Click here for a visual representation of the candidates on our ‘Election Guide’.
Kathleen Wynne
Kathleen Wynne is the current Premier of Ontario and represents the Liberal Party. Wynne has been in office since 2013 and is vying for a second term in the election in June of 2018.
Before entering provincial politics, Wynne served as a Public School Trustee, where she strongly opposed cuts to public education funding and encouraged schools to purchase teaching tools that reflect the existence of same-sex parents in society. By 2011, Wynne was serving as Ontario’s Minister of Municipal Affairs and Aboriginal Affairs. After becoming Premier, Wynne was accused of having a role in the decision to cancel the construction of gas power plants in the greater Toronto area (GTA). The cancellation was developed under the administration of Premier Dalton McGuinty and was estimated to cost taxpayers over one billion dollars. Wynne testified to the legislative council that she had no role in the decision.
In 2014, Wynne introduced the Public Sector and Member Provincial Parliament (MPP) Accountability and Transparency Act, which includes requiring all MPPs to publicise their expense reports, and proposes a $5000 fine for the willful destruction of government records, including emails. Although Wynne never characterized the act as a response to the gas plant controversy, the act was introduced after an Ontario Provincial Police investigation into the suspected deletion of emails related to the scandal.
Wynne is the first openly homosexual head of provincial government in Canada and is the first female premier of Ontario.
Patrick Brown
Patrick Brown is the current leader of Ontario’s Progressive Conservative Party (PC Party, or PCP) and the leader of the Official opposition. Brown has been in office since 2015 and is running for the position of Premier in the upcoming provincial election. Before becoming a member of provincial parliament, Brown served as a federal Conservative member of the House of Commons representing Barrie, first being elected in 2000, and being reelected in 2003 with 72% of votes. Brown has been the Chair of the GTA and Central Ontario Caucus since 2011, and has also acted as Chairman of the Canada-India Parliamentary Association, building economic relationships with India.
Brown is now being sued by Kathleen Wynne for libel, due to a comment he made to media in Queen’s Park where he referred to Wynne as being on “trial” in Sudbury.
Andrea Horwath
Andrea Horwath is the current leader of Ontario’s New Democratic Party (NDP) and represents Hamilton in the Legislative Assembly. Horwath has been in office since 2009, and is running for the position of Premier in the upcoming provincial election. Before becoming a MPP, Horwath served as a Hamilton City Councillor for three terms. During this time, she acted as chair for the solid waste management committee and the municipal non-profit housing corporation.
Horwath received an EVE award for public service in 2012. EVE is sponsored by Equal Voice, a non-profit organization that focuses on promoting women in politics.
Horwath is the first woman to lead the NDP party and was the recipient of a certificate of achievement in anti-racism training in 1996.
Mike Schreiner
Mike Schreiner is the leader of the Green Party of Ontario. Schreiner has been in office since 2009 and is currently running for the Position of Premier in the 2018 provincial election.
Schreiner has lead successful policy campaigns pushing the provincial government to fund the Experimental Lakes Area and price carbon pollution. Schreiner has also successfully campaigned for the provincial government to ban the use of neonicotinoid pesticides, which are proven to be linked to the decline in honeybee populations and are also known to be harmful to birds and other forms of wildlife.
Schreiner is also a co-founder of of the award-winning Local Food Plus organization, a nonprofit that works to build regional food economies. Schreiner is also an entrepreneur with several successful small businesses, including WOW Foods and Earthdance Organics.
Bob Yaciuk
Bob Yaciuk is the leader of the Trillium Party of Ontario. The Trillium Party was created in 2014 in response to dissatisfaction with the Liberal and PC Parties, but currently lacks official status as a federal party.
Yaciuk is not an MPP, making Trillium member Jack MacLaren the first MPP in the party.
Some of the focuses of the Trillium Party include opposing Ontario’s new sexual education curriculum, opposing Ontario’s hydro prices and rate of production, and advocating against carbon taxes.
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