anymore. Harinder’s a significant factor.

Team Kennedy, too, have taken a guy who has been on the federal scene for quite a few years, and put him at the front of the pack in a very crowded race. In 2006, Kennedy was the guy I wanted to win the LPC race, because of his position on Québeçois as a “nation.” I would’ve liked to see more of that guy this time. But his team have served him very, very well.

Charles Sousa is equally very, very lucky to have had people like my friends Bob Richardson and Fahim Kaderdina and James Bowie helping him out. The opposition’s shorthand put down of Sousa is now utterly and completely gone. He is seen as the fiscal smart guy, and he can thank his troops for no small part of that.

Glen Murray is out, but he should’ve stayed in the race to give his supporters a chance to run as delegates. That said, his organizers – Mraz, Espie, Duffy et al. – did, truly, an amazing job making Murray a big name and a bigger presence. But I feel he should’ve stayed in the race.

Team Wynne were considered to be the most-organized from the start – and they are. They have been a well-disciplined machine. They are a formidable opponent.

There, I’ve stopped being nice.

Anyone who reads this web site at all knows where I stand. But I figured I would tip my hat to my adversaries in what has been a pretty good race.

Will I be involved in the OLP, going forward? Beyond the convention, no. No way. I am out, full stop.

It’s time for others to step up. I have other plans, and they don’t include the OLP war room or campaign, no matter who wins.

There’s a lot of smart folks, as noted above, to run the coming campaign. They’ll do just fine without old farts like me around.

Good luck to them.

Comments (13)