Kathleen Wynne facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Kathleen Wynne
Wynne in 2017
25th Premier of Ontario
In office February 11, 2013 – June 29, 2018
Monarch	Elizabeth II
Lieutenant Governor	David Onley Elizabeth Dowdeswell
Preceded by	Dalton McGuinty
Succeeded by	Doug Ford
Member of the Ontario Provincial Parliament for Don Valley West
In office October 2, 2003 – May 3, 2022
Preceded by	David Turnbull
Succeeded by	Stephanie Bowman
Additional offices held Leader of the Ontario Liberal Party In office January 26, 2013 – June 7, 2018 Preceded by Dalton McGuinty Succeeded by John Fraser (interim) Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs In office February 11, 2013 – June 29, 2018 Premier Herself Preceded by Laurel Broten Succeeded by Doug Ford Minister of Agriculture and Food In office February 11, 2013 – June 24, 2014 Premier Herself Preceded by Ted McMeekin Succeeded by Jeff Leal Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing Minister of Aboriginal Affairs In office October 20, 2011 – November 5, 2012 Premier Dalton McGuinty Preceded by Sandra Pupatello (Municipal Affairs and Housing); Chris Bentley (Aboriginal Affairs) Succeeded by Bob Chiarelli (Municipal Affairs and Housing); Chris Bentley (Aboriginal Affairs) Minister of Transportation In office January 18, 2010 – October 20, 2011 Premier Dalton McGuinty Preceded by Rick Bartolucci Succeeded by Bob Chiarelli (interim) Minister of Education In office September 18, 2006 – January 18, 2010 Premier Dalton McGuinty Preceded by Sandra Pupatello Succeeded by Leona Dombrowsky Toronto District School Board Trustee for Ward 8 In office 2000–2003
Personal details
Born	Kathleen O'Day Wynne (1953-05-21) May 21, 1953 (age 72) Richmond Hill, Ontario, Canada
Political party	Ontario Liberal
Spouses	Phil Cowperthwaite ​ ​ (m. 1977; div. 1991)​ Jane Rounthwaite ​ (m. 2005)​
Children	3
Alma mater	Queen's University University of Toronto
Occupation	Politician

Kathleen O'Day Wynne (born May 21, 1953) is a former Canadian politician. She served as the 25th Premier of Ontario and leader of the Ontario Liberal Party from 2013 to 2018. She was a Member of Provincial Parliament (MPP) for Don Valley West from 2003 to 2022.

Kathleen Wynne made history as the first female premier of Ontario. She was also the first openly gay premier in Canada. A premier is like the head of the government for a province, similar to how a prime minister leads the country. An MPP is a person elected to represent a specific area in the provincial parliament.

Wynne first became involved in public office as a trustee for the Toronto District School Board (TDSB) in 2000. She was then elected to the Ontario Legislature in 2003. Under Premier Dalton McGuinty, she held several important roles in the government.

In 2012, McGuinty announced he would resign. Wynne then ran to become the leader of the Liberal Party. After winning the leadership race, she became premier. She led her party to win a majority government in the 2014 provincial election.

As premier, Wynne introduced several new programs. These included free prescription medicine for children and free college or university tuition for families earning less than $50,000. She also raised the minimum wage to $14 an hour. Some of her government's decisions, like updating the sex education curriculum and selling part of Hydro One, caused public discussion.

Wynne tried to win another election in 2018. However, she realized her party would not form the government again. The Liberals lost many seats, which was the worst defeat for a governing party in Ontario's history. Wynne resigned as Liberal leader on election night. She officially stepped down as premier on June 29, 2018. She continued to serve as an MPP until 2022, when she retired from politics.

Early Life and Education

Kathleen O'Day Wynne was born on May 21, 1953, in Toronto, Ontario. Her parents were Dr. John B. Wynne and Patsy O'Day. Her mother was a musician who grew up in Nassau, Bahamas, before moving to Canada.

Wynne grew up in Richmond Hill, Ontario. She studied at Queen's University, earning a Bachelor of Arts degree. She also earned a Master of Arts degree in linguistics from the University of Toronto. Later, she received a Master of Education degree in adult education from the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (University of Toronto).

Before becoming a politician, Wynne was involved in her community. She was the president of the Toronto Institute of Human Relations. In 1996, she helped start Citizens for Local Democracy. This group was against the joining of different parts of Metropolitan Toronto. She also founded the Metro Parent Network, which worked to improve public education.

Kathleen Wynne has three children from her first marriage. She is now married to her partner, Jane Rounthwaite. They were married in July 2005. Wynne is a member of the United Church of Canada.

Becoming a School Trustee

Kathleen Wynne first ran for a position as a school trustee in 1994 but was not elected. In 2000, she tried again and was elected as a trustee for the Toronto District School Board (TDSB) in Ward 8.

