Ontario’s Progressive Conservatives elected former Toronto City councillor Doug Ford to lead the party in a controversial vote last weekend.
Ford defeated three other candidates in the contest: former MPP Christine Elliott, Caroline Mulroney, a PC candidate in the June 7 election and daughter of former Prime Minister Brian Mulroney, and social conservative activist Tanya Granic Allen.
The leadership contest was conducted after former PC leader Patrick Brown resigned on Jan. 24, the same evening CTV News reported on allegations of sexual misconduct by Brown involving two teenage girls.
Brown, who remains an MPP, has denied the allegations, which date back to his days as a federal MP. He entered the contest to replace himself, but later withdrew.
Results were initially expected to be announced mid-afternoon at a convention attended by hundreds of party supporters on March 12, but the announcement was delayed until around 10pm, as Elliott contested the close vote, which saw her win both the popular vote and the majority of ridings.
However the ranked ballot system, weighted by riding, favoured Ford by about 150 electoral points out of 12,000, and Elliott declined to concede until the following day, when she also declared her intention to seek a seat in parliament in the June 7 provincial election.
At 10:18pm on March 12, Perth-Wellington MPP Randy Pettapiece, who had supported Elliott’s candidacy, offered his congratulations to the winner.
“Congratulations @fordnation on your victory @OntarioPCParty,” Pettapiece tweeted.
On March 12, Pettapiece issued a press release congratulating Ford and the other candidates on a “hard-fought campaign” and stating “I accept the result.
“With our new leader in place, we must now turn our attention to a single, necessary goal: replacing Kathleen Wynne and the Liberals on June 7,” he continued
“I am fully confident that, with Doug Ford at the helm, we can bring much-needed change to Ontario. We will work tirelessly to make life more affordable for Ontario families; restore accountability and respect for taxpayers; and put the interests of hardworking Ontarians first.”
Following Elliott’s decision to concede Sunday evening, Wellington Halton-Hills MPP Ted Arnott tweeted, “Once again, I want to express my thanks to @celliottability for her leadership, perseverance and integrity. Ontario needs her. Congratulations to @fordnation, his family and supporters.”
“Now that it’s finally over, we must move forward together. Ontario residents need us to ‘get our act together.’ Politics is not ‘about us.’ It’s about the people of Ontario,” Arnott stated in a later tweet.
Locally, the majority of both Perth-Wellington and Wellington-Halton Hills voters supported Elliott on the first ballot.
In Perth-Wellington, Ford garnered the largest share of second ballot votes, while Elliott was ahead on the majority of third ballots.
Ford drew the most votes from Wellington-Halton Hills Progressive Conservative party members on the second and third ballots.
Perth-Wellington
First Ballot: Elliott, 199; Ford, 145; Granic Allen, 111, Mulroney, 81.
Second: Ford, 239; Elliott, 205; Mulroney, 87.
Third: Elliott, 272; Ford, 253.
Wellington-Halton Hills
First Ballott: Elliott, 146; Ford, 119; Granic Allen, 93; Mulroney, 58.
Second: Ford, 199; Elliott, 152; Mulroney, 59.
Third: Ford, 209; Elliott, 194.
