Many Ontarians were surprised and confused by Liberal leader Kathleen Wynne鈥檚 announcement on Saturday that she won鈥檛 be premier after Thursday鈥檚 election.
鈥淥n 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,鈥� Wynne told reporters, after polls put her in a distant third place behind the Doug Ford鈥檚 Progressive Conservatives and Andrea Horwath鈥檚 New Democrats.
鈥淎fter Thursday, I will no longer be Ontario's Premier. And I'm okay with that,鈥� Wynne said. 鈥淏ecause, 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.鈥�
University of Toronto political scientist Chris Cochrane told CTV News Channel that he believes Wynne鈥檚 speech indicates a 鈥渃lever鈥� strategy that shows the Liberals are playing the long game.
Cochrane explains that the Liberals and New Democrats have offered 鈥渧irtually identical鈥� policies in recent years, which means many traditional Liberal supporters are 鈥減rimed to vote NDP.鈥�
Observers have suggested that Wynne is less popular than her party, so her admission that she won鈥檛 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.
鈥淚f 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,鈥� Cochrane says.
But the Liberals would rather see Doug Ford鈥檚 Progressive Conservatives win, Cochrane explains. That鈥檚 because an NDP victory would make the NDP a more credible 鈥減rogressive alternative鈥� in future elections. The NDP, after all, have only formed government once, in 1990.
鈥淎s far as I鈥檓 concerned this strategy is really good news for the (Progressive) Conservatives,鈥� Cochrane adds. 鈥淚t鈥檚 probably bad news for the New Democrats to the extent that it has an effect.鈥�
