[RCO]

( some surprising news out of the ontario legislature , long time mpp greg sorbara is leaving immediately , meaning there will be another by-election this fall on same day as kitchener waterloo . i don't know who has the advantage in vaughan , it voted liberal provincially but had been pc before sorbara won in 2001 . and Julian Fantino holds the federal seat as a conservative . it all comes down to who the candidates are in the by-election , hudak needs a star candiate to have any chance )


Greg Sorbara retiring as Liberal MPP for Vaughan
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By Jonathan Jenkins , Antonella Artuso,QMIAgency

First posted: Wednesday, August 01, 2012 10:12 AM EDT | Updated: Wednesday, August 01, 2012 05:26 PM EDT



TORONTO - How can we miss you when you won’t go away?
Veteran Liberal MPP Greg Sorbara announced Wednesday he was leaving Queen’s Park to spend more time with his family.
But the former cabinet minister and close friend and ally of Premier Dalton McGuinty won’t be leaving Ontario’s political scene.
“Kate and I long for more time and space,” Sorbara said, paying tribute to his wife of 29 years as some of his six children and 12 grandchildren looked on.
“Since 1999, there simply have not been enough hours in the day to tend to the business and private affairs that are part of my responsibility.”
Despite that, Sorbara won’t be spending his golden years playing tennis — he made it clear he’s stepping aside as an MPP to concentrate more energy on getting other Liberals elected.
“It gives me more time to direct my political attention exclusively to preparing us for the next election,” said Sorbara, who remains chair of both the Liberal election campaign and the Ontario Liberal Fund.
“That means helping to deliver policies that we will bring in that campaign, recruiting candidates for the ridings that we don’t hold and raising the money necessary to make sure that we have every single dollar that we need to contest and win that election.”
That task is even more critical given an election could come anytime in a minority parliament, Sorbara said.
Sorbara said he never expected to return to Queen’s Park after retiring in 1995 when he had served as an MPP for 10 years.
But unhappy with the province’s direction under Tory premier Mike Harris, Sorbara was elected Liberal party president in 1999 and made it back to the Legislature in a 2001 byelection after PC MPP Al Paladini died of a sudden heart attack.
No date has been set for a byelection to replace Sorbara.

http://www.torontosun.com/2012.....or-vaughan

[Progressive Tory]

Very odd. McGuinty said he kept asking him to stay for a while now. Why would he want him to run for re-election if he knew he wouldn't be around much longer?

[cosmostein]