John Fraser selected interim Ontario Liberal leader

TORONTO — An Ottawa-area legislator has been appointed interim leader of Ontario’s Liberals after the party’s stunning defeat in last week’s election.

John Fraser was selected after a vote by caucus members, riding association presidents and party executives.

The Liberal caucus, which was reduced to seven members, had unanimously endorsed Fraser for the position on Wednesday evening.

A backbencher in the Liberal government, Fraser was first elected in a byelection in 2013 that was called after former party leader Dalton McGuinty stepped down.

Fraser’s appointment comes a day after the Liberals held their final cabinet meeting, a gathering that focused on rebuilding the party that governed the province for the last 15 years.

Outgoing Premier Kathleen Wynne resigned as party leader on election night after her government was defeated by Doug Ford’s Progressive Conservatives. The Tories, who won a majority, will take power on June 29.

Fraser has never held a cabinet post but has served as the parliamentary secretary to the minister of health, minister of northern development and mines, and the minister of natural resources.

Prior to being elected, Fraser, a married father of three, worked in McGuinty’s Ottawa constituency office for 14 years.

University of Toronto political science professor Nelson Wiseman said the degree of difficulty of Fraser’s job will depend greatly on whether the party manages to gain official status in the legislature.

Wynne has said she hopes Ford will change the rules to grant the Liberals’ the designation, which currently requires eight seats in the legislature. Ford has only said he’d talk to his team about the issue in the days and weeks to come.

Official party status brings, among other things, research resources and allocated speaking time in the legislature. Without those resources the rebuilding process could take longer and be harder, Wiseman said.