Back in 2012, when Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty announced he would resign, Kathleen Wynne says many people were asking the same questions: Who would run for leadership of the provincial Liberal party and — more importantly, given its grim prospects at the time — why would anyone want to?
“I made a decision to run for the leadership in that context, fully expecting that I wouldn’t win, but also that we were on a path to lose [the next election],” Wynne — who succeeded McGuinty as both leader and premier — told CBC News.
So she has a little insight into why anyone would want to lead the federal Liberals following Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s resignation, even though polls suggest the party could suffer a massive defeat in the next election.
(Although Wynne was elected in 2014, she also knows what it’s like to be politically decimated, having been crushed …