Horwath open to working with Liberals, not ruling out coalition

NDP Leader Andrea Horwath said she is not completely closing the door on a potential coalition with the province’s Liberal party while speaking to reporters on Tuesday, Jan. 15, 2013.

NDP Leader Andrea Horwath is not completely closing the door on a potential coalition with the province’s Liberal party.

Speaking to reporters on Tuesday, Horwath addressed rumours that she would work with Liberal leadership candidate Kathleen Wynne should the former Liberal cabinet minister become Ontario’s next premier.

Horwath said the NDPs are willing to work with the minority Liberals to keep the government alive.

She added, however, that a formal coalition agreement with the governing Liberals is not necessary if the party shows cooperation and goodwill.

“I’m open to working to get results for the people of this province ... I’ve proven we can do that with the minority situation and that’s the way I intend on going forward.”

Horwath stressed that Ontarians are looking for change at the provincial level.

“The way they’ve behaved over the last number of years has been very damaging to this province and the people of this province,” Horwath said. “Let’s face it, that’s the kind of conversation that we’re going to be having at one point or another.”

Wynne and former Windsor West MPP Sandra Pupatello are the two frontrunners in the race following this weekend’s delegate voting, capturing 25.2 per cent and 27.44 per cent of the vote, respectively.

The successor to current Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty will be named at the Liberal leadership convention on Jan. 26. McGuinty stepped down last October, suggesting Ontario was ready for new blood.