Ontario’s beleaguered Liberals will choose a new leader today as the party looks to rebound from a devastating election and rebuild ahead of the next one in 2022.
Ontario’s beleaguered Liberals will choose a new leader today as the party looks to rebound from a devastating electoral defeat and rebuild ahead of the next vote in 2022.
Whoever takes the reins will need to develop a policy platform, recruit new candidates and volunteers, fundraise and prepare to take on Premier Doug Ford’s Progressive Conservatives and the Opposition NDP in coming years.
Liberal party members will vote at a delegated convention in Mississauga, Ont., with first ballot results expected at about 1:45 a.m. (though it is not unusual for political conventions to go off-schedule).
Here is some key information ahead of the convention results.
How does the delegated convention work?
The current Ontario Liberal constitution calls for a convention where only delegates have the power to vote for a leader. All of the voting is done in person on the convention floor; there are no early or mail-in ballots.
The majority of delegates are elected at the riding level and are already committed to voting for a particular candidate on the first ballot. There are also several dozen independent delegates and some 640 ex-officio delegates — which include people who have held positions in the party like former and current MPPs, as well as Liberal MPs and other heavy hitters — who can vote for any candidate on the first ballot.
A candidate needs more than 50 per cent of delegate votes to become leader.
A delegated convention is a relatively convoluted process that, while at times dramatic, has been abandoned by most Canadian political parties — including the federal Liberals — in favour of some form of a one-member, one-vote system. The Ontario Liberals considered changing their approach last year, but ultimately voted to keep it.
Who are the 6 candidates?
Michael Coteau: Current Liberal MPP in the Toronto riding of Don Valley East. First elected in 2011, Coteau was minister of community and social services, minister of children and youth services, minister of tourism, culture and sport and minister of citizenship and immigration in the government of former premier Kathleen Wynne.
Steven Del Duca: Former Liberal MPP in the Greater Toronto area riding of Vaughan from 2012 to 2018, Del Duca was minister of transportation and minister of economic development and growth in the Wynne government.
