The new head honcho at the Ontario Liberal Party headquarters is looking to quickly set her sights on the party's upcoming leadership race.
After being ousted as Mayor of Cambridge in the most recent round of municipal elections, Kathryn McGarry was elected President of the Ontario Liberal Party at the party's 2023 annual general meeting in Hamilton over the weekend.
"It's been an incredible experience speaking with Ontario Liberals from every region of the province, and we're really united by a shared commitment to the party's renewal," McGarry said Monday.
The former Ontario Liberal MPP and cabinet minister will play a key role in crafting the party's leadership election as head of its 17-member executive, a role McGarry said she's looking to get moving on immediately.
"Our first job is to ensure that we put together the details for a transparent, neutral, and exciting leadership race," McGarry said, adding the party has also opted to move away from a delegated convention format to a one-member-one-vote system.
"In this particular method of selecting a leader, far more people and far more voices across the province can participate," she said.
But what that process will ultimately look like is still to be decided, as is the timeline, though McGarry said she does believe it will be an "incredible, exciting race."
McGarry also went on to say she feels there is an air of excitement in the party right now which has been missing "for a few years now."
"People are hungry and eager to know how they select their next candidate, how to get them nominated, and how to support them so we can elect far more liberal members in the coming election."
