Kathleen Wynne

Kathleen O'Day Wynne (born May 21, 1953) is a former Canadian politician who served as the 25th premier of Ontario and leader of the Ontario Liberal Party from 2013 to 2018.

Kathleen O'Day Wynne was born on May 21, 1953, in Richmond Hill, to Dr. John B. Wynne and Patsy O'Day.

Her mother was a musician who grew up in Nassau in the Bahamas before immigrating to Canada.

Wynne grew up in Richmond Hill, Ontario.

She earned a Bachelor of Arts degree at Queen's University and a Master of Arts degree in linguistics from the University of Toronto.

She achieved a Master of Education degree in adult education from the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (University of Toronto).

Wynne first ran for trustee in 1994 in Ward 12 but was defeated by Ann Vanstone.

In 1996, she helped found Citizens for Local Democracy, which opposed the amalgamation of Metropolitan Toronto undertaken by the Progressive Conservative (PC) government of Premier Mike Harris.

She founded the Metro Parent Network (later renamed the Toronto Parent Network) which supports improvements in the province's public education system and has participated in numerous other community endeavours.

Prior to her coming out as a lesbian at age 37 she was married to Phil Cowperthwaite, with whom she had three children.

She now lives with her second spouse, Jane Rounthwaite, whom Wynne has stated is to be referred to as her "partner" (rather than "wife").

She was a member of the discipline committee of the Ontario Society of Psychotherapists from 1997 to 2000.

Wynne served as president of the Toronto Institute of Human Relations.

Wynne was a co-founder with John Sewell of Citizens for Local Democracy, a grassroots group that opposed the 1999 amalgamation of the old City of Toronto with the rest of Metropolitan Toronto.

She attempted to enter provincial politics on the strength of her grassroots work and sought the Liberal nomination in St. Paul's for the 1999 provincial election but was defeated for the party nomination by Michael Bryant by a margin of 328 votes to 143.

Wynne was first elected to public office as a trustee for the Toronto District School Board (TDSB) in 2000.

In 2000, she ran again and was elected as a trustee for the Toronto District School Board in ward 8.

During the campaign, she was labelled an "extremist lesbian" in literature distributed by the "Concerned Citizens of North York and North Toronto".

This was the ratepayer group that later supported Karen Stintz in her campaign against local councillor Anne Johnston.

Wynne strongly opposed cuts to public education mandated by the Progressive Conservative government.

In 2001, Wynne helped pass a measure encouraging public schools to purchase teaching materials reflecting the presence of gay and lesbian parents in modern society.

In December 2001, she ran for chair of the school board but was defeated by Donna Cansfield in a 12–10 vote.

She was member of provincial parliament (MPP) for Don Valley West from 2003 to 2022.

Wynne is the first female premier of Ontario and the first openly gay premier in Canada.

She subsequently was elected to the Ontario Legislature in 2003.

She was elected to the school board the following year, and in 2003, became the Liberal nominee in Don Valley West.

In the 2003 provincial election, she defeated Progressive Conservative cabinet minister David Turnbull by over 5,000 votes and became MPP for her riding.

The Liberals won the election, and Wynne was appointed parliamentary assistant to Minister of Training, Colleges and Universities Mary Anne Chambers, in October 2003.

In October 2004, she was appointed parliamentary assistant to Minister of Education Gerard Kennedy.

They were married in July 2005 at Fairlawn Avenue United Church in Toronto.

Wynne is a member of the United Church of Canada.

Under Premier Dalton McGuinty, she served in various cabinet posts, until resigning to run in the Liberal leadership race when McGuinty announced his resignation in 2012.

Wynne replaced McGuinty as premier and leader of the Liberal Party upon her victory of the leadership, and subsequently led the party to a majority government victory in the 2014 Ontario provincial election.

As premier, Wynne introduced free prescription drug coverage for children, increased the minimum wage to $14 an hour, and introduced free post-secondary tuition for families making under $50,000.

Controversially, her government introduced a reformed sex education curriculum, brought in a cap-and-trade pollution pricing regime with Quebec and California, and privatized Hydro One.

Wynne sought another mandate in the 2018 provincial election; however, she conceded midway into the election and acknowledged her party would not form government again.

The Liberals would lose official party status in the worst defeat of a governing party in Ontario history.

Wynne subsequently resigned as Liberal leader on election night and was succeeded by Ottawa South MPP John Fraser as interim party leader.

Wynne formally resigned as premier on June 29, 2018.

She held her seat in the Legislative Assembly and continued to sit as an MPP until 2022 when she did not contest the provincial election and retired from politics.