Midtown Grit vies for party leadership
[attach]6424[/attach]Longtime Liberal and midtown resident Deborah Coyne has emerged as one of the early contenders vying for the Liberal Party’s top job.
Though the leadership convention isn’t set to take place until spring 2013, Coyne is wasting no time in declaring her intentions for what is expected to be hotly contested race.
The former constitutional lawyer says she’s presenting herself to Liberal voters as a candidate who can rebuild a decimated party. Liberals were brought to their knees in the May 2011 federal election, when they lost 43 seats and were reduced to the third party in the House of Commons.
“That’s a bigger challenge than anyone would have expected,” Coyne said. “However, the silver lining is, all of a sudden the party is wide open.”
Coyne said that now is the time to get straight the role of national government in the 21st century and a rejuvenated Liberal party can set the standard.
“How do we make our federation do better and be more collaborative and cooperative and get the results we want,” Coyne said, adding she wants to see huge investments in infrastructure, public transit, and a renewed focus on climate change.
As a non-elected Liberal, Coyne may face challenges from more high-profile party officials, or sitting MPs. While she may be somewhat of an outsider, the 57-year-old is no stranger to the inner workings of Canada’s once-reigning party. In the late 1980s, as an advisor to Newfoundland premier Clyde Wells, she figured prominently in opposition to both the Meech Lake and Charlottetown accords.
Recently, Coyne was a member of the Health Professions and Health Insurance Appeal and Review Boards but resigned when she announced her leadership bid.
Coyne has prior experience running for office. In 2006, she ran for the Toronto-Danforth seat in the federal election, losing to New Democrats’ leader Jack Layton. In 2008, she sought the Liberal nomination in Don Valley West. Now referring to it as a “forgone conclusion,” Coyne ultimately withdrew from the Don Valley West nomination race and threw her support behind eventual winner, Rob Oliphant. Unlike the smaller nomination race, Coyne says the leadership bid is “an entirely different ballgame” in that it’s wide open, with a much larger voter base.
“I’m going to run a straight-up, clean campaign, right to the end,” she said, adding she doesn’t plan to incur debt.
“This is going to be about ideas, about rebuilding the party, about getting the Liberals back from the edge of the precipice, and standing for something distinctive.”
Leadership win or not, Coyne said she will attempt to become an elected MP in the next federal race.
“I’m confident there’s somewhere that will be an appropriate riding for me, but I just won’t even worry about it until the [leadership] race is over.”
