Three Ontario Liberals, including two ministers, won’t be seeking re-election
Ontario’s governing Liberals are scrambling to fill major gaps in their roster just two months before a spring vote after several long-serving legislators, including cabinet ministers, announced they won’t be seeking re-election.
Three Liberal members of the legislature said Thursday they won’t be running in the June election, the latest in a string of senior Liberals who have bowed out.
Minister of Consumer Services and Persons with Disabilities Tracy MacCharles, International Trade Minister Michael Chan, and backbencher Grant Crack announced their plans to leave political life in separate statements.
Both MacCharles and Chan cited health concerns as the primary reason for their decision without providing details.
The Progressive Conservatives, however, painted the wave of Liberal departures as individuals “jumping off a sinking ship,” and suggested legislators were balking at defending their record on the campaign trail.
The Tories noted at least half a dozen Liberal legislators have yet to put themselves forward as candidates and predicted others would also opt not to run.
Premier Kathleen Wynne brushed off the Tories’ suggestion, saying her departing colleagues had made “very difficult decisions” for personal, not political, reasons.
“Up until a short time ago they all three had intended to run,” she said, praising them for their years of public service.
While the outgoing legislators may have personal reasons to move on, the timing of their announcements also suggests they were likely aware they would have faced a battle to keep their seats, said Andrea Lawlor, a political science professor at Western University’s King’s University College.
This may be a way for them to leave politics without facing a potential defeat, given the apparent public desire for change, she said.
The Liberals’ loss of some of their most recognizable names isn’t likely to be a game-changer in the election, but finding suitable and compelling replacements on short notice will prove logistically challenging at a time where the party is already on the ropes, she said.
Last October, Deputy Premier Deb Matthews and Treasury Board Secretary Liz Sandals both announced they did not intend to seek re-election.
Their announcements came on the heels of similar decisions by Economic Development Minister Brad Duguid, house speaker
Dave Levac, and Monty Kwinter, the province’s oldest member of provincial parliament. Former Environment Minister Glen Murray left the government altogether with a move to the private sector.