Madame Premier

When Dalton McGuinty shocked the province by announcing his decision to resign as Ontario premier and Liberal leader late last year, Kathleen Wynne, a popular and sure-footed cabinet minister, was instantly considered a leading contender to succeed him. Though not a shoo-in, Wynne trounced perceived front-runner Sandra Pupatello and became Ontario's first female premier, as well as the first openly gay premier in Canada. If anything, things then got even tougher for the athletic Wynne, a diminutive 59-year-old dynamo. She had to develop an urgent strategy to extend the life of the 16-month-old minority Liberal government. And she needed to let Ontarians put as much distance as possible between her and McGuinty's final year, with its reek of, among other things, the gas plant relocation scandal and teacher-despised Bill 115. As Wynne marks her first 100 days as Ontario premier, veteran journalist and political commentator Jim Coyle looks back at her rise to leadership and how she has brought a uniquely consultative style to the top job at the legislature. As well, Coyle dissects her efforts to save the liberal government through budget negotiations with Ontario NDP leader Andrea Horwath. Madam Premier: Kathleen Wynne's First 100 Days is an engaging and insightful look at the dynamic new force in Queen's Park.