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Incumbent premier concedes Ontario election, days before vote

File photo

Residents of Ontario go to the polls Thursday for a provincial election. The month-long campaign has been full of twists and turns, the biggest coming from Liberal party leader and premier Kathleen Wynne.

"I don’t know who voters will choose. That is up to them. But I’m pretty sure that it won’t be me. After Thursday I will no longer be Ontario’s premier," Wynne said recently.
 
With that statement in front of children at a playground, and with tears streaming down her face, Ontario’s premier Kathleen Wynne conceded defeat, days before the vote.
            
Wynne’s Liberal party has been hit hard during this election campaign by a voting public anxious for change. Some pollsters have predicted the party could be wiped out or left with a handful of seats, and not enough for official party status.
            
Polls also show the race is now between the New Democrats, led by Andrea Horvath, and the Progressive Conservatives, led by Doug Ford.
            
In her last-minute bid to save the Liberal party, Wynne urged people to vote for local liberal candidates so that neither the New Democrats or the Conservatives would be left with a majority government.
            
"With a majority government Doug Ford would have too free a hand for the comfort of most people. They just don’t trust his judgment and the sentiment toward the NDP is much the same. People worry about what will happen to our economy if the NDP takes power and form a majority government with nothing to hold them back," Wynne said.
 
The NDP leader Andrea Horvath said Wynne is playing a dangerous game that might backfire and send the Doug Ford’s Progressive Conservatives to a majority.

Ford, meanwhile, has troubles of his own. Renata Ford, the widow of Doug’s brother and former Toronto mayor Rob Ford, is suing him for millions of dollars for mishandling her late husband’s estate. Doug Ford is denying the allegations.

WBFO’s comprehensive news coverage extends into Southern Ontario and Dan Karpenchuk is the station’s voice from the north. The award-winning reporter covers binational issues, including economic trends, the environment, tourism and transportation.