Could Ontario be heading for a snap election this fall?
Our good friend and journalist extraordinaire, Steve Paikin, raises the possibility in a recent blog, and the idea has some merit.
We do have a fixed date for the next provincial election, which happens to be one year from today, but there’s nothing stopping a government from going to the polls earlier than that fixed date.
As Paikin points out, there has been a plethora of funding announcements and encouraging economic news from the government and there has been some upward movement in the polls for both the governing Liberals and for Premier Kathleen Wynne personally.
Party strategists may be asking why they would risk another 12 months of battering from the opposition parties?
That may seem like a sound strategy for some, but it’s not without its risks.
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Maybe the most memorable strategic gaffe was in 199o, when then-premier David Peterson called an election halfway through his mandate, hoping to secure another majority government.
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Angry Ontario voters turfed Peterson and elected an NDP government.
So, the likelihood of an early election seems remote, but if we’ve learned anything about Ontario politics, it’s that anything is possible.
Bill Kelly is the host of Bill Kelly Show on AM 900 CHML and a commentator for Global News.
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