Ontario Liberals to choose their leader in weekend convention

The stage is set, with the Ontario Liberal party set to select its new leader on the weekend of January 25 at the Ontario Liberal Leadership Convention.

Thousands of delegates and Liberal supporters will gather in Toronto at Maple Leaf Gardens for the weekend-long event, which will see the replacement for Dalton McGuinty chosen.

Former Windsor-West MPP Sandra Pupatello has emerged as a front-runner in the race to replace McGuinty as Ontario premier and Liberal leader after last weekend’s delegate selection votes across the province.

Pupatello, who quit politics in 2011, captured 504 committed first-ballot delegates (27.44 per cent) for the leadership convention in Toronto Jan. 25-27, according to official results released at 2 a.m. Monday.

Former education minister Kathleen Wynne, who represents Toronto Don Valley-West, was a close second with 463 (25.2 per cent) after the weekend of voting to select 1,837 delegates who will be able to cast ballots for the new Liberal leader.

Former MP Gerard Kennedy, who lost the 1996 leadership race to McGuinty and also lost a 2006 bid for the federal Liberal leadership, was third in the weekend voting with 257 committed delegates (14 per cent), followed by former government services minister Harinder Takhar with 244 (13.28 per cent).

Former labour minister Charles Sousa finished fifth with 198 delegates (10.78 per cent), and former children’s services minister Eric Hoskins finished in last place with 104 (5.66 per cent).

The delegates will vote over the upcoming week, at which point we’ll know who will lead Ontario’s ruling party.

Top Stories

Top Stories

Most Watched Today