New leader will be picked before spring election
TORONTO — Ontario’s Progressive Conservatives will hold a leadership race to replace Patrick Brown.
Party officials and members are downplaying the risk it will create divisions within the party ahead of a spring provincial election.
The party’s executive voted late Friday to hold the race and select a new leader sometime before March. The move will please some candidates and grassroots party members who insisted they should have a direct say in the leadership decision, but runs contrary to the wishes of the party’s caucus, which named Tory finance critic Vic Fedeli as interim leader.
The caucus of elected legislators wanted Fedeli to lead the party through the election to avoid a divisive, and potentially costly, race.
Party president Rick Dykstra said the executive has not yet established a firm time frame for the race, but conceded it will be a challenge.
“This will be a very aggressive time frame,” he said. “This is going to have to be a very quick process.”
Dykstra said the party will form a committee to set up and oversee the leadership race. He insisted that the PCs can remain united throughout the contest.
“At the end of the day this party always stands united, always stands focused and I can assure you that … we will be ready to take on government in June,” he said.
Fedeli told reporters that he respects the decision and will be a candidate for the permanent leadership.
“I fully expect to be the leader that takes us into the election,” he said.
Fedeli also downplayed the notion that the race could cause fractures in the party.
Rod Phillips, a former Postmedia executive and star candidate for the party running in Ajax, Ont., co-signed a letter Thursday with 27 other Tory candidates asking the party executive to hold a leadership election.
“This is good day for the Ontario PC Party,” Phillips said in a social media post. “The Leader who takes us into the election must have a strong mandate from our members.”
Phillips is one of a number of Tory members not in the legislative caucus touted as a potential leadership candidate, including Caroline Mulroney and Christine Elliott.
Mulroney, the daughter of former prime minister Brian Mulroney, is also running as a provincial PC candidate.