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Clinton News Record, 2014-06-18, Page 5Wednesday, June 18, 2014 • News Record 5 Kathleen Wynne leads Liberals to victory Don Peat QMI Agency It's a Wynne win. Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne is going back to Queen's Park with a majority govern- ment after Thursday night's stunning election win. After 40 days on the campaign trail, Wynne ran away with a vic- tory and enough seats to form a majority government. Taking to the stage just after 11 p.m. to her campaign theme song, Katy Perry's "Roar," Wynne called the vote a "strong mandate." "You voted for jobs, you voted for growth, you voted to build Ontario up," Wynne said in her victory speech at the Sheraton Centre in downtown Toronto. "We're not going to leave any- one behind." Speaking directly to voters, Wynne promised to respect them. "You have put your trust in us and we will not let you down," Wynne said. "I will work every day to earn and keep the confidence of the people of Ontario." Wynne - the province's first openly gay premier - thanked her wife Jane Rounthwaite who joined her on stage to raise their hands together in victory. The vote is another milestone - it marks the first time the prov- ince has elected a female leader to the premier's job. In her speech, Wynne called Ontario a "where anyone can be the premier." "This is a beautiful, inclusive place that we live in," she said. Thursday's win continues the Liberals' 11 -year grip on power at Queen's Park and breaks the shackles of minority govern- ment status. It also marks Wynne's first successful test as Liberal leader with the elector- ate and the second loss served up to Progressive Conservative leader Tim Hudak - who resigned as leader shortly after the results were announced. Not surprisingly, Wynne also managed to keep her own seat. She was re-elected Thursday night in Don Valley West - she's held the Toronto seat since 2003. Wynne went into the election with a provincial budget aimed at crowding the NDP on the left side of Ontario's political spec- trum and drawing a clear line between the Grits and the PC's. In lead -up to Election Day, Wynne cast herself as the only leader prepared to move the province forward. Throughout the campaign she hammered the Tories promise to cut 100,000 jobs and vowed her party, rather than the NDP, was the only one that could keep Hudak from becoming premier. But it was a rocky campaign for Wynne. She spent most of the last six weeks dogged by Liberal scan- dals and had a poor perfor- mance in the lone leaders' debate where she had to repeat- edly apologize for the gas plants scandal. The province's 25th premier swept to power back in January 2013 by defeating rival Sandra Pupatello in the Liberal leader- ship race to replace then Pre- mier Dalton McGuinty. She won't have long to relax after this victory. Wynne promised on the cam- paign trail that she would bring the legislature back to work QMI Agency Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne celebrates her party's majority victory in the 2014 provincial election on Thurs., June 12. within 20 days to pass the budget if the Liberals were elected. She repeated the pledge Thursday night. "We've got work to do," she said. Deputy Mayor Norm Kelly - who came out endorsing Wynne last week - issued a state- ment Thursday congratu- lating the premier and the other winning candidates. "It is great to see that democracy is alive and well in Toronto," Kelly said. "I would also like to congratulate Premier Kathleen Wynne on her re-election and I look forward to continuing to work with her on key pri- orities such as public transit, social housing and infrastructure." Horwath has no regrets about forcing election Shawn Jeffords QMI Agency If the NDP regretted toppling a Liberal minority — apparently paving the way to a majority government — they were putting on a brave face election night. As the results paved the way for a Liberal majority, the atmosphere was subdued as the party faithful quietly watched at the Grand Olympia Convention Centre. Asked whether she had any regrets about toppling the government, NDP Leader Andrea Horwath insisted she had none. "It was the right decision to make at the time and people now have had their choice so we will work with that choice and make sure that we deliver for them," said Horwath. She also defended her tenure as party leader. "I did a good job as leader of our party and taking our message to the people," she said. "We did increase our popular support. We grew in other parts of Ontario, which I think is extremely important. But ultimately the work starts when the legislature resumes" Horwath's re-election as MPP for Hamilton Centre was never in doubt and was met with cheers from the small crowd. But the moment of j oy was quickly overshadowed when the first TV networks began to declare the Liberals the victors. Soon news of a Liberal majority further quieted the crowd. Party spokesman Alex Callahan said it was too soon to speculate on how the party would react to Ontario's fourth consecutive Liberal government. At doors throughout the long campaign, the party was hearing that people were tired of both the Liberals and afraid of the Progressive Conservatives, he said. "We heard a lot of people who were frus- trated by what they saw with the Liberals and they were disappointed by scandal after scan- dal," Callahan said. "Tim Hudak managed to make things look scary by talking about firing 100,000 people. That had an impact on the campaign„ Asked if the Liberal appeals to NDP voters to defeat Hudak worked, Callahan couldn't comment. "New Democrats are New Democrats," he said. "If you want to vote for a progressive party, you can vote for New Democrats. People did that in ridings across Ontario." QMI Agency Ontario NDP Party leader Andrea Horwath addresses supporters after the provincial election held on Thurs., June 12. Tim Hudak steps down as leader of Ontario PC Party QMI Agency Tim Hudak waves to supporters after announcing his resignation as leader of the Ontario Progressive Conservative Party after the provincial election on Thurs., June 12. Ray Spiteri QMI Agency Ontario Progressive Conservative Leader Tim Hudak won his riding, but won't lead his party into the next election. Hudak, after helming the Tories to back-to- back losses against the Liberals, told support- ers Thursday night he was proud of the Tory campaign but that's it for him as leader. "I will not be leading the Ontario PC party into the next election," he said. Hudak not only failed to knock off a scandal - plagued Liberal government, but his Tories appeared to be losing about one-quarter of their seats Thursday night, falling to 27. Hudak comfortably defeated his Niagara West-Glanbrook riding opponents to win his own seat, but had been aiming higher. Many expected the Tories to at least chal- lenge for a minority government. A subdued crowd of about 100 people gath- ered to watch the results come in at Hudak's campaign headquarters at the Mountain Ridge Community Centre in Grimsby. "We just don't understand. How can you believe that people in Ontario can forgive (the Liberals) for the billions of dollars that they cost us," said Pat Coulson, of Fenwick, Ont., who came to show her support. "I am extremely surprised and shocked. That's politics. You never know." At the start of the 40 -day campaign, as was the case leading into the 2011 election, many pundits believed it was Hudak's to lose. Some political observers believed the out- come of this election would prove vital to Hudak's future as head of the Tories: Win and be Ontario's next premier, lose and the calls for his resignation would undoubtedly grow louder. Hudak pledged to cut Ontario's 1.2 million- member public service by 100,000 of the 300,000 positions the Liberals have added since 2003. He said it would have been done using attrition, while protecting frontline work- ers orkers in health, education and public safety. Various economists took aim at Hudak's eight-year, Million Jobs Plan, questioning its numbers and math. Hudak has been leader of the PCs since 2009. The Fort Erie, Ont., native has been a Nia- gara -area MPP for 19 years. He was first elected in 1995 as part of Mike Harris' PC govemment.