Townsman, 1991-09, Page 22met a young London lawyer named
David Peterson who had been elected
to the Legislature in 1975 as a Liberal
in an upset in a staid old Conservative
riding. Elston helped Peterson in his
first attempt at the Liberal leadership
in 1977, won by Stuart Smith. After
graduation, Murray returned to Wing -
ham where he practiced law until
1981 when Peterson convinced him to
run in the provincial election for the
former Huron -Bruce scat, just vacated
by the retiring, highly popular Liberal
MPP, Murray Gaunt.
Elston backed Peterson in his suc-
cessful bid for the leadership in 1982.
But the biggest challenge was yet
to come. In a startling upset in the
1985 election, Murray found himself
in cabinet in June of 1985, after the
Liberals together with the NDP
ganged up to defeat the six-week old
minority PC government of Frank
Miller, ending 43 years of Conserva-
tive rule.
But now, after five years in power,
he finds himself on the outside, head -
He heads a party
shattered in stunning
election loss
ing a party shattered by a stunning
election defeat in September of 1990.
Elston says the healing process of the
last 12 months has closed the wounds
in the party and he's looking forward
to laying down a firm foundation that
the new leader can build on next year.
"I'm not a caretaker leader," he
says. "I'm treating it as if it's not inter-
im. There are lots of issues to chase
on a day to day basis (in the legisla-
ture)," he say, "and lots of work to
do." He's already met dozens of
groups and toured the drought -strick-
en Essex -Kent area, beating Ontario
Agriculture Minister Elmer Buchanan
to the punch.
As the person in charge of the 36 -
member caucus and a support staff of
50, Elston says he wants to ensure the
six unofficial leadership candidates
remain true to Liberal principles of
being a private enterprise party with a
social responsibility. He says he
intends to take full control of the lead -
"There are lots of issues to chase on a
day-to-day basis and lots of work to do.
ers office and get it in shape for the
new leader. "I'm a hands on type of
person. I like to know what's going
on. " he says.
Elston says he will remain strictly
neutral during the upcoming leader-
ship race and won't endorse nor work
for any of the candidates. "I want to
give each of the candidates a chance
to show their stuff, but I can't show
any preferences or favouritism," he
says.
After his tenure as leader, what's in
the cards for Murray? He says he
wants to work for the new leader to
bring the Liberal agenda to the people
of the province and has no intentions
of moving onto the federal scene.
"there are plenty of bread and butter
issues here (at the provincial level)
and I feel I can make a contribution
here." And that makes sense for the
farm boy from Morris who knows
what sweat and toil are all about.
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20 TOWNSMAN/SEPTEMBER-OCTOBER 1991