Post by Donna Quixote on Apr 19, 2013 6:18:32 GMT -4
Premier Kathleen Wynne’s minority Liberals are girding for an election campaign that could be triggered as early as mid-May.
With mounting concerns NDP Leader Andrea Horwath will join forces with Progressive Conservative Leader Tim Hudakin toppling the Liberals by voting against the upcoming budget, the Grits are gearing for battle.
“We will be ready if we’re defeated on the budget,” Health Minister Deb Matthews, the Liberal campaign co-chair, said Thursday.
Matthews stressed Wynne, who succeeded former premier Dalton McGuinty in February, would rather govern than hit the campaign trail.
Still, preparations are being made if Finance Minister Charles Sousa’s budget is voted down next month.
Don Guy — a key architect of McGuinty’s wins in 2003, 2007, and 2011 as well as his defeat in 1999 — will run the campaign.
Working alongside Guy are: Tom Allison, the dynamo who ran Wynne’s successful Liberal leadership bid in January; Ian Davey, one-time chief of staff to former federal Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff; and Andrew Bevan, the premier’s principal secretary and policy guru.
Joining Matthews as co-chair is Tim Murphy, who was also prime minister Paul Martin’s chief of staff. Both Matthews and Murphy, a one-time Toronto MPP, are former Ontario Liberal Party presidents.
The senior campaign team has stepped up meetings with Wynne even as Sousa is crafting a budget designed to appease the NDP. Continue reading, here….
www.thestar.com/news/queenspark/2013/04/19/liberals_gearing_up_for_snap_provincial_election.html
With mounting concerns NDP Leader Andrea Horwath will join forces with Progressive Conservative Leader Tim Hudakin toppling the Liberals by voting against the upcoming budget, the Grits are gearing for battle.
“We will be ready if we’re defeated on the budget,” Health Minister Deb Matthews, the Liberal campaign co-chair, said Thursday.
Matthews stressed Wynne, who succeeded former premier Dalton McGuinty in February, would rather govern than hit the campaign trail.
Still, preparations are being made if Finance Minister Charles Sousa’s budget is voted down next month.
Don Guy — a key architect of McGuinty’s wins in 2003, 2007, and 2011 as well as his defeat in 1999 — will run the campaign.
Working alongside Guy are: Tom Allison, the dynamo who ran Wynne’s successful Liberal leadership bid in January; Ian Davey, one-time chief of staff to former federal Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff; and Andrew Bevan, the premier’s principal secretary and policy guru.
Joining Matthews as co-chair is Tim Murphy, who was also prime minister Paul Martin’s chief of staff. Both Matthews and Murphy, a one-time Toronto MPP, are former Ontario Liberal Party presidents.
The senior campaign team has stepped up meetings with Wynne even as Sousa is crafting a budget designed to appease the NDP. Continue reading, here….
www.thestar.com/news/queenspark/2013/04/19/liberals_gearing_up_for_snap_provincial_election.html