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118-525: After the federal government announced recreational use of cannabis would be legalized in 2017 or early 2018, then Premier Kathleen Wynne commented the LCBO stores might be the ideal distribution network for stocking, controlling and selling such products. The Ontario Public Service Employees Union (OPSEU), which represents LCBO staff, also lobbied for the LCBO to have a monopoly on cannabis sales. In response to

236-489: A cabinet shuffle occasioned by the resignation of Joe Cordiano from the Legislature. She was the province's first openly lesbian cabinet minister and only the second openly LGBT cabinet minister after Deputy Premier George Smitherman . On January 18, 2010, she was moved to minister of transportation and in 2011 she was appointed minister of municipal affairs and housing and minister of aboriginal affairs . In

354-542: A $ 200 per month earnings exemption for those on Ontario Works and Ontario Disability Support Program , $ 5 million into First Nations education, elimination of the employers health tax exemption for large companies, postponed tax cuts for big businesses, extended the capital cost allowance for machinery and equipment, increased the Ontario Child Benefit from $ 1,100 to $ 1,310 per year to support low-income families and other economic measures. Critics called

472-543: A $ 650,000 marketing and branding contract, was derided as "boring" and "underwhelming". Following the 2018 provincial election , the new provincial government led by Premier Doug Ford announced the OCRC would not be opening physical stores and that cannabis sales in Ontario would instead be conducted by private stores. Under this new model, the OCRC continues to operate the provincial online cannabis sales service and serves as

590-630: A concept that led to Canadian Confederation . After 1867, Edward Blake became leader of the Ontario Liberal Party. The party sat in opposition to the Conservative government led by John Sandfield Macdonald . Blake's Liberals defeated the Tories in 1871 , but Blake left Queen's Park for Ottawa the next year, leaving the provincial Liberals in the hands of Oliver Mowat . Mowat served as Premier of Ontario until 1896. While

708-423: A convention polarized around the candidacy of former Toronto Food Bank head Gerard Kennedy . In the 1999 election , the governing Conservatives were reelected on the basis of strong economic growth and a negative campaign tightly focused on portraying McGuinty as "not up to the job". A poor performance in the leader's debate and a weak overall campaign hamstrung the new leader, but he was able to rally his party in

826-539: A dynasty which was to rule Ontario for the next 42 years. Ontario politics in recent times have been dominated by the Progressive Conservatives , also known as the Tories. The Liberals had formed the Government for only five years out of sixty years from 1943 to 2003. For forty-two years, from 1943 to 1985, the province was governed by the Tories. During this period, the Ontario Liberal Party

944-648: A former Canadian politician who served as the 25th premier of Ontario and leader of the Ontario Liberal Party from 2013 to 2018. She was member of provincial parliament (MPP) for Don Valley West from 2003 to 2022. Wynne is the first female premier of Ontario and the first openly gay premier in Canada. Wynne was first elected to public office as a trustee for the Toronto District School Board (TDSB) in 2000. She subsequently

1062-519: A fourth term in office, and moved from minority to majority government. However, the election results proved to be mixed: It was observed after the election, that her sexual orientation was treated as a complete non-issue during the campaign with Wynne subject to no significant comment because of that personal detail. On July 2, Wynne re-convened the Ontario Legislature to pass the budget that had been introduced, but not voted on, prior to

1180-592: A growing anti-Catholic sectarian sentiment hurt the Liberals, particularly in Toronto where they were unable to win a seat from 1890 until 1916. The Liberals continued to decline after losing power, and, for a time, were eclipsed by the United Farmers of Ontario (UFO) when the Liberals were unable to attract the growing farmers' protest movement to its ranks. Debates over the party's policy on liquor divided

1298-576: A hard time winning an election. The Liberals had held office only three times for 13 years since 1900 and the party caucus was not that much different from the time between 1959 and 1963. They failed to get a popular candidate, Charles Templeton , elected in a by-election. They also lost another riding to the PCs when Maurice Bélanger died in March 1964. Thompson would last only two years as leader before resigning due to stress-induced health problems. Throughout

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1416-415: A key Liberal campaign pledge not to raise taxes, and gave the government an early reputation for breaking promises. The Liberals defended the premium by pointing to the previous government's hidden deficit of $ 5.6 billion, and McGuinty claimed he needed to break his campaign pledge on taxation to fulfill his promises on other fronts. The Ontario Health Premium also became a major issue in the early days of

1534-440: A libel lawsuit against PC MPP Lisa MacLeod and Party Leader Hudak after they said that she "oversaw and possibly ordered the criminal destruction of [gas plant] documents". In July 2015, Wynne, MacLeod and Hudak reached an agreement whereby the lawsuit was dropped. They said in a joint statement, "Politics is not for the thin-skinned. However, our system also requires that politicians act honestly and based on fact, while respecting

1652-564: A member of the Select Committee on Electoral Reform, which recommended "that the referendum be binding upon a vote of 50% + 1, and the support of 50% + 1 in at least two-thirds (i.e., 71) of the ridings or any other formula that ensures the result has support from Northern, rural, and urban areas of the Province", although the cabinet subsequently decided on 100. On September 18, 2006, she was promoted to minister of education in

1770-470: A minority government. Wynne ran a fairly controversy-free campaign, although her performance in the televised leaders' debate on June 3 was criticized by pundits as being weak and she was on the defensive for many of the scandals that had plagued her predecessor, Dalton McGuinty. The NDP's slow start and public internal rift over the party's decision to reject Wynne's budget coupled with the unpopularity of Hudak's 100,000 job cut pledge helped Wynne throughout

