TORONTO – Ontario Liberal leadership hopeful Gerard Kennedy says the party has a responsibility to bring teachers back to the table, acknowledging the hundreds of protesters outside the party’s convention in Toronto.
In his final pitch to delegates today, Kennedy said the Liberals would not only lose an election today to the Progressive Conservatives, they’d come third behind the New Democrats.
Kennedy says teachers and other public servants are the Liberals’ partners in delivering government and the two sides must work together to eliminate the $11.9 billion deficit.
Kathleen Wynne also told delegates the party had to face up to its mistakes and assure people they won’t happen again.
Wynne also vowed to recall the legislature by Feb. 19 and would immediately try to meet with the opposition party leaders.
Rival candidate Harinder Takhar emphasized his immigrant roots during his final speech, saying he had to cut his hair and stop wearing a turban to get a job in Ontario, a decision he said also meant losing a part of himself forever.
Registration and first ballot voting at the convention had to be extended until the wee hours of the morning following a 70-car pile-up on Highway 401 east of Toronto.
Party officials decided to extend the 11 p.m. Friday deadline to accommodate delegates involved in the huge accident or stuck behind it on the highway, which was closed until nearly midnight.
Over 100 protesters, mainly teachers angry over having contracts imposed on them by the government, greeted the delegates as they arrived, but thousands more demonstrators are expected by this afternoon.
About 1,800 delegates and another 400 so called “ex-officios” – party executives, current and former MPs and members of the provincial legislature – already cast their committed first ballots Friday.
Second-ballot voting will begin around 1 p.m. The last-place candidate will be forced off each ballot until one of them gets over 50 per cent.
Political observers predict the Liberals are looking at a three- or four- or even five-ballot convention, which means the race could go on until late Saturday, or early Sunday.
The leadership convention was called after McGuinty’s surprise resignation in October, when he also prorogued the parliament and said he wanted a new leader in place by the end of January.
There’s not a lot of policy differences between the candidates – all have said they’re prepared to work with the opposition parties to keep the minority government alive.
Wynne took an indirect shot at her closest rival Friday, saying Ontario could be heading for a general election if Pupatello – who wants to win a seat before recalling the parliament – became Liberal leader.
Wynne said prorogation has angered Ontarians, and she would be able to recall the legislature by Feb. 19 if she is chosen leader.
Finance Minister Dwight Duncan has offered to step aside to allow Pupatello to run in his riding. The former Windsor-West MPP, who did not seek re-election in 2011, believes she could win the byelection and recall the legislature by the end of March.
Pupatello leads in committed first-ballot votes with 27.4 per cent, and says she has about one-quarter of the ex-officios on her side.
Wynne, who represents Toronto-Don Valley West, is a close second in delegate support at 25 per cent.
Gerard Kennedy, who lost the 1996 leadership race to McGuinty and also lost a 2006 bid for the federal Liberal leadership, is in third place at 14 per cent, followed closely by Harinder Takhar, the former government services minister, at 13.25 per cent.
Also running are former labour minister Charles Sousa, who pulled almost 11 per cent of first-ballot delegates, and former children’s services minister Eric Hoskins, who finished last in delegate support at 5.6 per cent.
In recent years, the Liberal government has been plagued with scandals, including the costly cancellation of two gas plants, a police probe at the province’s air ambulance service and a nasty labour battle with public school teachers.
Thousands of union members from across the province have planned a massive protest Saturday outside the Liberal convention at Toronto’s old Maple Leaf Gardens.
The Ontario Federation of Labour said the protest will include students, environmentalists, Aboriginals and other groups angry at the government’s budget cuts and a controversial law used to impose contracts on public school teachers.
“The new premier will see the many faces of their opposition – from now and into the next election,” OFL President Sid Ryan said in a statement.
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