Kennedy and Hoskins make it a male-heavy competition so far
The face of the Ontario Liberal leadership race is decidedly male so far.
Four men have announced or indicated they will be running, while two women have launched campaigns to replace Premier Dalton McGuinty, who announced his retirement on Oct. 15.
There were seven candidates — six men and one woman — in the 1996 leadership contest. Would-be candidates have until Nov. 23 to make their intentions known for the Jan. 25-27 leadership convention at Maple Leaf Gardens.
While there are more men in the race, it’s Sandra Pupatello, 50, who is considered the front-runner. She’s returning to the Liberal fold after a year working on Bay Street. Kathleen Wynne, 59, is also a top contender. The MPP for Don Valley West was minister for municipal affairs and housing and for aboriginal affairs in McGuinty’s cabinet.
The latest entry is Gerard Kennedy, 52, a one-time political golden boy who is returning to provincial politics after a six-year absence. He was quick to position himself as an outsider not tainted by scandals and serious missteps associated with the McGuinty government.
The other two recent newcomers are Charles Sousa, 54, former citizenship and immigration minister, and Dr. Eric Hoskins, 51, former minister of children and youth services, who is to make official his candidacy on Tuesday.
It is Kennedy’s second kick at the leadership can, having lost to then little-known Dalton McGuinty, who came from behind to become the last man standing in a marathon voting session.
Hoskins, 51, minister of children and youth services, is to announce Tuesday. Still a relative political newcomer, Hoskins entered provincial politics after failing to break into federal politics in 2008 when he ran unsuccessfully in Haldimand—Norfolk against Stephen Harper cabinet minister Diane Finley.
Hoskins, who represents the Toronto riding of St. Paul’s, was elected to Queen’s Park in a 2009 byelection.
He was also a senior policy adviser to then foreign minister Lloyd Axworthy from 1997 to 2000 and was involved with many issues, including efforts to ban landmines.
Sousa, the MPP for Mississauga South since 2007, announced his leadership bid Saturday.
The father of three and a graduate of Wilfrid Laurier University worked in senior business development roles at the Royal Bank of Canada for some 20 years before he was elected to Queen’s Park. He was also active in the business community outside the bank and in 2003 received a Queen’s Golden Jubilee Medal in recognition of his service to the community.
Of all the candidates, he is the mostly linked to a Liberal controversy. He lobbied hard to scrap two gas-powered generating plants that ended up costing Ontario taxpayers at least $230 million, and for that he is making no apology.
“Before I was elected, I was opposed to this gas plant . . . as an MPP I opposed it, and as a minister I continued to oppose it,” Sousa said.
Insiders say Sousa has a formidable organization, particularly among the different multicultural communities.
Glen Murray, 55, former minister of training, colleges and universities, was the first to announce he would be running to replace McGuinty. The MPP for Toronto Centre is a former Winnipeg mayor.