Ont. Liberal Tim Peterson to join Conservatives
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TORONTO — Ontario Liberal backbencher Tim Peterson, the brother of former premier David Peterson, announced Thursday he's quitting the party to sit as an Independent and plans to run as a Conservative in the next provincial election.
Peterson, first elected in 2003, appeared with Conservative Leader John Tory at a news conference at the Ontario legislature to announce his departure from the Liberal caucus, which he blamed on the government's failure to address local issues in his riding.
"After much consideration, I decided to leave the Liberal caucus to sit as an Independent in this last session of the legislature prior to the election,'' Peterson told reporters.
"After this session I will join the caucus of the John Tory Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario, and will be their candidate in Mississauga South in the election on Oct. 10.''
Premier Dalton McGuinty said he was "disappointed'' to learn of Peterson's decision to quit the Liberals and eventually run as a Conservative.
Peterson said his initial desire was to immediately cross the floor to join the Opposition benches, but that he opted instead to bide his time until the next provincial vote.
"It's not about Mr. McGuinty's leadership; it's about the issues in Mississauga South,'' he said of his desire to leave the Liberals.
"I never expected to be in cabinet because I was not one of Dalton's chosen to run, but I did expect to . . . at least have my voice heard.''
Peterson said his first inclination was to quit politics because of his frustrations with the Liberal government, but after starting talks with Tory last December, he eventually decided to switch parties and run as a Conservative.
"John Tory convinced me that I should not work in this session against the party that helped me get elected, and the party that the people in Mississauga South supported in the last election,'' he said.
Both Tory and Peterson insisted there was no cabinet position offered or requested to convince the Mississauga-South representative to switch parties.
"We felt obviously it was not appropriate once he had come most of the way to making a decision for him to continue to sit in the Liberal caucus,'' said Tory.
"I think in this way we have fashioned an arrangement that is as respectful as it could be to the voters and what they did in the last election.''
A former merchant banker, Peterson was the first Liberal ever to represent Mississauga South, long a hotbed of Conservative support.
Peterson said informing his riding association about the decision Wednesday evening turned into a very emotional night.
"This was very tough . . . some tears were shed all around,'' he said.
"I was taken aback by the quality of the emotion and affection that was demonstrated.''
var byString = ""; var sourceString = "Canadian Press"; if ((sourceString != "") && (byString != "")) { document.write(byString + ", "); } else { document.write(byString); }Canadian Press
TORONTO — Ontario Liberal backbencher Tim Peterson, the brother of former premier David Peterson, announced Thursday he's quitting the party to sit as an Independent and plans to run as a Conservative in the next provincial election.
Peterson, first elected in 2003, appeared with Conservative Leader John Tory at a news conference at the Ontario legislature to announce his departure from the Liberal caucus, which he blamed on the government's failure to address local issues in his riding.
"After much consideration, I decided to leave the Liberal caucus to sit as an Independent in this last session of the legislature prior to the election,'' Peterson told reporters.
"After this session I will join the caucus of the John Tory Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario, and will be their candidate in Mississauga South in the election on Oct. 10.''
Premier Dalton McGuinty said he was "disappointed'' to learn of Peterson's decision to quit the Liberals and eventually run as a Conservative.
Peterson said his initial desire was to immediately cross the floor to join the Opposition benches, but that he opted instead to bide his time until the next provincial vote.
"It's not about Mr. McGuinty's leadership; it's about the issues in Mississauga South,'' he said of his desire to leave the Liberals.
"I never expected to be in cabinet because I was not one of Dalton's chosen to run, but I did expect to . . . at least have my voice heard.''
Peterson said his first inclination was to quit politics because of his frustrations with the Liberal government, but after starting talks with Tory last December, he eventually decided to switch parties and run as a Conservative.
"John Tory convinced me that I should not work in this session against the party that helped me get elected, and the party that the people in Mississauga South supported in the last election,'' he said.
Both Tory and Peterson insisted there was no cabinet position offered or requested to convince the Mississauga-South representative to switch parties.
"We felt obviously it was not appropriate once he had come most of the way to making a decision for him to continue to sit in the Liberal caucus,'' said Tory.
"I think in this way we have fashioned an arrangement that is as respectful as it could be to the voters and what they did in the last election.''
A former merchant banker, Peterson was the first Liberal ever to represent Mississauga South, long a hotbed of Conservative support.
Peterson said informing his riding association about the decision Wednesday evening turned into a very emotional night.
"This was very tough . . . some tears were shed all around,'' he said.
"I was taken aback by the quality of the emotion and affection that was demonstrated.''
