Ontario’s Progressive Conservative party wasted little time going after incoming premier Kathleen Wynne after she won the province’s Liberal party leadership Saturday.
The Tories, the official opposition in Ontario, debuted a radio spot over the weekend calling Wynne “another Liberal we can’t afford.”
Wynne responded to questions about the ads on CBC Monday.
“It’s the Conservatives’ choice if they want to run attack ads. I can’t control that,” Wynne told CBC. “But what I can control is my response and my response is not going to be a response in kind… I am not going to lash out and attack back because I don’t think that’s what people want to see.”
On Sunday, Working Families Ontario, a labour group that Progressive Conservatives have criticized in the past for its ties to the Liberal party, released a TV spot making Hudak out as a member of “the old boys club.” The add does not mention Wynne by name, but paints Hudak as a politician more concerned with tax breaks for corporations than funding child care or supporting gender equality.
Wynne, the first female premier on Ontario and Canada’s first openly gay premier, has made working with the opposition parties a top priority. She’s expected to arrange a meeting with NDP Leader Andrea Horwath, after talking briefly with Progressive Conservative Leader Tim Hudak over the weekend.
In her first news conference as Liberal leader Sunday, Wynne said Ontarians don’t want an election and she is determined to keep the minority government alive.
