Ontario’s next premier is Kathleen Wynne.
She won the leadership of the Ontario Liberal Party.
Since the Liberals are in power in the province, she will automatically become the premier as well.
Wynne’s closest competitor for the job was Sandra Pupatello.
The Liberals held a “leadership convention” to choose a new leader after Dalton McGuinty stepped down as leader and Ontario premier last October.
The convention was held on the weekend; Wynne was voted in on Saturday.
Liberal party members voted in Toronto, in three votes or “ballots.” Wynne won in the third ballot with 1,150 votes (57%) over Pupatello, who had 866 votes (43%).
Eric Hoskins, Gerard Kennedy, Charles Sousa and Harinder Takhar had also been in the running for Ontario Liberal leader. Hoskins dropped out of the race after the first ballot; the others dropped out of the race after the second ballot.
Wynne will be Ontario’s first female, and first openly gay premier.
In her acceptance speech, Wynne stressed unity. She asked all of the former candidates to join her on stage, calling them “a dream team of Canada–a very deep bench.” She said she wanted all of them to work together to “(forge) a bright future.”
The new premier also said the leadership victory was “the easy part.” That’s because she faces a number of challenges as she takes office, including labour negotiations with the province’s teachers and issues with the province’s economy.
CURRICULUM CONNECTIONS
By Kathleen Tilly
Writing/Discussion Prompt
Last week Kathleen Wynne was running against five people: Eric Hoskins, Gerard Kennedy, Charles Sousa, Sandra Pupatello and Harinda Takhar. Now that she has won the leadership race, Wynne is asking them all to work together with her.
When you have to work in a group, what strategies do you use to cooperate and to overcome any differences?
Compare your answers with a friend and share your ideas with the class.
Reading Prompt: Comprehension Strategies
Before you begin reading the article, just read the title. Based on the title, what do you think the article is about? What do you know about Kathleen Wynne and politics in Ontario?
Once you have read the full article, explain whether or not your background knowledge helped you to understand the article.
In general, how does prior knowledge help a reader to understand a text?
Junior
Identify a variety of reading comprehension strategies and use them appropriately before, during, and after reading to understand texts (OME, Reading: 1.3).
Intermediate
Identify a variety of reading comprehension strategies and use them appropriately before, during, and after reading to understand increasingly complex texts (OME, Reading: 1.3).
Grammar Feature: Puns
Here’s another way you could summarize this story: Wynne won. This kind of humorous phrase is called a “pun.” Puns include words that can be taken two different ways; in this case, “Wynne” is the new Premier’s last name but it sounds like “win.” So the summary would sound like ‘Win-won’.
Can you explain why the following phrases are puns?
1. “Time flies like an arrow. Fruit flies like a banana.” – Groucho Marx
2. “You can tune a guitar, but you can’t tuna fish. Unless of course, you play bass.” – Douglas Adams
