Kathleen Wynne can’t seem to buy a break this summer when it comes to bad news.With her personal approval rating near all-time lows and the Liberals continuing to trail the Conservatives badly in opinion polls, the Ontario premier is facing a fresh wave of negative news with just 10 months to go before the next election.First, Wynne will come under heavy public scrutiny when she testifies in early September in a Sudbury bribery trial in which her former deputy chief of staff Patricia Sorbara and Liberal fundraiser Gerry Lougheed are accused of violating Elections Act laws. The trial will revive charges that her government is riddled with scandals.Second, a new poll taken in mid-July suggests the Liberals may suffer huge electoral losses in downtown Toronto, considered the strongest of the party’s strongholds. The survey, conducted by Mainstream Research and provided to QP Briefing newsletter, indicated 49 per cent of voters in the city of Toronto support the Tories, 31 per cent the Liberals and 15 per cent the NDP. Even in the downtown core the Conservatives led the Liberals by a 43-37 margin.If the results hold, the Liberals could be heading for a massive defeat in the June 7, 2018, election, given that the Conservatives have solid leads in almost all parts of Ontario. Indeed, there’s a real possibility the Liberals could finish in third place if the NDP holds on to the 20 seats it now has in the legislature. Third, Wynne lost one of her key cabinet ministers when Environment Minister Glen Murray resigned on Monday. Murray, who represents the Toronto Centre riding, isn’t the first Liberal MPP to jump ship before the coming election — and he isn’t likely to be the last.While both Wynne and Murray, who will now head the Calgary-based Pembina Institute, insisted the resignation isn’t a vote of non-confidence in the Liberals’ re-election chances, a high turnover rate in a ruling party’s ranks is often a signal o ...
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