One-time candidate seeking leadership
Defeated Liberal candidate Graham ran in London North Centre
The race for the leadership of Ontario’s Liberals is getting a fifth player — and its first from outside the Greater Toronto Area.
Defeated Liberal candidate Kate Graham, who ran a distant third in former deputy premier Deb Matthews’ riding of London North Centre in the June 2018 vote that swept Premier Doug Ford’s Progressive Conservatives to power, will formally announce her candidacy Saturday afternoon.
“It was a tough election,” Graham, 35, an assistant professor of political science at Western University and its Huron College affiliate, acknowledged Friday after filing her papers at party headquarters.
“Ontarians were ready for a change, and I heard that over and over and over. In the year since the election, I’ve been having a lot of conversations with people. I would say that desire for change is stronger than ever before,” she added in a reference to Ford’s recent struggles in public opinion polls. Graham’s next steps will be getting approval from the party to join the March 7 race and registering as a candidate with Elections Ontario so she can open a bank account and start fundraising to submit the required $100,000 entry fee for candidates.
Former cabinet minister Steven Del Duca is widely seen as the front-runner in the contest featuring his one-time cabinet colleagues MPPs Michael Coteau (Don Valley East) and Mitzie Hunter (Scarborough-Guildwood). Alvin Tedjo, a defeated Oakville North—Burlington candidate from the 2018 election and former political staffer, entered the race in May. The deadline for entrants is Nov. 25.
Graham said she is not ready to release any specific policy ideas but outlined a vision for the party now helmed by Interim Leader John Fraser, MPP for Ottawa South, since former leader Kathleen Wynne stepped down.
“What people want to see is a party that can show that it is a good financial manager but also really pushing positive, progressive policies that have a benefit in peoples’ lives. I certainly think the Ontario Liberal Party can do both.”
Graham, who has a doctorate in political science from Western, has never held elected office. She is a fellow at the university’s Centre for Urban Policy and Local Governance and previously served as the city of London’s director of community and economic innovation. She has also developed and hosted a podcast series called No Second Chances, interviewing female premiers and former prime minister Kim Campbell.
Liberal activists from across the province will pick their new leader at a delegated convention to be held at the International Centre in Mississauga six months from this weekend. The party was reduced to a rump of seven seats in the 2018 election after holding power since 2003.