Many Ontarians were surprised and confused by Liberal leader Kathleen Wynneâs announcement on Saturday that she wonât be premier after Thursdayâs election.
âOn June 7th voters will elect a new government. I don't know who voters will choose but I am pretty sure that it won't be me,â Wynne told reporters, after polls put her in a distant third place behind the Doug Fordâs Progressive Conservatives and Andrea Horwathâs New Democrats.
âAfter Thursday, I will no longer be Ontario's Premier. And I'm okay with that,â Wynne said. âBecause, as I've said many times before -- it's not about me. It's about the people of this province. It's about their wellbeing. And their futures. It's about their jobs. Not my job.â
University of Toronto political scientist Chris Cochrane told ŰÎŰ´ŤĂ˝ Channel that he believes Wynneâs speech indicates a âcleverâ strategy that shows the Liberals are playing the long game.
Cochrane explains that the Liberals and New Democrats have offered âvirtually identicalâ policies in recent years, which means many traditional Liberal supporters are âprimed to vote NDP.â
Observers have suggested that Wynne is less popular than her party, so her admission that she wonât be premier will allow more Liberals to feel comfortable voting for the Liberal candidates that they do like, and that could allow them to elect more MPPs on Thursday.
âIf regular rank-and-file Liberal supporters going in to cast their ballots realized that the Liberals had absolutely no hope to win, the natural vote for them might have been to park their vote with the NDP, which might have helped push the NDP up ahead of the (Progressive) Conservatives, to even win this election,â Cochrane says.
But the Liberals would rather see Doug Fordâs Progressive Conservatives win, Cochrane explains. Thatâs because an NDP victory would make the NDP a more credible âprogressive alternativeâ in future elections. The NDP, after all, have only formed government once, in 1990.
âAs far as Iâm concerned this strategy is really good news for the (Progressive) Conservatives,â Cochrane adds. âItâs probably bad news for the New Democrats to the extent that it has an effect.â