Voting begins today for new Ontario Liberal leader and next premier
By The Canadian Press - Friday, January 25, 2013 - 0 Comments
TORONTO – Ontario’s governing Liberals are hoping to turn the page on a year…
TORONTO – Ontario’s governing Liberals are hoping to turn the page on a year of scandals, labour disputes and bad publicity as they begin voting today for a new leader and the province’s next premier.
About 1,800 selected delegates and another 400 so-called ex-officios — party executives, current and former members of the legislature, MPs and even defeated candidates — are eligible to vote for the new leader at the leadership convention.
Delegates have up until 11 p.m. Friday to cast their committed first ballots, and the results are expected shortly after noon Saturday. Many predict the Liberals are looking at a three- or four- or five-ballot convention, which means the race could go on until late Saturday, or even early Sunday.
The Liberals will pay tribute Friday night to outgoing Premier Dalton McGuinty, who stunned Ontarians and his own party when he announced his resignation Oct. 15, and prorogued the legislature.
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Decades-old system makes it hard to predict who Ontario’s next premier will be
By Keith Leslie, The Canadian Press - Thursday, January 24, 2013 at 9:55 PM - 0 Comments
Conventions are not about engaging the public, experts note
Ontario Liberal Party leadership candidate supporters hang banners at the site of the convention in Toronto. (Frank Gunn, The Canadian Press)
TORONTO – The antiquated system Ontario Liberals have chosen to pick a new leader at their party’s leadership convention this weekend may add some drama to an otherwise lacklustre race, political observers predict.
While most parties allow each member to cast a leadership ballot, the new Liberal leader, who automatically will be Ontario’s new premier, will be chosen by about 2,200 selected delegates, so-called ex-officios, former and current MPs and MPPs.
The Liberals say it was because of the short time frame they had after Premier Dalton McGuinty announced his surprise resignation Oct. 15, saying he wanted a new leader in place by the end of January.
“The thing about a delegated convention which makes it interesting…is it can take on a dynamic that right now nobody can predict,” said Bryan Evans, associate professor of politics at Ryerson University in Toronto.
