Looking ahead to a possible spring election, Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne said one of the issues she's most focused on is a made-in-Ontario pension plan.
Wynne has been one of the champions Canadian Pension Plan reform, saying it’s important to provide Canadians with more secure retirement income and that “doing nothing” isn’t an option.
While federal Finance Minister Jim Flaherty said earlier this week that Ottawa is not prepared to consider an enhancement to CPP contributions, the provincial Liberals have said they will go ahead with reform on their own.
"It's really important to me that this province be one of opportunity and security," she told CTV's Canada AM on Thursday.
A provincial election could come in the spring if the minority Liberals can’t survive a confidence vote on the party’s next budget, expected to be tabled in late March or early April.
And since winning the Liberal leadership race in January, Wynne said she's tried to interact with the opposition in Queen's Park in a different manner, noting that one of the things she worries most about when it comes to Ontario’s political climate is its "toxic, negative nature."
"There is no doubt that we will have major disagreements … but that doesn't mean we have to treat each other badly," she said.
"I'm trying to bring a different ethos," she said. "Go hard on the issues, not on the person."
She said that approach to politics is part of the motivation behind the latest Liberal advertisement, which depicts Wynne jogging through rural Ontario.
She acknowledged that the commercial is a step away from traditional political ads which tend to be issue-based, noting that the goal was to give Ontarians an idea of who she is and how she conducts herself as a politician.
"What we wanted to do with this ad is let people get to know me a bit," she said. "My running and my athletic life have been a very important part of who I am, and I think it informs the way I live my life."
Wynne continued: "Who I am and who I approach politics is a big part of the leadership equation and people will judge based on that."
