TORONTO — Lee Fairclough announced Thursday she is seeking the leadership of the Ontario Liberal Party, positioning her campaign around affordability, healthcare, education and government accountability.Fairclough, the MPP for Etobicoke—Lakeshore and a former hospital president, launched her bid with a campaign video and a platform focused on rebuilding public trust and strengthening public services after what she described as eight years of Conservative government.“After eight years of the Conservatives, life is harder and more expensive, and people are falling behind,” Fairclough said in a statement announcing her candidacy. “As Premier, I’d wake up every morning focused on making people’s lives better by investing in essential services, restoring transparency, and rebuilding trust in government.”Fairclough previously worked in frontline cancer treatment and later served as a hospital executive. Her campaign highlighted her experience in healthcare administration and as a former member of Canada’s national women’s rugby team..Her campaign platform includes proposals aimed at improving affordability, investing in healthcare and education, and increasing government transparency.Among the priorities outlined by Fairclough are reducing healthcare wait times, expanding adolescent mental health and addiction services, improving home care and rural healthcare access, and restoring public reporting on hallway healthcare.In education, Fairclough said she would work with teachers and educators to support smaller class sizes and increase mental health supports for students.The campaign also pledged to repeal Bill 97, arguing the legislation limits government transparency and centralizes decision-making authority within the premier’s office.“As mother of two teenage sons and a daughter of aging parents, I’m deeply committed to fixing the damage that’s been done in this province,” Fairclough said. “Together, we can do better in Ontario.”Several current and former Liberal politicians endorsed Fairclough’s candidacy in statements released by the campaign, including Ted Hsu, Lucille Collard and former deputy premier Deb Matthews.Hsu said Fairclough has “the perseverance and fighting spirit” to lead the party into the next provincial election, while Collard described her as a leader capable of rebuilding grassroots support across Ontario.The Ontario Liberal Party has not yet announced the date for its leadership vote.
