A News Brief by Doug Draper
The glass ceiling has been was shattered twice this January 26 in Ontario and Canadian politics.
Ontario’s first female premier, Kathleen Wynne and now one of six female premiers across Canada.
Kathleen Wynne, a Toronto area MPP and provincial cabinet minister, won an Ontario Liberal leadership race that went to three ballots this January 26, beating the party’s front-running establishment candidate Sandra Pupatello and becoming the first female and openly gay premier in the province’s history.
Wynne, whose victory was assured when Gerard Kennedy, a third-place candidate and one of the party’s more progressive voices, threw his support behind her for reasons that had to do with similarities in their slightly left-of-centre vision for the party.
Given Pupatello’s long-time political alliance with the policies of outgoing premier Dalton McGuinty, Wynne’s victory and her promise to get the prorogued provincial legislature back to work as soon as possible and work more cooperatively with opposition parties and labour may be the only chance the Liberals have of keep a grasp on power following an election that could come as soon as this spring.
Niagara At Large will offer more analysis on Kathleen Wynne’s victory in the few days ahead and invites you to share your comments below. Please Note that NAL only posts comments sent to us by individuals who are willing to share their first and last name with them. Anonymous comments are not posted on this site.
Niagara At Large 
#1 – Why is it such a stunning victory for a female to be a leader? We’re 50+% of the population. This is LONG overdue but I won’t vote for anyone just because of their sex.
#2 – What difference will it make who leads a political party? They’re all corrupt and self serving.
#3 – Why am I so disgruntled and cynical? Guess it’s due to the sorry state of politics in today’s world (not like it’s changed much over the millenia).
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I have said it before … I am NOT a Liberal. But I think the choice of Wynne as leader of the party is a good one for Ontario Liberals. She has a better chance of keeping the party from going completely down the tubes than any of the other candidates. Whether she will be able to stop the slide remains to be seen.
Much will depend on how quickly she calls the Legislature back into session and how much she is willing to work with the other parties – and the people of Ontario.
Can she put the interests of the people ahead of the interests of the Liberal party? Dalton McGuinty failed on that point.
The next few weeks will be interesting! Can Wynne avoid an election? Can she win votes outside of Toronto? We shall have to wait to get some answers.
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Kathleen Wynne looks like an excellent leader but I wonder where this leaves the three political party leading into the next election. Everything that was said about her, “left-of-centre”, “openly gay” or “work more cooperatively with…labour” makes it look like the Liberals are more likely to steal votes away from the NDP party than the Conservatives. This might be Tim Hudak’s dream outcome for the Liberal’s leadership convention.
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I am hopeful that this appointment is non-consequential and that the liberal party of Ontario goes the way of the dodo. Especially considering the political alignment she has with previous policy. I am fairly certain, reconciling with labour will only result in outrageous contract concessions with the unions. Isn’t that the reason the liberals were voted in for their second term? Selling the farm to the unions!
Funny thing; I caught snippets of the conventions speeches and the praise lavished on Comrade McSquinty. Are these people really that out of touch with reality? You wouldn’t think it possible, but it appears they actually think he did a good job. Kind of scary considering the role they play in our society! This kind of explains the mess we are in NO?
Farewell Comrade McSquinty! Take pride in the havoc you wreaked in this province. That will be your legacy as far as I am concerned regardless of what your cronies think. Farewell and good riddance!!!!
Sadly and somewhat happily…. Just sayin…..
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It can only be hoped that she will chose people who will listen to the people and NOT to the corruptive Old Boys Clubs that consider Ontario to be theirs to plunder. This has to be eliminated for we the peoples in the Southern tier of Niagara Region have had enough of corrupted politicians and their consultant friends who have robbed us of our HEALTH CARE and our rights as Citizens of Canada……..
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Mr. Craitor invite her to visit, epecially Fort Erie to see the devastation wrought down on this community by the Liberal Government of Dalton McGuinty..
Then a trip down the road to Port Colborne, Wainfleet, Niagara Falls and Welland.
Ask,…. no tell her she should listen to the people for a change not to OVERPAID CONSULTANTS, Appointed Boards and Administrations who greedily took pay increases as the ship of Health was floundering in the deepening waters of debt.
Peoples who avoided consultation with the peoples most grieveourly affected and who can’t see beyond their gross Arrogance and Ignorance the stupidity of their so called intellect.
YOU want respect, then Ms Wynne EARN IT be the premier of the people not just the teachers and Corporate Ontario.
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She was a major part of the Old “Boys Club” that plundered Ontario. Call an election and get your just reward Ms. Short-Lived Premier.
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She could start by cleaning house, but I doubt she will. She should Can Michael Chan, for a start, a Minister who has ignored everything about Culture and Heritage, over which he is supposed to preside. He doesn’t even answer his mail or delegate anyone in his staff to do so. Try emailing him about anything.
The Toronto-centric worry is a non-starter for those against her. This election if kind of a gift to that discouraging right-wing Hudak; I agree with Mathew Jantz that all this election will do is bleed from the NDP.
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I doubt if she will be able to clean up the mess she has been left by McGuinty before another election is called. One area she must visit immediately is the Social Services Reform (Income Claw Back). The minimum wage is set at $10.25 per hour, and if someone recieving ODSP or OW benefits manages to secure employment at minimum wage, and the Provincial Government “sucks” half of it back, they are breaking their own law by causing the person to earn less than minimum wage. Therefore, technically what they are doing is illegal. Also, what was done to the teachers (having the terms of their contract dictated, causing them to lose the right to strike) wreaks of dictatorship. Too bad, the Liberal Party used to be a reasonable political party. It has been all but destroyed by McGuinty, and I sure hope she doesn’t ask him for advice, or hope he will be a mentor for her. She sure has a lot of work ahead of her!
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