Kingston, Ont., MPP and Ontario Liberal leadership hopeful Ted Hsu is flexing his political muscle as the campaign to replace Steven Del Duca as leader gets underway in earnest.
Hsu, who was the second candidate to formally enter the race, announced high-profile campaign co-chairs and more than $100,000 of fundraising in a 15-day period.
Mississauga Mayor Bonnie Crombie, Liberal MPs Nate Erskine-Smith and Yasir Naqvi are also running against Hsu for the party’s top job.
Pointing to the financial contributions and Hsu’s visits to more than 80 ridings, his campaign said he was setting laying down a clear challenge for other candidates. “All of these factors demonstrate a dark horse setting the pace for his nearest rivals,” Hsu’s campaign said.
Greg Sorbara, Carol Mitchell and Rob Baker have all been announced as co-chairs of the self-styled dark horse campaign. Hsu has promised to give the Ontario Liberal Party a “fresh start” after years in the wilderness.
Campaign co-chairs are responsible for direction and strategy during the race.
Sorbara is a high-profile, well regarded, figure in Liberal circles who served as Minister of Finance from 2003 to 2005 under Dalton McGuinty, and his campaign director in three consecutive elections before stepping down in 2013.
Sorbara said he believes Hsu represents a “fresh start” for a party looking to reconnect with voters after two disappointing election results in which the Liberals were left without official party status in the Legislature.
“Sorbara will likely add strong campaign and fundraising support to the Hsu campaign,” said Saeed Selvam with New West Public Affairs. “But time will tell if it’ll be enough to beat names that are gathering more excitement like Crombie and Naqvi.”
Tragically Hip guitarist Rob Baker, who was present at Hsu campaign launch in Kingston, is the third co-chair. He said he was motivated to dive into politics by his opposition to the Ford government.
“It is very easy to be cynical about politics and politicians, who adopt a win-at-all-cost mindset with the only goal of obtaining and keeping power, but I’m not cynical about politics,” Baker said.
“I’m not cynical because I know Ted Hsu and he is not that type of politician. Ted has the momentum to win this leadership and build a cleaner and more equitable society for all Ontarians.”
The Ontario Liberal Party executive said candidates will have to pay a $100,000 entry fee and a refundable $25,000 deposit.
Liberals will pick the next leader using a ranked ballot vote on Nov. 25 and 26; the party is set to release round-by-round results on Dec. 2, the weekend after the vote.