During her campaign, she faced some negative comments. Wynne strongly disagreed with cuts to public education that the government had ordered.

In 2001, Wynne helped pass a rule that encouraged public schools to buy teaching materials. These materials would show that gay and lesbian parents are part of modern society. In December 2001, she ran to be the chair of the school board but was not chosen.

Starting in Provincial Politics

Wynne helped start Citizens for Local Democracy, a group that was against the joining of different parts of Toronto in 1999. She tried to enter provincial politics in 1999 but did not win the Liberal nomination.

In 2003, she became the Liberal candidate for Don Valley West. In the 2003 provincial election, she won against the Progressive Conservative cabinet minister David Turnbull. She became an MPP for her area.

The Liberal Party won the election. In October 2003, Wynne was appointed as a helper to the Minister of Training, Colleges and Universities. In October 2004, she became a helper to the Minister of Education.

On September 18, 2006, she was promoted to Minister of Education. She was the first openly lesbian cabinet minister in Ontario. On January 18, 2010, she became Minister of Transportation. In 2011, she was appointed Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing and Minister of Aboriginal Affairs.

In the 2007 provincial election, Wynne ran against the PC leader John Tory. Wynne was re-elected with 50.4 percent of the votes, defeating Tory.

Becoming Liberal Leader in 2013

Premier Dalton McGuinty announced on October 15, 2012, that he would step down as leader of the Ontario Liberal Party. He would also resign as premier once a new leader was chosen.

On November 2, 2012, Wynne left her cabinet job. Three days later, she announced she would run for the leadership of the party. Wynne was seen as a strong candidate with good support across the province.

At the leadership convention on January 26, 2013, Wynne gave a speech. She talked about improving relationships with teachers and working with other political parties. She also mentioned that she was ready to lead the government.

After the first round of voting, Wynne was very close behind another candidate, Sandra Pupatello. Other candidates who were eliminated then chose to support Wynne. With their support, Wynne won the leadership race in the third round of voting. She received 57 percent of the votes.

Serving as Premier (2013–2018)

Wynne with Enrique Peña Nieto in 2016

Kathleen Wynne became the Premier of Ontario on February 11, 2013. She was the first female premier of the province. She was also the first premier in Canada to be openly gay.

Changes to Hydro One

In 2016, Kathleen Wynne's government decided to sell 30 percent of Hydro One to private owners. Hydro One is a company that provides electricity. The government planned to use about four billion dollars from the sale to pay off government debt. The other five billion dollars would go to a fund to improve transit and build new infrastructure.

This decision caused a lot of public debate. About 67 percent of people in Ontario did not agree with selling parts of Hydro One. Wynne's approval rating, which shows how much people support her, dropped to 14 percent. This was the lowest for any premier in Ontario's history at that time.

The 2013 Budget

On March 21, 2013, Wynne's government presented its first budget. A budget is a plan for how the government will spend money.

Some key parts of this budget included:

• A $295 million investment to help young people find jobs.
• A goal to lower auto insurance rates by 15 percent.
• $260 million to improve home care health services for seniors.
• $45 million for an Ontario Music Fund to support musicians.
• More money for the Ontario Child Benefit to help low-income families.
• $5 million for First Nations education.

Some people criticized the budget, saying it spent too much money to gain support from other parties. The Progressive Conservative leader said he would not support the budget. However, with support from the New Democratic Party, the budget passed on June 11, 2013.

Education Initiatives

Kathleen Wynne's time as premier involved many discussions and agreements with teachers' unions. She started new talks with the Elementary Teachers' Federation of Ontario (ETFO). This happened after a year when a law had stopped teachers' bargaining rights and their right to strike.

On April 8, 2014, Wynne's government reached a new agreement with the teachers' unions. They passed a law that gave teachers back their bargaining rights and the right to strike. This law also gave the Minister of Education power to check school board spending. Wynne also created the Premier's Youth Advisory Council to get advice from young people.

In February 2015, her government updated the sex education curriculum in public schools. The curriculum had not been updated since 1998. These changes caused some disagreement among parents and other groups. Some parents even kept their children home from school to protest the changes.

Boosting the Economy

On January 30, 2014, Wynne announced that her government would increase the minimum wage from $10.25 to $11. The minimum wage is the lowest amount an employer can pay workers. She also introduced a law to make sure the minimum wage would increase in the future based on the cost of living.

Wynne also announced a partnership with Cisco Canada, which was expected to create 1,700 new jobs. Her government also offered tax relief for small businesses.

In late 2014, Wynne went on a trade trip to China with other provincial leaders. This trip led to about a billion dollars in investments and 1,800 new jobs for Ontario.

By the end of 2015, the unemployment rate in Ontario was lower than the national average. Experts also said that Ontario's economy was growing strongly.