1888-604: A partnership with Cisco Canada that would create 1,700 new jobs. Prior to these announcements, Wynne had announced tax relief for small businesses by increasing the employers' health-tax exemption from $ 400,000 to $ 450,000. Between late October and early November 2014, Wynne went on a trade mission to China along with other provincial premiers. The trade mission attracted approximately a billion dollars' worth of investment and 1,800 new jobs to Ontario. After Honda announced plans to invest $ 857 million in three plants, Wynne also announced that her government would invest 10 per cent of

2006-468: A piece of legislation called the Public Sector and MPP Accountability and Transparency Act , which implemented a wide range of new measures designed to increase government accountability and transparency. Among other things, the act required all MPPs, cabinet ministers, parliamentary assistants, opposition leaders, and their respective staff to post their expense reports online, expanded the powers of

2124-549: A poor campaign under leader Lyn McLeod , and was beaten by the Progressive Conservatives under Mike Harris . Harris swept to power on a right-wing " Common Sense Revolution " platform. In 1996, the Ontario Liberals selected Dalton McGuinty as their leader in a free-wheeling convention. Starting in fourth place, McGuinty's fiscally prudent record and moderate demeanor made him the second choice of

2242-597: A return to a balanced budget in 2017–18. The province unveiled its climate change plan, which introduced a phased-in cap-and-trade plan that will be similar to schemes in California and Quebec. As a result, gasoline prices increased by 4.3 cents per litre in 2017 and natural gas rates rose by 3.3 cents per cubic metre. In education, the provincial government announced it would provide free college and university tuition for students from families with an annual household income of less than $ 50,000. The province's debt in 2016

2360-576: A role in the McGuinty government's costly decision to cancel the construction of gas plants in Mississauga and North-East Oakville in 2011, when she was co-chair of the Liberal campaign. Wynne denied that she was involved in the gas plant meetings or in the decision to cancel the plants, and asked the auditor general to investigate the cost of cancelling the plants. After months of investigation,

2478-489: 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 were not ready to elect a gay woman. Well, apparently they were." She went on to say "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." When

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2596-427: A separate company and sold outright for up to $ 3 billion. The government pivoted to the left in the lead up to the 2018 election by raising the minimum wage, introducing reforms to employment standards and labour law, bringing in a limited form of pharmacare and promising universal child care. In the 2018 general election , the Liberals were swept from power in a historic defeat that resulted in large gains for both

2714-488: A series of high-profile maulings, the government also moved to ban pit bulls . During early 2005, McGuinty called the Legislature back for a rare winter session to debate and pass several high-profile bills. The government legislated a Greenbelt around Toronto. The size of Prince Edward Island , the Greenbelt protects a broad swath of land from development and preserves forests and farmland. In response to court decisions,

2832-481: A subsidiary of the LCBO with a mandate to initially open 40 stores before legalization took effect in October 2018. OCRC also entered a partnership with Shopify to use the company's platform for operating the province's online cannabis sales. In March 2018, OCRC adopted the trading name Ontario Cannabis Store for its retail services. The OCS logo, designed by a Canadian subsidiary of Leo Burnett Worldwide as part of

2950-520: A year earlier. The black market remained persistent as of October 2019, partly because of a lack of retail outlets in many communities and because of the lower prices charged of illicit product. Illicit sales accounted for 86% of the Canadian market, with prices being 30-35% lower on average according to a report. As of September 2020, the legal market had gained ground. OCS said the legal market made up 25.1% of sales. The average price for dried flower on

3068-451: The 2007 provincial election , Wynne was challenged by the PC leader John Tory . Tory, who was elected to Dufferin—Peel—Wellington—Grey (former PC leader Ernie Eves ' riding) in a by-election, was seeking a seat in a Toronto-area riding. Though it was projected to be a close race, Wynne was re-elected with 50.4 percent of the popular vote, defeating Tory, who came in second with 39.7 percent of

3186-472: The December 2023 leadership election which elected Mississauga mayor Bonnie Crombie as the new Liberal leader. On December 2nd, 2023, the Ontario Liberal Party elected Bonnie Crombie , the then-mayor of Mississauga, as the next leader of the party, defeating MP Nate Erskine-Smith , MP Yasir Naqvi , and MPP Ted Hsu . The executive of the Ontario Liberal Party is elected to a 12 to 18 month term at

3304-683: The Family Compact . The modern Liberals were founded by George Brown , who sought to rebuild the Reform Party after its collapse in 1854. In 1857, Brown brought together the Reformers and the radical " Clear Grits " of southwestern Ontario to create a new party in Upper Canada with a platform of democratic reform and annexation of the north-west. The party adopted a position in favour of uniting Britain's North American colonies,

3422-737: The University of Toronto . She achieved a Master of Education degree in adult education from the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (University of Toronto). She was a member of the discipline committee of the Ontario Society of Psychotherapists from 1997 to 2000. Wynne served as president of the Toronto Institute of Human Relations. In 1996, she helped found Citizens for Local Democracy, which opposed

3540-623: The amalgamation of Metropolitan Toronto undertaken by the Progressive Conservative (PC) government of Premier Mike Harris . She founded the Metro Parent Network (later renamed the Toronto Parent Network) which supports improvements in the province's public education system and has participated in numerous other community endeavours. Prior to her coming out as a lesbian at age 37 she

