Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Thursday October 27, 2011
Klees faces uphill battle to become Speaker
Progressive Conservative Frank Klees will face a near impossible battle in his bid for Speaker after angering his caucus and squaring off against Liberals who will themselves be vying for the job.
Klees raised eyebrows Tuesday by announcing that he would run for Speaker, against his party’s wishes, in a move that could hand the Liberals a virtual majority and split the vote evenly between the minority Liberals and the two opposition parties.
It’s a risky move for Klees and one unlikely to pay off, according to insiders and political experts.
Enraged Tories lashed out at their colleague after his intentions were made public, warning they had no plans to vote for Klees in the Speaker election.
NDP Leader Andrea Horwath suggested Wednesday her caucus would also vote together to block Klees.
“We’ve already made a commitment as a caucus that when we determine what the best interests are, what the best result will be for New Democrats to actually achieve something for Ontarians, that we will vote accordingly as a group in terms of the Speaker’s chair,” Horwath said.
“I guess that’s in some way an acknowledgment that we’re concerned about what it does to the configuration of the legislature if we have an opposition member in the Speaker’s chair, that’s one of the reasons why none of us decided to ultimately make that bid.”
There are four Liberals currently in the running for Speaker: Donna Cansfield, Dave Levac, Kevin Flynn and David Zimmer. (CTV)