The candidates to succeed Harris were Elizabeth Witmer, Tony Clement, Ernie Eves, Jim Flaherty and Chris Stockwell. Eves was not initially a candidate, but was persuaded to join the race by senior Tories who felt none of the other candidates could win a provincial election.
Witmer and Eves sought to distance the party from Harris's "Common Sense Revolution" agenda. Eves began his campaign with a speech in which he said he was neither left wing nor right wing. He later said that the government should not be giving tax credits to parents who send their children to private schools unless the schools teach the government curriculum. This policy had been introduced by Flaherty as Minister of Finance. These and other comments led Harris loyalist Jim Flaherty to launch a number of publicity stunts against Eves, whose de facto rejection of the Common Sense Revolution had made him the early front-runner. Flaherty referred to Eves as a "serial waffler" and as "a pale-pink imitation of Dalton McGuinty." Eves was dogged on the campaign trail by a pink waffle and a pink panther, courtesy of the Flaherty campaign. Flaherty, for his part, caught flack in the media for proposing to take the homeless off the streets by force on cold winter nights. During the campaign, Clement effectively blamed Flaherty for bringing to the fore news about Clement's wife, a lawyer, who was alleged to take a pro-choice view of abortion. Eves - who had the backing of almost all PC Members of Provincial Parliament (MPPs) - won the campaign.
For the vote a modified "One Member One Vote" system was used in which all ridings in the province were accorded 100 points which were distributed among the candidate in proportion to the number of votes each received in that riding. If no candidate won a majority on the first ballot, a second ballot would be held later the same day with balloting continuing until one candidate had a majority.
Stockwell, having the fewest votes, was forced to withdraw. Clement and Witmer announced their withdrawal to support Eves, however, their announcement came too late to remove their names from the ballot.
(44,188 party members voted on the first ballot, 34,608 on the second.)
One problem with the procedure was that voters were expected to remain in voting centres throughout the province for hours if they wanted to cast ballots in both rounds of voting. Many did not wish to do so, or could not do so, and left after casting their first ballot vote. As a result, in the 2004 PC leadership election, voters voted only once using a preferential ballot, in which they ranked the candidates by preference, rather than vote in separate rounds.
^"Eves takes the prize". Toronto Star. March 24, 2002.
January 01, 1970
2002, progressive, conservative, party, ontario, leadership, election, this, article, needs, additional, citations, verification, please, help, improve, this, article, adding, citations, reliable, sources, unsourced, material, challenged, removed, find, source. This article needs additional citations for verification Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed Find sources 2002 Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario leadership election news newspapers books scholar JSTOR December 2009 Learn how and when to remove this message The 2002 Ontario Progressive Conservative leadership election was a leadership election called in the fall of 2001 when Ontario Progressive Conservative Party Premier Mike Harris announced his intention to resign 2002 Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario leadership electionDateMarch 23 2002ConventionMetro Toronto Convention Centre Toronto Ontario 1 Resigning leaderMike HarrisWon byErnie EvesBallots2Candidates5Entrance Fee Spending limit Ontario Progressive Conservative leadership conventions 1920 1936 1938 1949 1961 1971 1985 1990 2002 2004 2009 2015 2018 The candidates to succeed Harris were Elizabeth Witmer Tony Clement Ernie Eves Jim Flaherty and Chris Stockwell Eves was not initially a candidate but was persuaded to join the race by senior Tories who felt none of the other candidates could win a provincial election Witmer and Eves sought to distance the party from Harris s Common Sense Revolution agenda Eves began his campaign with a speech in which he said he was neither left wing nor right wing He later said that the government should not be giving tax credits to parents who send their children to private schools unless the schools teach the government curriculum This policy had been introduced by Flaherty as Minister of Finance These and other comments led Harris loyalist Jim Flaherty to launch a number of publicity stunts against Eves whose de facto rejection of the Common Sense Revolution had made him the early front runner Flaherty referred to Eves as a serial waffler and as a pale pink imitation of Dalton McGuinty Eves was dogged on the campaign trail by a pink waffle and a pink panther courtesy of the Flaherty campaign Flaherty for his part caught flack in the media for proposing to take the homeless off the streets by force on cold winter nights During the campaign Clement effectively blamed Flaherty for bringing to the fore news about Clement s wife a lawyer who was alleged to take a pro choice view of abortion Eves who had the backing of almost all PC Members of Provincial Parliament MPPs won the campaign For the vote a modified One Member One Vote system was used in which all ridings in the province were accorded 100 points which were distributed among the candidate in proportion to the number of votes each received in that riding If no candidate won a majority on the first ballot a second ballot would be held later the same day with balloting continuing until one candidate had a majority The vote was held on March 23 2002 The results of the first ballot were First ballot Ernie Eves 4 257 points 41 3 Jim Flaherty 3 031 points 29 Tony Clement 1 354 points 13 2 Elizabeth Witmer 1 197 points 11 6 Chris Stockwell 448 points 4 Stockwell having the fewest votes was forced to withdraw Clement and Witmer announced their withdrawal to support Eves however their announcement came too late to remove their names from the ballot Second ballot Ernie Eves 5 623 points 54 6 Jim Flaherty 3 898 points 37 8 Tony Clement 561 points 5 4 Elizabeth Witmer 216 points 2 1 44 188 party members voted on the first ballot 34 608 on the second One problem with the procedure was that voters were expected to remain in voting centres throughout the province for hours if they wanted to cast ballots in both rounds of voting Many did not wish to do so or could not do so and left after casting their first ballot vote As a result in the 2004 PC leadership election voters voted only once using a preferential ballot in which they ranked the candidates by preference rather than vote in separate rounds See also editProgressive Conservative Party of Ontario leadership elections 1985 Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario leadership elections 2004 Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario leadership electionReferences edit Eves takes the prize Toronto Star March 24 2002 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title 2002 Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario leadership election amp oldid 1174389733, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