3658-692: The centre to centre-left of the political spectrum, with their rival the Progressive Conservative Party positioned to the right and the New Democratic Party (who at times aligned itself with the Liberals during minority governments), positioned to their left . The party has strong informal ties to the Liberal Party of Canada , but the two parties are organizationally independent and have separate, though overlapping, memberships. The provincial party and

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3776-466: The integrity commissioner and ombudsman , and introduced a fine of $ 5,000 for the willful destruction of government records. While Wynne declined to characterize the act as a rebuke to McGuinty and those who had been involved in the deletion of gas plant-related emails, the act was widely seen as a response to the gas plants controversy and other controversies over government officials' and public sector employees' expenses. In April 2014, Wynne launched

3894-558: The 1960s and 1970s, the Liberals were almost shut out of Metropolitan Toronto and other urban areas and, in 1975, fell to third place behind the Ontario New Democratic Party (NDP) under Stephen Lewis . With the NDP in ascendancy in the late 1960s and 1970s, it appeared that the Liberals could disappear altogether. The Liberals remained more popular than the Tories among Catholic and Francophone voters, due to

4012-478: The 1999 amalgamation of the old City of Toronto with the rest of Metropolitan Toronto . She attempted to enter provincial politics on the strength of her grassroots work and sought the Liberal nomination in St. Paul's for the 1999 provincial election but was defeated for the party nomination by Michael Bryant by a margin of 328 votes to 143. She was elected to the school board the following year, and in 2003, became

4130-491: The 2004 federal election, called a week after the Ontario budget. Most believe that the controversy seriously hampered Liberal Prime Minister Paul Martin 's bid for re-election. Also controversial were the elimination of coverage for health services not covered by the Canada Health Act , including eye examinations and physical therapy . Other elements included a four-year plan to tackle the deficit left behind by

4248-412: The 48-seat loss in 1943 that began the Tories' long rule over the province. Peterson himself was heavily defeated in his own London-area riding by the NDP challenger. By the 1995 election , the NDP government had become very unpopular due to perceived mismanagement, a few scandals, and because of the severe downturn in the economy. The Liberal Party was expected to replace the unpopular NDP, but it ran

4366-671: The Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario (AGCO). Initially, the Ontario government planned to limit the number of retail outlets for cannabis to 25, operated by private enterprise, and to allocate them through a lottery system. Only 25 licences were issued in January 2019, and another 50 were awarded in August 2019. The government continued to operate the online sales business via its Ontario Cannabis Store website. However, in December 2019,

4484-545: The Angus Reid Institute reported that her job approval rating had fallen to 12 per cent, the lowest ever recorded. Wynne has faced negativity on social media outlets, such as Twitter and Facebook . Although most of the negative tweets express anger solely about her record as premier, some include sexist and/or homophobic slurs. Her sexual orientation is said to have made her more vulnerable to these abuses. Although Wynne faces sexist and homophobic abuse, she

4602-593: The Liberal nominee in Don Valley West . In the 2003 provincial election , she defeated Progressive Conservative cabinet minister David Turnbull by over 5,000 votes and became MPP for her riding. The Liberals won the election, and Wynne was appointed parliamentary assistant to Minister of Training, Colleges and Universities Mary Anne Chambers , in October 2003. In October 2004, she was appointed parliamentary assistant to Minister of Education Gerard Kennedy . From June 2005 to November 2005 she served as

4720-413: The Liberals in the Toronto suburbs. The NDP promised a return to the activist form of government that had prevailed from 1985 to 1987, and its co-operation with the Liberals during that time made it appear more moderate and acceptable to swing voters in the Toronto area. Due to the nature of the first-past-the-post system, the Liberals were decimated, falling from 95 seats to 36. The 59-seat loss surpassed

4838-457: The Liberals to win a historic third consecutive term and to once again form government, albeit with a minority of seats in the legislature. The Liberals won 53 of the 107 seats, just short of a 54-seat majority government. On October 15, 2012, McGuinty announced that he would resign as leader and Premier. At the end of January 2013, the party elected MPP Kathleen Wynne as leader, making her the 25th Premier of Ontario. The June 12, 2014 election

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4956-420: The Liberals updated the definition of marriage to include homosexual couples. McGuinty also launched a PR campaign to narrow the politically charged $ 23 billion gap between what Ontario contributes to the federal government and what is returned to Ontario in services. This came as a sharp turn after more than a year of cooperating with the federal government, but McGuinty pointed to the special deals worked out by

5074-462: The Liberals, but were overruled by upper management. There was also controversy surrounding a cartoon in the Sun newspapers during the final week of the campaign that showed a pair of broken glasses, presumably Wynne's, smashed on the ground with a smattering of blood. The cartoon received near universal condemnation for projecting the image that abusing women was somehow accepted in society. Nevertheless, in

5192-587: The McGuinty campaign kept a positive message throughout. The PCs' negative attacks on McGuinty backfired throughout the campaign. The new government called the Legislature back in session in late 2003, and passed a series of bills relating to its election promises. The government brought in auto insurance reforms (including a price cap), fixed election dates, rolled-back a series of corporate and personal tax cuts which had been scheduled for 2004, passed legislation which enshrined publicly funded Medicare into provincial law, hired more meat and water inspectors, opened up

