“I get it,” Premier Wynne tells Ontario voters

Both Premier Wynne and her Scarborough Guildwood star-in-the-making Mitzie Hunter were expressing a lot of regret as they spoke on the byelection outcomes Thursday. Wynne acknowledged that people are right to be angry about the gas plant scandal and the punishing cost of the Liberal political expediency.  People were angry and they had a right to be, she suggested. “I entirely get that,” she declared.  The Premier called the outcomes a “verdict on the recent past”.  She said  “I have heard it and I accept it. The next election will be about the future. That’s what we’re working toward.”  Wynne condemned the political management of the controversial cancellation of two gas plants as “heavy handed” and “secretive.” “Correcting the mistake that was made in the first place cost more money than it should have, and as a member of the government that made those decisions, I could not be more sorry about that, and I mean that,” she said. “I absolutely mean that.”  Ms. Hunter, who held the east Toronto riding for the Liberals apparently on the strength of her personality, said she understood that the loss of three of the five seats represented a message from voters that they were not happy with the performance of the government. “They deserve better,” she said.