Kathleen O'Day Wynne (born May 21, 1953)[3] is a politician in Ontario, the 25th and current Premier of Ontario and a member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario, representing the riding of Don Valley West for theLiberal Party. She is the first premier in Canada to be openly gay and the first female premier of Ontario.
She was Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing and Aboriginal Affairs until resigning to run as a leadership candidate.[4]
Contents [hide]
1 Early life
2 School trustee
3 Provincial politics
4 Leadership
5 Premiership
5.1 Gas Plant Scandal
5.2 2013 Budget
5.3 Education
5.4 The Economy
5.5 2014 Election
6 Personal life
7 Electoral record
8 References
9 External links
Early life
Kathleen Wynne was born to Dr. John B. Wynne[5] and Patsy O'Day,[6] a British subject musician who grew up in the Bahamas before immigrating to Canada.[7]
Wynne grew up in Richmond Hill, Ontario.[8] She earned a Bachelor of Arts degree at Queen's University and a Master of Arts degree in linguistics from the University of Toronto. She achieved a Master of Education degree in adult education from the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (University of Toronto). She was a member of the discipline committee of the Ontario Society of Psychotherapists from 1997 to 2000.
Wynne served as president of the Toronto Institute of Human Relations. In 1996, she helped found Citizens for Local Democracy, which opposed the efforts of Ontario's Progressive Conservative government to amalgamate the City of Toronto. She also founded the Metro Parent Network (now the Toronto Parent Network) which supports improvements in the province's public education system, and has participated in numerous other community endeavours. Wynne helped found MAD for Dancing, a community fundraising group that has donated over $50,000 to organizations that support gay and lesbian youth.
School trustee
Wynne first ran for trustee in 1994 in ward 12 but was defeated by Ann Vanstone.[9] In 2000, she ran again and was elected as a public school trustee in Toronto's ward 8.[10] During the campaign she was labelled an "extremist lesbian" in literature distributed by the "Concerned Citizens of North York and North Toronto". This was the ratepayer group that later supported Karen Stintz in her campaign against local councillor Anne Johnston.[11] She strongly opposed cuts to public education mandated by the Conservative government.
In 2001, she helped pass a measure encouraging public schools to purchase teaching materials reflecting the presence of gay and lesbian parents in modern society.[12] In December 2001, Wynne ran for chair of the school board but was defeated by Donna Cansfield in a 12–10 vote.[13]
Provincial politics
Wynne was elected to the Ontario legislature in the 2003 provincial election, defeating Progressive Conservative cabinet minister David Turnbull by over 5,000 votes. The Liberals won the election, and Wynne was appointed parliamentary assistant to Minister of Training, Colleges and Universities Mary Anne Chambers in October 2003. In October 2004, she was appointed parliamentary assistant to Minister of Education Gerard Kennedy. From June 2005 to November 2005 she served as a member of the Select Committee on Electoral Reform, which recommended "that the referendum be binding upon a vote of 50% + 1, and the support of 50% + 1 in at least two-thirds (i.e., 71) of the ridings or any other formula that ensures the result has support from Northern, rural, and urban areas of the Province," although the cabinet subsequently decided on 100.
On September 18, 2006, she was promoted to Minister of Education in a cabinet shuffle occasioned by the resignation of Joe Cordiano from the Legislature. She was the province's first openly lesbian cabinet minister, and only the second openly LGBT cabinet minister after Deputy Premier George Smitherman.[14] On January 18, 2010, she was moved to Minister of Transportation and in 2011 she was appointed Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing and Aboriginal Affairs.
In the 2007 provincial election, Wynne was challenged by the PC leader John Tory. Tory, who was elected to Dufferin—Peel—Wellington—Grey (former PC leader Ernie Eves' riding) in a by-election, was seeking a seat in a Toronto-area riding. Though it was projected to be a close race, Wynne was re-elected with 50.4 percent of the popular vote, defeating Tory who came in second with 39.7 of the popular vote.
Wynne was also instrumental in establishing the first Minister's Student Advisory Council, a group of sixty students from all parts of the education system and regions of the province to share their ideas and advice with the Minister of Education on how to ensure Ontario's schools remain competitive.