5310-450: The OCS had fallen to $ 7.05 per gram after taxes, compared to the average price for illicit cannabis at $ 7.98 per gram. The growth is also attributed to an increase in brick-and-mortar retail, with 110 stores operating as of Q3 2020, compared to just 22 at the same time last year. Kathleen Wynne Kathleen O'Day Wynne ( / w ɪ n / WIN ; born May 21, 1953) is

5428-420: The Ontario election to be a wild card three-way race between the Liberals, PCs and NDP, the first two weeks of the campaign saw the polls stabilize into a narrow two-party race between Wynne's Liberals and Tim Hudak's PCs, with the NDP falling into a distant third. The first public poll of the campaign, conducted by Forum Research, showed the PCs ahead in the popular vote, but the Liberals likely on track to retain

5546-549: The Ontario government announced that it would eliminate the lottery system and the cap on the number of licences, and that it would allow any qualified applicant to apply for a Retail Operator Licence and a Retail Store Authorization. The new open market model was intended to increase the number of retail outlets in the province, and to reduce the black market for cannabis. Some 20 new licences would be issued per month starting from April 2020. By March 2021, there were 572 authorized cannabis stores operating in Ontario, compared to just 53

5664-410: The Ontario wing of the federal party were organizationally one entity until members voted to split in 1976. The Liberals lost official party status in the 2018 Ontario provincial election ; they had fallen to only seven seats, the worst defeat of a governing party in Ontario history. Prior to the 2018 election, the party had won every election since the beginning of the 21st century and had governed

5782-506: The Progressive Conservative government. In 2001, Wynne helped pass a measure encouraging public schools to purchase teaching materials reflecting the presence of gay and lesbian parents in modern society. In December 2001, she ran for chair of the school board but was defeated by Donna Cansfield in a 12–10 vote. Wynne was a co-founder with John Sewell of Citizens for Local Democracy, a grassroots group that opposed

5900-460: The Progressive Conservatives and NDP. The Liberal popular vote fell to 19%, almost half their previous result; the party lost 51 seats and were reduced to a rump of only seven seats in a swing that elected a PC majority and made the NDP the official opposition. Notably, the Liberals lost all but three of their 18 seats in Toronto, were completely shut out in the 905 region and won only one seat outside of Toronto and Ottawa. The seven-member rump caucus

6018-512: The Progressive Conservatives, free immunization for children, investments in education and investments to lower waiting times for cancer care, cardiac care, joint replacement , MRI and CT scans. Soon after the federal election, McGuinty hosted a federal-provincial summit on public health-care funding which resulted in a new agreement for a national health accord. This accord allowed the provincial Premiers and territorial leaders to draw more money from Ottawa for health services, and requires

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6136-479: The Tories became a narrow, sectarian Protestant party with a base in the Orange Order , the Liberals under Mowat attempted to bring together Catholics and Protestants, rural and urban interests under moderate, religiously liberal leadership. The Liberals were defeated in 1905 after over thirty years in power. The party had grown tired and arrogant in government and became increasingly cautious. As well,

6254-644: The UFO. Hepburn was able to build an electoral coalition with Liberal-Progressives and attract reformers and urban voters to the party. The Liberal-Progressives had previously supported the UFO and the Progressive Party of Canada . A "wet", Hepburn was able to end the divisions in the party around the issue of temperance which had reduced it to a narrow sect. The revitalized party was able to win votes from rural farmers, particularly in southwestern Ontario, urban Ontario, Catholics and francophones. It also had

6372-578: The United States. In the 2003 election , McGuinty led the Liberals to a majority government, winning 72 out of 103 seats. The PC government's record had already been marred by a number of prior events, including the death of Dudley George , the Walkerton water tragedy and the government's performance during the SARS outbreak . The PC's election campaign relied on attack ads against McGuinty, while

6490-603: The administration of grade school and post-secondary education was largely marked by labour disruptions and teacher strikes. Wynne immediately started new collective bargaining negotiations with the Elementary Teachers Federation of Ontario (ETFO) after a year of labour distress that had culminated in the Putting Students First Act, 2012 , which had suspended collective bargaining rights, imposed contracts on teachers and suspended

6608-613: The advantage of not being in power at the onset of the Great Depression . With the economy in crisis, Ontarians looked for a new government, and Hepburn's populism was able to excite the province. In government, Hepburn's Liberals warred with organized labour led by the Congress of Industrial Organizations , who were trying to unionize the auto-sector. Later, he battled with the federal Liberal Party of Canada government of William Lyon Mackenzie King , which, Hepburn argued,

6726-435: The auditor general released their report on the gas plants in October 2013, suggesting the cancellation of both gas plants could cost taxpayers as much as $ 1.1 billion. After the report was released by the auditor general, Wynne admitted the gas plant relocations "shouldn't have happened". She apologized, vowing to ensure that "this doesn't happen again". In February 2013, the legislative committee that had been investigating

6844-496: The budget a lavish expenditure in order to gain support from the New Democratic Party (NDP) for the budget. PC leader Tim Hudak had earlier said that he would not support the budget regardless of its contents. He said, "the sooner there's a change in government, the better it is to give hope to people in the province who have lost hope." On June 11, 2013, the budget passed by a vote of 64–36 with NDP support and all 36 PC members voting against it. Kathleen Wynne's involvement with