The 2014 Election

In the spring of 2014, many people thought a general election would happen. This was because the New Democratic Party (NDP) had gained support. The Liberal government needed the NDP's support for its budget to pass.

On May 1, 2014, the Wynne government presented its budget. It included plans for wage increases for home care and child care workers. It also had a $29 billion plan for transportation, including roads, bridges, and transit. The budget also proposed higher taxes for high-income earners.

The NDP leader, Andrea Horwath, quickly announced that her party would not support the budget. This meant an election would be called. On June 12, 2014, the election took place.

During the campaign, Wynne's Liberals and Tim Hudak's Progressive Conservatives were the main competitors. The NDP fell behind. Wynne's campaign focused on the idea that the Liberals were the best choice to defeat the PCs.

On election day, Wynne's Liberals won. They moved from a minority government to a majority government. This meant they had enough seats to pass laws without needing support from other parties. The Liberals gained 10 seats from the PCs and NDP, mostly around the Greater Toronto Area. Voter turnout also increased. Wynne herself was easily re-elected in her riding of Don Valley West.

The 2015 Budget

Wynne with partner Jane Rounthwaite at an event at the Centre for Social Innovation in 2015.

In the 2015 budget, Kathleen Wynne's government made more changes. They partially privatized Hydro One, meaning they sold more parts of it to private companies.

They also changed rules for selling beer in Ontario. This allowed grocery stores to sell six-packs of beer. This change came after a newspaper reported on how a private company controlled beer sales.

Wynne also made transit expansion a big part of the budget. On April 21, 2015, she announced that the province would pay for the entire cost of building the Hurontario–Main LRT. This is a major transit project to connect Mississauga with Brampton.

On May 26, 2015, Wynne announced that the government would pay 100 percent of the costs to build an LRT system in Hamilton. She said $1 billion would be set aside for this project.

The 2016 Budget

The 2016 budget planned for $133.9 billion in spending. The government also revealed its climate change plan. This plan included a system called "cap-and-trade" to help reduce pollution. This system would be similar to those in California and Quebec. As a result, gasoline prices and natural gas rates were expected to increase slightly.

In education, the government announced that college and university tuition would be free for students from families earning less than $50,000 per year. This was a significant change to the Ontario Student Assistance Program (OSAP).

Public Approval

Wynne speaking in 2017

In June 2016, a poll showed that Wynne's approval rating had dropped to 18 percent. This means only 18 percent of people approved of the job she was doing. By March 2017, her approval rating had fallen even further to 12 percent, which was the lowest ever recorded for an Ontario premier.

Leading Up to the 2018 Election

In 2016, the government offered rebates for electric vehicles. In 2017, the rules changed so that more expensive electric vehicles could also get rebates. However, in March 2018, these incentives were cancelled for very expensive electric vehicles.

In March 2017, the Liberal government announced "free tuition" for families earning less than $50,000. This was done by updating the Ontario Student Assistance Program (OSAP).

Ontario's minimum wage increased from $11.60 to $14 on January 1, 2018. Wynne also planned to increase it to $15 the following year. Also, starting January 1, 2018, prescription drugs became free for people aged 24 and under.

The 2018 Election Outcome

Wynne's Liberals went into the 2018 provincial election campaign far behind the Progressive Conservatives, led by Doug Ford. Polls showed that Ford's party had much more support. Many Liberal MPPs also announced they would not run for re-election.

Wynne described the election as a clear choice for voters. She said it was between "cutting and removing supports from people," which she said the PCs would do, and expanding social programs like free prescription drugs and childcare, which the Liberals promised.

In March 2018, the Liberals presented a budget before the election. It promised billions of dollars in new spending for free childcare and expanded dental care. However, this budget also showed a $6.7 billion deficit, meaning the government would spend more money than it took in.

On June 2, just five days before the election, Wynne admitted that the Liberals would not win a fifth term. She encouraged voters to still vote for Liberal candidates to prevent a PC or NDP majority government.

However, the election resulted in a PC majority government. The NDP became the official opposition. The Liberals lost almost half their votes compared to 2013. They were reduced to only seven seats, which was their worst result since Confederation. This was one seat short of what they needed to have official party status. Wynne herself narrowly kept her seat in Don Valley West.

On election night, she announced her resignation as Liberal Party leader. On June 29, 2018, Wynne officially resigned as premier. Lieutenant Governor Elizabeth Dowdeswell appointed Doug Ford as her successor.

On October 20, 2020, Wynne announced that she would not run in the 2022 provincial election. She retired from politics.

Electoral Record

Images for kids

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  Ontario Liberal leadership candidates in 2013. Kathleen Wynne is third from the right.

See also

• List of openly LGBT heads of government
• List of the first LGBT holders of political offices in Canada