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rfmcdonaldOntario's Progressive Conservative leader John Tory, known for losing the most recent provincial election over the question of public funding for religious schools and losing his own seat, has another chance.
Some commentators have argued that this switching of seats has a gender-related edge to it, with the male Tory displacing the female Scott.
John Tory pressed the reset button on his rocky leadership of the Progressive Conservatives by announcing today he'd finally cleared a path to return to the Ontario legislature, hoping to quell critics who insist it's already game over.
Progressive Conservative Laurie Scott will resign her central Ontario seat and take on the job of getting the Opposition ready for the next election, Tory said in Lindsay, about 130 kilometres east of Toronto.
The embattled Conservative leader travelled to Scott's riding of Haliburton-Kawartha Lakes-Brock--almost 15 months to the day his party suffered one of its worst electoral defeats--to announce she had agreed to step aside so he could run in a byelection.
Tory vowed to do a better job as leader of the party, acknowledging that his "impatience" to get things done may have clouded his judgment at times.
"I think I'm a stronger leader and wiser leader today than I was two years ago," he said.
It's become a common refrain for Tory, whose political missteps during the 2007 provincial election fuelled an open rebellion within his party. His critics have pointed to his long drawn-out seat search as proof that Tory is too weak and indecisive to lead the party to victory against the reigning Liberals.
His decision to run in Scott's riding should "eliminate" that concern, said Tory, who acknowledged that the last few months have been difficult for him personally.
"I am determined in my view that my experience, that my hard work, that my honest and straightforward approach is, in the end, going to be found to be what the people feel they need to get this province back on top economically," he said.
One veteran party member, who asked to remain anonymous, said he thinks "some people will take a wait-and-see view and hope that Tory can turn it around now."
"But I don't think it's going to change a thing," he added.
Some commentators have argued that this switching of seats has a gender-related edge to it, with the male Tory displacing the female Scott.
