Hudak poised to enter Ontario PC leadership race
Article Comments (15) KEITH LESLIE

The Canadian Press

March 31, 2009 at 6:13 PM EDT

TORONTO — The race to replace John Tory as leader of Ontario's Progressive Conservatives will expand to three candidates Thursday when Tim Hudak formally announces his campaign, The Canadian Press has learned.

Mr. Hudak will launch his leadership bid with a news conference at the Ontario legislature and then hold an event Thursday night for supporters in his Niagara West-Glanbrook riding, sources said.

The 41-year-old Mr. Hudak, currently the party's finance critic, will have about 12 of the 24 Conservative caucus members on hand to show their support when he launches his campaign.

“He's got a pretty good chunk of caucus support, which we're very happy about,” said one source with the Hudak campaign. “That amount of caucus support right off the bat shows that the team at Queen's Park has a lot of faith and trust in Tim.”

With interim leader Bob Runciman and deputy leader Elizabeth Witmer both remaining neutral, Mr. Hudak will start the race with more than half of the caucus members listed as supporting his bid for the party's top job.

Mr. Hudak was first elected in 1995 and was minister of northern development and mines and minister of tourism, culture and recreation under former premier Mike Harris. He was later named minister of consumer and business services by then-premier Ernie Eves.

Mr. Hudak was born and raised in Fort Erie and educated at Notre Dame College School in Welland. Before entering politics, he worked in the tourism and economic development business and was a customs officer at the Niagara border with the U.S.

Fellow caucus members Frank Klees and Randy Hillier have already announced their intentions to try to succeed Mr. Tory as leader of Ontario's Conservatives.

Christine Elliott, the wife of federal Finance Minister Jim Flaherty, has also been testing the waters for her own possible run for the party leadership.

There has also been talk about some federal Conservatives considering bids to lead the Ontario party, but so far all those believed to be possible candidates have said they like their jobs in Ottawa.

Mr. Tory's inability to get a seat in the legislature was one of the main reasons he couldn't rally the caucus behind him, and it's believed any leadership candidates who don't have a seat would be at a significant disadvantage compared with their caucus rivals.

Mr. Tory resigned in early March after losing a Lindsay-area by-election in a Conservative-held riding to the governing Liberals, throwing the party into a leadership race.

Mr. Harris has been working the phones drumming up support for Mr. Hudak, who has been considered the likely front-runner in the race ever since Tory stepped down.

However, the sources said Mr. Harris would not have any official role with Mr. Hudak's campaign.

Mr. Hudak's wife, Deb Hutton, was the former chief of staff to Mr. Harris and a high-profile member of the party.

The Conservatives will announce their new leader at a convention in Markham on June 27 after a vote by party members across the province the previous week.


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Hudak promises to restore Ontario's middle-class values
Article Comments (28) KAREN HOWLETT

Globe and Mail Update

April 2, 2009 at 11:25 AM EDT

TORONTO — Ontario Progressive Conservative MPP Tim Hudak promised to represent the hopes and dreams of the province's middle-class families as he formally launched his bid for the leadership of the party.

“Today, we begin a journey down a new path,” Mr. Hudak said at a news conference on Thursday on the front lawn of the provincial legislature, where he was flanked by a dozen members of the party's caucus.

Mr. Hudak said he wants to put conservative principles that have stood the test of time into action, including respecting the rule of law, rewarding hard work and ingenuity, and lowering taxes. He was vague about how he plans to translate those principles into policy. He also declined to comment on whether it was a mistake for John Tory to position himself as a moderate in the mould of his mentor, former premier Bill Davis — a stand that often put the former leader in conflict with the party's right wing.

“We ought to move beyond the red Tory, blue Tory debate,” Mr. Hudak said.

However, others have already labelled the 41-year-old member for the riding of Niagara West-Glanbrook. Mr. Hudak was first elected as an MPP at the age of 27 in the 1995 sweep that ushered in the Conservatives under premier Mike Harris. Many veterans of that era hope Mr. Hudak can steer the party back to the small-c conservative policies that were a hallmark of the Common Sense revolution.

The province was also in recession when the Tories ousted the New Democratic Party in 1995. But Mr. Hudak said there is a crucial difference between that recession and the one currently devastating the province. Ontario's fortunes have plunged to the point where it is now among the poor cousins of Confederation and is receiving federal equalization payments for the first time in history this year, he said.

“Who ever would have imagined that Ontario would be an equalization receiving province.”

Several party members from the Harris era are supporting Mr. Hudak's leadership campaign, including Mr. Harris himself. But Mr. Hudak was quick to point out that he has support from caucus members representing a wide spectrum, ranging from veterans of the Davis era to those days as well as those more recently elected, including Lisa MacLeod, who won a by-election race in 2006 and Bob Bailey, who won his seat in the October, 2007, provincial election.

Mr. Hudak is the perceived front-runner in the race: his endorsement from one half of the 24 caucus members attests to the momentum of his campaign leading up to Thursday's formal launch.

Three other caucus members are also in the running. Christine Elliott, 53, will launch her campaign on Friday in her riding of Whitby-Oshawa. Frank Klees, 58, and Randy Hiller, 50, are also running.

The party will choose a new leader on June 27.

The leadership post became available after Mr. Tory stepped down last month after he lost a by-election. Mr. Tory had been without a seat in the legislature since the provincial election, when his party was badly hurt by his policy to publicly fund all religious schools in addition to Catholic ones.

Mr. Hudak made it clear that he has no plans to adopt this policy, even though he had supported it in the past.

“It was put to the test in the last election,” he said. “The lesson in 2007 was very clear.”

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with 4 quality candidates it looks like the ontario pc party will finally get a leader who can take on mcguinty and his gang of liberals who have taken ontario from an economic leader to a have not province .