Tim Hudak Wins Ontario PC Leadership Vote
Predicted Front Runner Takes Leadership on Third Ballot
Jun 28, 2009
Former PC Leader John Tory's performance in the 2007 provincial election was criticized because he chose to take on popular Education Minister Kathleen Wynne in her Toronto riding on the issue of unding for faith-based schools. This proposal would have extended public funding beyond the Catholic school boards to include private schools of other faiths, such as Jewish, Muslim and Christian based faiths. This proposal, while not developed by the grassroots of the party, appeared to be a good one for many of the party's grassroots supporters. Unfortunately, it resonated poorly with voters and Tory lost his seat.
After several months without an opportunity to run as a candidate in a by-election, Lori Scott, the sitting Progressive Conservative Member for the riding of Haliburton-Kawartha Lakes-Brock, resigned her seat to allow John Tory to run. A by-election was called for March 6, 2009, for which Tory was nominated and selected as PC candidate. Unfortunately, despite the best efforts of Tory and supporters, Liberal Rick Anderson won. At this juncture, Tory had no choice but to resign and call for a leadership contest.
Four PC Candidates Bid for Provincial Leadership
Four candidates to replace Tory emerged: Randy Hillier, a libertarian MPP from the rural riding of Lanark-Frontenac-Lennox and Addington; Tim Hudak, a fiscal conservative MPP for Niagara-West Glanbrook; Christine Elliott, a moderate conservative MPP for Whitby-Oshawa; and Frank Klees, a social conservative from Newmarket-Aurora. All four candidates had support in caucus and the party membership, with Hudak bringing in significant support from over half the caucus and most members of Stephen Harper's federal Cabinet.
Over the past few months, each candidate had several opportunities to attend debates before party members at forums across Ontario, as well as meet with key media representatives to discuss the proposals they would bring to the party if they were elected. While proposals were at times controversial, leadership candidates largely remained respectful of one another. While Klees and Elliott were publicly critical of Hudak's proposal to scrap the Human Rights Tribunal and the involvement of Mike Harris in his campaign, Hudak refused to return any attacks on other candidates, citing his desire to unite the party and build a better future for Ontario.
Election Process Included All Party Members
As part of any leadership vote for the provincial Progressive Conservatives, candidates are required to attract and recruit members to the party by a certain date, each of which will have a vote for the new leader. After all members of the party are signed up, a leadership convention is held, where members and delegates in attendance continue to vote on first and subsequent ballots until one candidate has the support of 51% or more of the participating members.
On June 18, 2009 and June 25, 2009, party members were each given an opportunity to register their vote for the leader of their choice. On June 27, 2009, at the convention, out of over 10,000 voters, Randy Hillier was dropped from the race on first ballot. After the second ballot, Christine Elliott was dropped from the race, but her supporters were directed to choose who they wanted. At the third and final ballot, Hudak came out on top with 5,606 votes against Klees' 4,644 votes. This made Tim Hudak the winner and the new Leader of the Progressive Conservative Party.
Hudak's Next Task is to Build Unity in the Party
While Tim Hudak did enter the race as the front runner and ended up as Leader, the third ballot results between him and Klees were close, which might indicate an urban-rural split in the Party. Hudak has a major task ahead of him to work with party supporters to unite the party, as well as to prepare a vision for Ontario that would win the next election. Recent publicity about the leadership race, as well as reports from Hudak's website, played down his controversial plans about scrapping the Human Rights Tribunal and replacing top stories with the issues that likely brought Hudak the leadership position: his campaign to oppose the proposed provincial harmonized sales tax (HST), his role as critic in keeping the heat on the Minister of Health regarding an expense scandal at e-Health, as well as other watchdog roles, such as his repeated attacks on the McGuinty government for their alleged failure to manage the economy.
About Tim Hudak
Tim Hudak was born on November 1, 1967, in Fort Erie, Ontario. He graduated from the University of Western Ontario with a Bachelor of Arts degree in economics. He completed his Master's Degree in economics at the University of Washington, in Seattle. Prior to entering politics as a career, Hudak worked in the economic and tourism department in Fort Erie, and prior to this he worked as a Customs Officer and a retail store manager. In 1995, he ran for and was elected as the Progressive Conservative Member of Parliament for the old political riding of Niagara South. At this time, Mike Harris was elected Premier of Ontario. Hudak served a key role in Harris' Cabinet, starting as Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Health, and after Harris' re-election 1999, Hudak was appointed Minister of Northern Development and Mines, and in 2001, he was shuffled to Culture, Tourism and Recreation. After Premier Mike Harris resigned in 2002, and was replaced by Ernie Eves, Hudak was appointed as the Minister of Consumer and Business Services.
After the Liberals under Dalton McGuinty won the 2003 election, Hudak continued to play key roles in the Opposition, such as being the Party's critic for Finance. He is married to Deb Hutton, former Chief of Staff to Mike Harris and together, they have a daughter, Miller Olive Hudak.
