This article was last updated on April 16, 2022
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Given his unexpectedly strong showing in the delegate selection battle in the Ontario Liberal party leadership race former Ontario Transportation Minster and businessman Harinder Takhar is being touted as possibly the next finance minister of Canada’s largest province.
At the conclusion of the delegate selection process this past weekend it was clear that Takhar’s small but close-knit and dedicated campaign team headed by Omar Khan had more than held their own against the much better financed and resourced campaigns of Kathleen Wynne and Sandra Pupatello which are supported and managed by experienced party insiders.
In the weekend battles Sandra Pupetello cornered 504 delegates decisively beating the previously thought front runner Kathleen Wynne who collected 463 delegates. Takhar with thirteen per cent of the vote won 244 delegates just 13 shy of twice unsuccessful provincial and federal leadership candidate Gerard Kennedy whose campaign was only able to elect a disappointing 257 candidates.
At the convention there will also be approximately 400 ex-officio delegates who are party officials and candidates defeated in the last election. These ex-officio delegates will be revealing their allegiances in the next few days and a significant majority of them are expected to support Pupatello.
According to two party insiders who asked to remain anonymous if a significant majority of the delegates who are committed to Takhar and Charles Sousa on the first round of voting were to move with either of these candidates to Pupatello on the second or third ballots, Pupatello could be elected the next premier of Ontario by mid afternoon on Sunday January 27.
While the real horse trading will take place on the floor of the Liberal party convention, discussions are already taking place as to which trailing candidate will support which candidate ahead of them in the early rounds of voting.
Part of those discussions are about the expectations as to future cabinet appointments and Takhar who is the only candidate with an extensive management and business background is likely to seek and receive at least a strong promise of consideration to take over the finance portfolio in the next Liberal government.
Takhar’s campaign spokeswoman Jenna Mannone, however, strongly denied that Takhar has sought or been offered any special consideration. Insisting that there were “no plans, no offers, (and) no deals” Mannone said “Mr. Takhar (as the next premier of the province will be) working hard to create jobs, be fiscally prudent, help small business and protect the most vulnerable people of Ontario”
The degree of Takhar’s success which has come as a complete surprise to the political and media establishments could lead to another round of hostile reaction from the Toronto Star. Star columnist Martin Regg-Cohn has penned two extremely negative opinions of Takhar without subjecting the other mainstream leadership candidates to the same degree of scrutiny.
The Toronto Star’s repeated attacks on Takhar caused concern even among rival campaigns. A senior strategist in the campaign of a leading candidate complained that there was a strong hint of racism in the Toronto Star’s repeated negative focus on Takhar who immigrated to Canada from India in 1974.
An insider with another campaign worried that unwarranted attacks such as those directed at Takhar by the Toronto Star could result in non-white Canadians shying away from participating in the political process. This fear may not be warranted, however, as many delegates from diverse backgrounds were in fact elected at the delegate selection meetings held this past weekend.
Viresh Fernando is a Toronto based lawyer, writer and political junkie
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