Caroline Mulroney to join PC leadership race

A source with Caroline Mulroney’s campaign says the Toronto lawyer and businesswoman will officially jump into the race to lead Ontario’s Progressive Conservatives today, days after reports first emerged suggesting she was eyeing the party’s top job.

Mulroney, the daughter of former prime minister Brian Mulroney, was pegged as a contender to replace Patrick Brown as soon as the contest began, despite having never held political office.

The 43-year-old mother of four has hinted she intends to run for the leadership, thanking those who supported her candidacy on Twitter over the weekend but stopping short of formally announcing her plans.

Mulroney, a lawyer who studied at New York University, was acclaimed as a Progressive Conservative candidate in the riding of York-Simcoe, north of Toronto, last August.

In 2014, she was appointed to the Windsor Detroit Bridge Authority to help oversee development of a $4-billion second border span between the two cities.

Mulroney also co-founded the Shoebox Project in 2011, a non-profit that collects and distributes gifts to women who are homeless or at risk.

Prior to announcing her political plans, Mulroney served as vice-president of Toronto-based BloombergSen Investment Partners, and used to work at a venture debt fund.