Kathleen Wynne wants you to like her policies, not her
Ontario’s premier doesn’t want to be your friend; she just wants to lead your provincial government.

thestar.com
By ROBERT BENZIE
Aug. 30, 2017

Kathleen Wynne doesn’t want to be your friend; she just wants to be your premier.

Languishing at historic lows in personal popularity polls, even as her government’s initiatives appear to be gaining traction, Wynne says Ontarians don’t have to love her when they vote on June 7, 2018.

Asked earlier this week by CP24’s Cristina Tenaglia why Liberal policies are popular while polling suggests she, herself, is not, the premier smiled gamely and interjected.

“You know what, you’re going to have to determine what it says about me,” Wynne said at a campaign-style event Tuesday at the Berkeley Street Theatre.

“Here’s what I do in the morning: I get up. I read the newspaper. I listen to you guys. I go for my run and then I come to work and I do my job,” she said.

“And my job is about creating a fair Ontario, creating an Ontario where kids and adults, seniors have the opportunity to live a life that is the very best life that they can live.

“That’s my job.”

That moment of candour at first seemed as though it may have been a slip of the tongue.

But Wynne and her aides have retweeted video of her response to Tenaglia to tens of thousands of people on Twitter and posted it on Facebook.

The Liberals have done so because they want voters to be thinking about policies, not personalities, when casting their ballots nine months from now.

“Whether people like me or not, I’m really glad that people think that free tuition for kids who live in low income families is a good idea,” said Wynne.

“I’m really glad that people think that having free medications for kids from zero to 25 is a really good idea,” she said.

“I’m really glad that people think that increasing the minimum wage is a good idea, and that that makes for a fairer Ontario.”

The premier, who trails both Progressive Conservative Leader Patrick Brown and NDP Leader Andrea Horwath in personal approval ratings, indicated she has no illusions about winning a popularity contest.

“The people who love me are my family and I go home to them.

“My job is to make sure that the people of Ontario have the best opportunity possible.”

Internal government polling obtained by The Canadian Press through a Freedom of Information request suggests the Liberals are rebounding thanks in part to support for increasing the $11.40 hourly minimum wage to $14 in January and $15 in 2019.

Last month, 71 per cent of respondents said they supported the policy, which is opposed by many business groups concerned about labour costs.

“Increasing the minimum wage, along with protection for temporary and part-time workers, serves to increase confidence in government even more than increases to health care spending,” the Gandalf Group pollsters wrote.

Gandalf, which is headed by David Herle, Wynne’s campaign manager, also found Ontarians like the 25 per cent cut in consumer electricity rates, which is being paid for through increased borrowing.

One insider confided Wednesday that Liberals still have an uphill climb to ensure the premier, herself, is seen as the face of popular policies.

“It’s great that people like the minimum wage, the hydro plan, and pharmacare, but we aren’t yet getting much credit for it,” said the senior official, speaking on condition of anonymity in order to discuss internal strategy.

“We still have a long way to go.”