Leadership
Premier McGuinty announced on October 15, 2012, that he would resign as leader of the Liberal Party of Ontario and premier of the province once his successor was chosen.[15] On November 2, 2012, Wynne resigned her cabinet post and three days later launched her bid for the leadership of the party.[16][17] Wynne was seen as having the strongest on-the-ground organization among the seven candidates, and along with former MPPSandra Pupatello, and was one of the front runners.[18] She had the most supporters running to be delegates at the convention, with 1,533, and was the only candidate to have supporters in place in all 107 of the province's ridings.[19] Days before members were to begin electing delegates Glen Murray announced he was exiting the leadership race and endorsed Wynne's candidacy.[20] Despite running with the most supporters for delegate positions Wynne placed second, with 468 delegates, behind Pupatello who had 509 delegates.[21] Pupatello was also believed to have the most support among ex-officio delegates, which are MPPs, MPs, defeated candidates and other Liberal insiders, and was expected to increase her lead over Wynne on the first ballot at the convention.[22][23]
At the convention on January 26, 2013, Wynne surprised many with her strong speech to delegates. In the speech she discussed repairing relations with teachers, working with opposition parties, and took aim at her main rival Pupatello, who doesn't hold a seat, by saying that she was ready to govern and would recall the legislature on February 19. Wynne also addressed her sexuality saying; "When I ran in 2003, I was told that the people of North Toronto and Thorncliffe Park weren’t ready to elect a gay woman. Well, apparently they were." She went on to say that "I don’t believe the people of Ontario judge their leaders on the basis of race, colour or sexual orientation – I don’t believe they hold that prejudice in their hearts."[24][25][26][27][28]
When the first ballot results were announced Wynne received 597 votes, trailing Pupatello by only two votes.[29] Eric Hoskins received the fewest votes of the six candidates and was therefore eliminated. Hoskins threw his support behind Wynne while fourth place candidate Harinder Takhar announced he was endorsing Pupatello. On the second ballot Pupatello's lead grew to 67 votes over Wynne. Takhar, whose name was left on the second ballot, finished last and was eliminated from the race. Gerard Kennedy and Charles Sousa, who finished third and fourth respectively, withdrew from the race and both endorsed Wynne. With the support of both Kennedy and Sousa, her win was all but guaranteed on the third ballot. When the results of that ballot were announced Wynne received 57 per cent of the votes compared to 43 per cent for Pupatello.[30][31]
Premiership
Wynne was sworn in as Premier of Ontario on February 11, 2013, becoming the province's first female Premier, and the first premier in Canada to be openly gay. After 4 months prorogation of the legislature, Wynne resumed the house on February 17th, 2013.[32]
Gas Plant Scandal
This section does not cite any references or sources. Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (May 2014)After resuming the legislature, Opposition Parties immediately accused Wynne of co-chairing the Liberal campaign that cancelled the gas plants in Mississauga and north east Oakville. Wynne stated publicly she wasn't in the gas plant meetings and wasn't involved in cancelling the gas plants. Wynne appointed the Auditor General to investigate the real cost of the cancelled gas plants and after months of investigation the Auditor General released the report on the gas plants and stated the cancellation of both gas plants would cost taxpayers $1.1 billion dollars. After the announcement from the Auditor General, Wynne apologized publicly and stated this will never happen under her watch.
Wynne re-established the legislative committees investigating the gas plants and testified that she didn't know about the cost of the gas plants and was extremely disappointed when she found out how expensive the real cost was. At committee, Wynne stated she was blocked from knowing the truth of the cancelled gas plants and the real cost. Also, Wynne stated at committee that former Premier Dalton McGuinty told her that it wasn't her business to know the truth and the real cost of the cancelled gas plants. On June 6th 2013, the OPP were called by Opposition Parties to start a police investigation into the new allegations of deleted emails regarding the gas plants and the next day on June 7th the OPP launched a criminal investigation into the deletion of the emails after the Privacy Commissioner ruled that the gas plant emails were illegally deleted.
On November 23rd 2013, Wynne authorized the OPP anti-rackets division to investigate the Office of the Premier to further their investigation into the deleted gas plant emails. On April 8th 2014, the OPP ruled out Wynne's involvement in the deletion of the emails and criminal destruction of government information regarding the gas plants and also ruled out Wynne's involvement in the cancellation of the gas plants. The OPP stated also that Wynne's office was not under investigation and that the suspects are Dalton McGuinty, McGuinty's former chief of staff David Livingston, McGuinty's deputy chief of staff Laura Miller and Peter Faist a computer tech. Wynne stated her office would continue their co-operation with the police investigation and would provide any further documents they need.
On March 24th 2014, Wynne introduced a piece of legislation called the Public Sector and MPP Accountability and Transparency Act which involved requiring all MPP's, cabinet ministers, parliamentary assistants, opposition leaders, and their respective staff to post their expense information online. The Public Sector and MPP Accountability and Transparency Act also expanded the powers of the Integrity Commissioner, expanded the powers of the Ontario Ombudsman by introducing a fine of $5,000 for the willful destruction of government records, and prohibited the destruction of records with intent to deny access to records and other accountability measure. This was in response to the previous administration's scandals under Dalton McGuinty's.
2013 Budget
This section does not cite any references or sources. Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (May 2014)On March 21st 2013, Wynne introduced her government's first budget with measures that including a $295 million investment into a Youth Jobs Strategy to help tackle high youth unemployment rate, reducing auto insurance rates by 15 per cent saving motorists $225 a year, $260 million investment to boost home care health services for 46,000 seniors, $45 million investment into a Ontario Music Fund to help Ontario musicians, a $200 a month earnings exemption for those on Ontario Works and Ontario Disability Support Program, $5 million into First Nations education, eliminated the employers health tax exemption for large companies, cancelled tax cuts for big businesses, extended the capital cost allowance for machinery and equipment, increased the Ontario Child Benefit frin $1,100 to $1,310 a year to support low-income families and other economic measures.
Education
This section does not cite any references or sources. Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (May 2014)Wynne started immediate new collective bargaining negotiations with Ontario Elementary Teachers Federation of Ontario after a year of labour distress of bill 115 that suspended collective bargaining rights, imposed contracts on teachers and suspended the right to strike. April 8th 2014, The Wynne government reached a new bargaining agreement with the teachers union and passed bill 122 the School Boards Collective Bargaining Act that restored the bargaining rights, the right to strike, keeps the wage freeze on teachers, eliminates the retirement gratuity for teachers that resulted in savings of $1 billion ,gives the province control over funding for schools and programs and gives the Minister powers to audit School Boards if disclosure of spending is not provided. Wynne established the Premier's Youth Advisory Council to share ideas, advise the Premier on issues facing youth and improve job opportunities for young people.
The Economy
This section does not cite any references or sources. Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (May 2014)On January 30th 2014, Wynne announced her government was increasing the minimum wage from $10.25 to $11 after four years of freeze on the rate and introduced legislation to ensure future increases to the minimum wage to keep up with the CPI (Consumer Price Index). December 13th 2013, Wynne announced partnership with Cisco Canada and announced that the province would provide up to $190 million that would create 5,000 new jobs. May 2nd 2013, Wynne announced tax relief for small businesses by increasing the employers health tax exemption from $400,000 to $450,000.
2014 Election
After presenting a budget that both opposition parties stated they would not support, Wynne called an election scheduled for June 12, 2014.[33]
Personal life
Prior to her coming out as a lesbian at age 37[34] she was married to Phil Cowperthwaite,[35] with whom she had three children. She now lives with her partner[5] Jane Rounthwaite whom she married in July 2005 at Fairlawn Avenue United Church in Toronto.[34] Wynne is a member of the United Church of Canada.[36]
Electoral record
[hide]Ontario general election, 2011
PartyCandidateVotes%±pp
Liberal Kathleen Wynne 24,444 58.32 +7.9
Progressive Conservative Andrea Mandel-Campbell 12,827 30.60 -9.0
New Democratic Khalid Ahmed 3,621 8.64 +3.8
Green Louis Fliss 718 1.71 -3.1
Communist Dimitris Kabitsis 125 0.30
Independent (Vegan Environmental Party) Rosemary Waigh 108 0.26
Independent Soumen Deb 74 0.18
Total valid votes 41,917 100.00
Source: Elections Ontario.[37]
[hide]Ontario general election, 2007
PartyCandidateVotes%±pp
Liberal Kathleen Wynne 23,080 50.44 -2.15
Progressive Conservative John Tory 18,156 39.68 +0.72
Green Adrian Walker 2,202 4.81 +2.05
New Democratic Mike Kenny 2,138 4.67 -1.02
Family Coalition Daniel Kidd 183 0.40
Total valid votes 45,759 100.00
Source: Elections Ontario.[38]
[hide]Ontario general election, 2003
PartyCandidateVotes%±pp
Liberal Kathleen Wynne 23,488 52.59 +8.97
Progressive Conservative David Turnbull 17,394 38.95 -11.57
New Democratic Ali Naqvi 2,540 5.69 +1.00
Green Philip Hawkins 1,239 2.77
Total valid votes 44,661 100.00
Source: Elections Ontario.[39]
References
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Jump up^ Rushowy, Kristin (December 6, 2001). "Cansfield to chair school board ; Rookie trustee wins vice-chair job". Toronto Star. p. B05.
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Jump up^ Diebel, Linda (January 15, 2013). "Ontario Liberal leadership: Sandra Pupatello says politics is in her DNA". The Toronto Star. Retrieved January 29, 2013.
Jump up^ Jenkins, Jonathan (January 14, 2013). "Ontario likely to see first female premier in Sandra Pupatello or Kathleen Wynne". The Toronto Sun. Retrieved January 29, 2013.
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Jump up^ Howlett, Karen (January 27, 2013). "Impassioned speech and help from right-of-centre Sousa win the day". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved January 29, 2013.
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Jump up^ Lynas, Kathie (January 26, 2013). "Pupatello and Wynne in a virtual tie after first ballot at Ontario Liberal leadership convention".CFRA. Retrieved January 29, 2013.
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Jump up^ "Kathleen Wynne sworn in as Ontario’s first female premier, unveils cabinet". National Post. February 11, 2013. Retrieved February 19, 2013.
Jump up^ http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/kathleen-wynne-calls-june-12-ontario-election-1.2629948
^ Jump up to:a b "My Pride: Kathleen Wynne". Metro News. June 24, 2008.
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