6962-514: The budget. On April 21, 2015, Wynne announced that the provincial government would foot the entire bill for the construction of the Hurontario–Main LRT in the Region of Peel , to connect Mississauga with Brampton , a major infrastructure project in one of the fastest growing regions of the province. On May 26, 2015, Wynne announced that the provincial government would fund 100 per cent of

7080-453: The building of hospitals. Following the campaign, however, the McGuinty government allowed "3P" hospital construction deals arranged by the previous government to continue. The Ontario Liberals won their second majority in a row on October 10, 2007, winning 71 of the province's 107 seats. Winning two majorities back to back is a feat that had not occurred for the party in 70 years. In the next general election on October 6, 2011, McGuinty led

7198-423: The campaign. She began to eat away at the NDP's traditional left-wing support, especially in and around Toronto, and the controversies over some of Hudak's economic policies hurt him among centrist voters across the province. Furthermore, Wynne ran hard near the end of the campaign on the premise that in a close election, the Liberals were the only party who were in a position to defeat the PCs. The Liberals ran ads in

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7316-604: The costs to build a LRT system in Hamilton . Wynne announced that $ 1 billion would be allocated for the project, with construction slated to get underway in 2019. Wynne also announced the extension of the Lakeshore GO Line from downtown Hamilton to a new station at Centennial Parkway in Stoney Creek. The 2016 budget projected $ 133.9 billion in spending resulting in a deficit of $ 4.3 billion for 2016–17, with

7434-596: The decision to cancel the plants, and had learned of the decision to cancel the plants through media reports. In June 2013, opposition parties called on the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) to open an investigation into new allegations that staffers in Premier McGuinty's office had deleted emails regarding the gas plants. On June 7, the OPP launched a criminal investigation into the deletion of

7552-562: The election and acknowledged her party would not form government again. The Liberals would lose official party status in the worst defeat of a governing party in Ontario history. Wynne subsequently resigned as Liberal leader on election night and was succeeded by Ottawa South MPP John Fraser as interim party leader. Wynne formally resigned as premier on June 29, 2018. She held her seat in the Legislative Assembly and continued to sit as an MPP until 2022 when she did not contest

7670-585: The emails, after the Privacy Commissioner ruled that the gas plant emails were illegally deleted. In April 2014, OPP investigators stated that there was no evidence that the premier had been involved in the deletion of emails related to the gas plants, and that the Premier was not the subject of their investigation, which was instead focused on staffers and bureaucrats who had worked in Premier McGuinty's office. On March 24, 2014, Wynne introduced

7788-463: The federal Task Force on Marijuana Legalization and Regulation recommendation against selling cannabis in conjunction with alcohol, in September 2017, the Ontario government announced the LCBO would be the sole vendor of recreational marijuana to the public in that province, but not through the 651 stores that sell alcoholic beverages. The Ontario Cannabis Retail Corporation (OCRC), was established as

7906-517: The federal government to take provincial concerns such as hospital waiting-lists into account. McGuinty's performance at the summit was generally applauded by the Canadian media. The McGuinty government brought forward a number of regulatory initiatives in the fall of 2004. These included legislation allowing bring-your-own-wine in restaurants, banning junk food in public schools to promote healthier choices, outlawing smoking in public places and requiring students to stay in school until age 18. Following

8024-468: The federal government with Newfoundland and Labrador and Nova Scotia as compromising the nature of equalization payments . In particular, McGuinty noted that immigrants in Ontario receive $ 800 in support from the federal government, while those in Quebec receive $ 3800. In the 2003 campaign, the Liberals denounced public-private partnerships (also known as "3P" deals) for infrastructure projects such as

8142-413: The figures named in the scandal were Tom Long , former Harris campaign chairman, Leslie Noble, former Harris campaign manager and Paul Rhodes , former Harris communications director. On May 18, 2004, Provincial Finance Minister Greg Sorbara released the McGuinty government's first budget. The centrepiece was a controversial new Health Premium of $ 300 to $ 900, staggered according to income. This violated

8260-466: The final week of the campaign, Wynne led most public opinion polls, some of which projected a majority Liberal government on June 12, though the final polls of the campaign predicted different results. One pollster, Ipsos Reid, still projected on the final day of the campaign that the PCs were ahead among likely voters, and that the NDP and Liberals were tied at around 30 per cent. On election day, Wynne's Liberals led province-wide all night as they captured

8378-448: The final weeks of the campaign warning voters that a vote for the NDP would be a vote for the PCs as it would further divide the anti-Hudak vote (who was quite unpopular among a broad swath of Ontario voters). This tactic was similar to what the federal Liberals were successful at doing during the 2004 federal election , where the party pushed hard for strategic voting to stop the federal Conservatives, led by Stephen Harper. In fact, many of

8496-515: The final weeks of the campaign. The Ontario Liberals garnered 40% of the vote, at the time their second-highest total in 50 years. McGuinty's second term as opposition leader was more successful than his first. With the Liberals consolidated as the primary opposition to Harris's Progressive Conservatives, McGuinty was able to present his party as the "government in waiting". He hired a more skilled group of advisors and drafted former cabinet minister Greg Sorbara as party president. McGuinty also rebuilt

8614-408: 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, whose name

8732-499: The gas plants cancellation prior to McGuinty's resignation and prorogation of the legislature in October resumed its work. Wynne called for the release of all documents related to the decision to the legislature's Justice Committee and agreed to testify before the committee, while continuing to deny that she was involved in the decision to cancel the plants. Appearing before the committee in April 2013, Wynne testified she had had no role in

