From Toronto Star on Tue, 08 Jan 2013 16:03:00
The seven would-be successors to Premier Dalton McGuinty are holding secret one-on-one meetings with an eye toward building alliances for the Jan. 25-27 leadership convention, the Star has learned.
Sources say candidates have been huddling in restaurants, hotel bars and even in each other’s houses and condos over home-cooked meals in recent days to discuss strategy for the delegated Maple Leaf Gardens convention.
“We all understand the candidates need to be comfortable with each other,” said a senior official on one campaign, who, like some others interviewed, requested anonymity because of the sensitivity of the talks.
“This is to lay the groundwork for the convention,” said the insider, noting there could be “tense conversations that Saturday” as candidates jockey on the convention floor after each ballot when the candidate with the fewest votes automatically drops out of the race.
The meetings take many forms — MPP Glen Murray (Toronto Centre) baked lasagna for former Windsor West MPP Sandra Pupatello the other night.
“I wish every MPP I had made lasagna for was supporting me. I’ll just put it that way,” Murray said Tuesday after a Star editorial board meeting.
“Everyone is waiting to see where the numbers go. When they’re off the ballot they’ll make that kind of decision (about moving to someone else). I don’t think anyone’s going to be jumping off the bus anytime soon,” he said.
A rival candidate joked that Murray “didn’t cook me dinner, but we had a really nice chat.”
This weekend, 1,712 delegates will be elected in 107 ridings. An additional 419 ex officio members — such as MPPs, defeated candidates, and party brass — and 144 youth representatives from 18 campus clubs and eight women’s club delegates can also vote.
That means 2,283 Liberals will directly determine the next premier of Ontario.
In a convention like this, every vote counts so relations among the various camps are crucial.
“Everyone knows it’ll take support of four (candidates’ camps) to win. No one is winning this on the first ballot,” said an insider from another campaign.
An official from a third campaign said the informal discussions can get “circular” because all hopefuls are non-committal about late-ballot support if they drop off.
“There’s an element of bravado, of course. Everyone wants to strut their stuff,” he said.
Looking ahead to this weekend’s delegate election meetings, Don Valley West MPP Kathleen Wynne leads with 1,533 backers running to be delegates in all 107 ridings.
Pupatello has 1,281 in 106 ridings.
Gerard Kennedy, the former Parkdale—High Park MP and MPP who finished second to McGuinty in the Liberals’ 1996 leadership contest, has 846 in 97 ridings.
Mississauga South MPP Charles Sousa has 778 in 92 ridings and St. Paul’s MPP Eric Hoskins has 714 in 97 ridings.
Murray has 461 in 82 ridings and Mississauga Erindale MPP Harinder Takhar has 456 delegate candidates in 54 ridings.
Kennedy, for his part, noted after a Toronto Board of Trade speech that things are fluid.
“Remember, the delegates are only committed (to their candidate) on the first ballot. There could be significant shifts.”
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