8850-493: The government's total shares. Wynne used approximately four billion dollars of the nine billion dollars which the shares were sold for to pay off government debt before the next election, and the other five billion dollars to the Trillium Trust to improve transit lines and to build infrastructure. Wynne faced major backlash for the privatization of Hydro One. Approximately 67 per cent of Ontario citizens did not agree with

8968-475: The issue of free trade . The majority Liberal government of 1987 to 1990 was less innovative than the previous minority government. The Liberals' increasing conservatism caused many centre-left voters to look at the Ontario NDP and its leader Bob Rae , and consider the social-democratic NDP as an alternative to the Liberals. The Liberals went into the 1990 election with apparently strong support in

9086-415: The membership, forced the resignation of at least one leader, Hartley Dewart , and drove away many reform-minded Liberals who supported the federal party under William Lyon Mackenzie King but found the provincial party too narrow and conservative to support. The party was so disorganized that it was led for seven years (and through two provincial elections) by an interim leader , W.E.N. Sinclair , as there

9204-406: The minimum wage to $ 14 an hour, and introduced free post-secondary tuition for families making under $ 50,000. Controversially, her government introduced a reformed sex education curriculum, brought in a cap-and-trade pollution pricing regime with Quebec and California , and privatized Hydro One . Wynne sought another mandate in the 2018 provincial election ; however, she conceded midway into

9322-427: The minister of education the power to audit school boards if disclosure of spending was not provided. Wynne established the Premier's Youth Advisory Council to advise the premier on issues facing youth. In February 2015, her government introduced changes to the sex education curriculum, which has not been updated since 1998, in public schools. However, these changes were met with controversy and criticism not only by

9440-467: The next two years. Once the accord expired, an election was called and Peterson won a strong majority government with 95 seats, its most ever. Peterson's government ruled in a time of economic plenty where occasional instances of fiscal imprudence were not much remarked on. Peterson was a close ally of Prime Minister Brian Mulroney on the Meech Lake Accord , but opposed Mulroney on

9558-438: The opposition parties but among parents and conservatives; in one instance, some schools were empty as some parents pulled their children out in protest of these changes. In her final year as premier, Wynne also introduced back to work legislation for two different strikes by post-secondary educators, where the unions complained of precarious working conditions and predatory wages, in some cases caused by chronic under-funding from

9676-475: The party and made it appealing to urban voters and immigrants who had previously supported the cautious government of Tory Premiers John Robarts and William Davis . Peterson was able to form a minority government from 1985 to 1987 due to an accord signed with the Ontario NDP. Under this accord, the NDP agreed not to trigger an election via a non-confidence vote in exchange for the Liberals implementing certain agreed upon policies and not calling an election for

9794-476: The party elected former Cabinet Minister Steven Del Duca as leader, who defeated five other candidates on the first ballot at the leadership convention . In the 2022 general election , the Liberals finished second in popular vote but gained only one seat, once again falling short of official status by four seats. After failing to win in his own riding, leader Steven Del Duca announced his resignation as party leader. John Fraser returned as interim leader until

9912-482: The party's fundraising operation, launching the Ontario Liberal Fund. He personally rebuilt the party's platform to one that emphasized lowering class sizes, hiring more nurses, increasing environmental protections and "holding the line" on taxes in the buildup to the 2003 election. McGuinty also made a serious effort to improve his debating skills, and received coaching from Democratic Party trainers in

10030-438: The party's support for extending separate school funding to include Grades 11–13. The Tories opposed this extension until 1985, when they suddenly reversed their position. This reversal angered traditional Conservative voters, and may have contributed to their defeat in the 1985 election . The Ontario Liberal Party first broke the Tories' hold on the province in 1985 under the leadership of David Peterson . Peterson modernized

10148-469: The popular vote. Premier Dalton McGuinty announced on October 15, 2012, that he would resign as leader of the Ontario Liberal Party and premier of the province once his successor was chosen. On November 2, 2012, Wynne resigned her cabinet post and three days later launched her bid for the leadership of the party . Wynne was seen as having the strongest on-the-ground organization among the seven candidates, and along with former MPP Sandra Pupatello , and

10266-545: The privatization, and her approval rating dropped to 14 per cent, the lowest of any premier in Ontario's history. On March 21, 2013, Wynne introduced her government's first budget with measures that included a $ 295 million investment into a youth jobs strategy to help tackle the high youth unemployment rate, reducing auto insurance rates by 15 per cent to save motorists $ 225 a year, $ 260 million investment to boost home care health services for 46,000 seniors, $ 45 million investment into an Ontario Music Fund to help Ontario musicians,

10384-473: The province for the previous 15 years. In the 2022 provincial election , the Liberals saw a modest increase in support, finishing second in popular vote, but only winning eight seats. The Liberal Party of Ontario is descended from the Reform Party of Robert Baldwin and William Lyon Mackenzie , who argued for responsible government in the 1830s and 1840s against the conservative patrician rule of

10502-437: The province into a general election. The day after the budget was read, Wynne went to the lieutenant governor to dissolve the Legislature and trigger an election, rather than wait for her budget to be voted down on the floor of the Legislature. The election was called for June 12, 2014, extending the campaign to five weeks (rather than the minimum of 29 days) to avoid a conflict with a Jewish holiday. While pundits had predicted

10620-591: The provincial election and retired from politics. Kathleen O'Day Wynne was born on May 21, 1953, in Richmond Hill , to Dr. John B. Wynne and Patsy O'Day. Her mother was a musician who grew up in Nassau in the Bahamas before immigrating to Canada. Wynne grew up in Richmond Hill, Ontario . She earned a Bachelor of Arts degree at Queen's University and a Master of Arts degree in linguistics from

10738-459: The provincial government. Her legislation to force an end to the strikes succeeded in the first case but failed in the second. On January 30, 2014, Wynne announced her government increased the minimum wage from $ 10.25 to $ 11 after a four-year freeze on the rate and introduced legislation to ensure future increases to the minimum wage to keep up with the CPI (Consumer Price Index). Wynne also announced

10856-550: The provincially owned electricity companies to Freedom of Information laws and enacted a ban on partisan government advertising. The McGuinty government also benefited from a scandal involving the previous Progressive Conservative government's management of Ontario Power Generation and Hydro One, which broke in the winter of 2003–04. It was revealed that a number of key figures associated with Mike Harris's "Common Sense Revolution" had received lucrative, untendered multimillion-dollar consulting contracts from these institutions. Among

10974-419: The public opinion polls. This support quickly evaporated, however. On the campaign trail, the media reported that the Liberals were met by voters who were angry at going to the polls just three years into the government's mandate. Another negative factor was Peterson's association with Mulroney and the failed Meech Lake Accord attempt at constitutional reform, about which the public felt strongly. The campaign

11092-591: The right to strike. On April 8, 2014, the Wynne government reached a new bargaining agreement with the teachers unions and passed the School Boards Collective Bargaining Act, 2014 , which restored their bargaining rights, the right to strike, kept the wage freeze on teachers, eliminated the retirement gratuity for teachers, and assigned her provincial government control over funding for schools and programs. The legislation also gave

11210-559: The top campaign operatives during Wynne's election worked on the 2004 federal Liberal campaign. Wynne's Liberals were only endorsed by one major newspaper, the Toronto Star , while most other news organizations endorsed the Hudak PCs. There was a controversy that emerged regarding The Globe and Mail 's election endorsement. According to an online leak, a majority of the members of the editorial board were prepared to endorse

11328-401: The total invested by Honda. By the end of 2015, the unemployment rate in Ontario had become lower than the national average. The Conference Board of Canada also found that Ontario's economy had the second strongest growth rate of all provinces in 2015 behind British Columbia (BC), and was projected to be in the top 3 for 2016 among BC and Manitoba . Throughout the spring of 2014, there

11446-589: The views of others ... In the lead-up to the last election the debate went beyond differences over our approach and at times became personal. The lawsuit between us, and the comments that led to it, did not reflect our view that the other is in fact a great mother/father, an honourable person and a dedicated public servant." The statement avoided any apology or placement of blame. In 2016, Kathleen Wynne decided to sell 30 per cent of Hydro One , an electric utility Crown corporation , to private owners. The owners are free to increase prices and sell up to 60 per cent of

11564-549: The wholesale supplier for private stores in Ontario. The Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario is responsible for the regulation and licensing of private cannabis stores in province. The OCRC was also reorganized to operate directly under the Ministry of Finance rather than as a subsidiary of the LCBO. The OCS does not operate any physical stores itself, but it supplies cannabis products to licensed private retailers in Ontario. The private retailers are regulated and licensed by

11682-529: The writs being dropped for the election. Kathleen Wynne, under the advice of Ed Clark , partially privatized Hydro One and reformed the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario 's Liquor Licence Act to allow the sale of six-packs of beer in Ontario grocery stores, the latter of which was the result of a Toronto Star exclusive on the anti-competitive practices made by the privately owned Beer Store . Wynne also put transit expansion front and centre in

11800-444: Was $ 296.1 billion and was expected to rise to $ 350 billion by 2020–21. In June 2016, a Forum Research Poll reported that Wynne's approval rating had dropped from a high of 40 per cent to 18 per cent. In September 2016, a Forum Research poll reported that the Progressive Conservatives enjoyed 45 per cent support. Wynne's Liberals enjoyed 25 per cent support, slightly ahead of the provincial New Democrats at 23 per cent. In March 2017

11918-600: Was Premier." In it, the Liberals projected a $ 12.5 billion deficit for the 2014-15 fiscal year, with an attempt to eliminate the deficit by 2017–18. The budget included wage increases for home care and child care workers, a $ 29 billion transportation plan to fund roads, bridges, and transit around the province, an Ontario Registered Pension Plan, which would act as a supplement to the Canada Pension Plan, higher taxes on high-income earners, and increased fees for cigarettes and airplane fuel, among others. The budget

12036-435: Was a rural, conservative rump with a southwestern Ontario base, and were often further to the right of the moderate Red Tory Conservative administrations. In 1964, the party changed their name from the "Ontario Liberal Association" to the "Liberal Party of Ontario". In September 1964, the party elected Andy Thompson as its leader. While the leadership election garnered some attention, it looked like Thompson would have

12154-457: Was also believed to have the most support among ex officio delegates, which are MPPs, MPs (members of parliament), defeated candidates and other Liberal insiders, and was expected to increase her lead over Wynne on the first ballot at the convention. At the convention on January 26, 2013, she used her speech to discuss repairing relations with teachers and working with opposition parties, and took aim at her main rival Pupatello, who did not hold

12272-483: Was also poorly run: a mid-campaign proposal to cut the provincial sales tax was a particularly bad blunder. The party had also underestimated the impact of the Patti Starr fundraising scandal, as well as allegations surrounding the Liberal government's links with land developers. In the 1990 election, the Liberals only finished five points behind the NDP in the popular vote. However, the NDP took many seats from

12390-433: Was appointed as interim leader of the party following a vote by caucus members, riding association presidents, and party executives. In the 2018 municipal election later in the year, six of the defeated Liberal MPPs — Bill Mauro , Kathryn McGarry , Jim Bradley , Mike Colle , Granville Anderson and Dipika Damerla — were elected to municipal office as mayors, city councillors or regional councillors. In March 2020,

12508-431: Was confident that the situation can change "but it’s going to mean that people are going to have to speak up". Ontario Liberal Party The Ontario Liberal Party ( OLP ; French : Parti libéral de l'Ontario , PLO ) is a political party in the province of Ontario , Canada . The party has been led by Bonnie Crombie since December 2023. The party espouses the principles of liberalism , and generally sits at

12626-399: Was contingent on NDP support, as the PCs had already indicated that they would vote against it. While NDP leader, Andrea Horwath , had, during the last two budget negotiations in 2012 and 2013, spent some time reviewing the budget and talking to her supporters before revealing how her party would vote, this time she almost immediately announced the NDP would not support the budget, thus sending

12744-490: Was elected as a trustee for the Toronto District School Board in ward 8. During the campaign, she was labelled an "extremist lesbian" in literature distributed by the "Concerned Citizens of North York and North Toronto". This was the ratepayer group that later supported Karen Stintz in her campaign against local councillor Anne Johnston . Wynne strongly opposed cuts to public education mandated by

12862-637: Was elected to the Ontario Legislature in 2003. Under Premier Dalton McGuinty , she served in various cabinet posts, until resigning to run in the Liberal leadership race when McGuinty announced his resignation in 2012. Wynne replaced McGuinty as premier and leader of the Liberal Party upon her victory of the leadership, and subsequently led the party to a majority government victory in the 2014 Ontario provincial election . As premier, Wynne introduced free prescription drug coverage for children, increased

12980-402: Was insufficiently supportive of the war effort . The battle between Hepburn and King split the Ontario Liberal Party and led to Hepburn's ouster as leader. It also contributed to the party's defeat in the 1943 election , which was followed by the party's long stint in opposition. The Liberals declined to a right wing, rural rump. The "Progressive Conservatives" under George Drew established

13098-440: 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. Wynne

13216-613: Was married to Phil Cowperthwaite, with whom she had three children. She now lives with her second spouse, Jane Rounthwaite, whom Wynne has stated is to be referred to as her "partner" (rather than "wife"). They were married in July 2005 at Fairlawn Avenue United Church in Toronto. Wynne is a member of the United Church of Canada . Wynne first ran for trustee in 1994 in Ward 12 but was defeated by Ann Vanstone. In 2000, she ran again and

13334-404: Was not enough money or a sufficient level of organization, and too many divisions within the party to hold a leadership convention . By 1930, the Liberals were reduced to a small, rural and prohibitionist rump with a base in south western Ontario. After a series of ineffective leaders, the Liberals turned to Mitchell Hepburn , an onion farmer, federal Member of Parliament and former member of

13452-508: Was one of the front runners. She had the most supporters running to be delegates at the convention, with 1,533, and was the only candidate to have supporters in place in all 107 of the province's ridings. Days before members were to begin electing delegates Glen Murray announced he was exiting the leadership race and endorsed Wynne's candidacy. Despite running with the most supporters for delegate positions Wynne placed second, with 468 delegates, behind Pupatello who had 509 delegates. Pupatello

13570-417: Was one short of the requirement to retain official status in the Ontario legislature, and was also the only remnant of Wynne's cabinet. Wynne herself barely held onto her own seat by 181 votes. Accepting responsibility for the worst showing in the party's 161-year history and the worst defeat of a sitting government in Ontario, Wynne resigned as Liberal leader on election night. On June 14, 2018, John Fraser

13688-550: Was sworn in as premier of Ontario on February 11, 2013, becoming the province's first female premier, and the first premier in Canada to be openly gay . After four months of prorogation of the legislature, Wynne resumed the house on February 17, 2013. After being sworn in as premier, Wynne quickly became embroiled in the Ontario power plant scandal , which had developed under the administration of her predecessor, Premier Dalton McGuinty . Opposition parties accused Wynne of having

13806-461: Was triggered by the Ontario New Democratic Party 's decision to reject the 2014 Ontario Budget. The Liberal Party under the leadership of Kathleen Wynne won 58 seats in the Legislature, and formed a majority government. In 2015, the Liberals proposed to sell 60 per cent of the province's $ 16-billion share of the province's electricity distribution utility, Hydro One . Hydro One Brampton and Hydro One Networks' distribution arm would be spun off into

13924-491: Was widespread speculation that a general election would be triggered upon the presentation of the 2014–15 provincial budget, due to recent gains in by-elections by the NDP, whose support was required for the Liberal government's budget to pass. On May 1, 2014, the Wynne government handed down its budget, which was described as "NDP-friendly" by many pundits. One Queen's Park columnist called the budget, "the most progressive one this province has seen since [former NDP leader] Bob Rae

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