Lee Fairclough, the Liberal MPP for the riding of Etobicoke-Lakeshore, outside the Ontario Legislature on Wednesday. Fairclough, a former hospital executive and national women’s rugby player, was first elected to the legislature last year.Fred Lum/The Globe and Mail
Liberal MPP Lee Fairclough is gaining support for her bid to lead the Ontario Liberal Party, with three caucus members now endorsing her as the best choice to take on Premier Doug Ford’s Progressive Conservatives in the next election.
Among them is veteran broadcaster-turned-politician Stephanie Smyth, who says Ms. Fairclough is the “perfect foil” to Mr. Ford.
Ms. Fairclough, a former hospital executive and national women’s rugby player first elected to the legislature last year, is pitching herself as a capable leader focused on the problems plaguing the province.
She enjoys politics, she said, and will do it her way.
“I care a lot about democracy, and I care about integrity in our democracy,” Ms. Fairclough said.
Ms. Fairclough – who explains the pronunciation of her name (fair-cluff) by saying her mother taught her, “You’re rough, and you’re tough, and your name is Fairclough” – is the second official candidate in the Ontario Liberal leadership race, and the only one so far to hold a seat in the legislature. Dylan Marando, a former political staffer, has also declared his candidacy.
Stephanie Smyth, MPP for Toronto-St. Paul’s says Ms. Fairclough is the 'perfect foil' to Mr. Ford.Fred Lum/The Globe and Mail
The race has garnered significant attention with the fallout from the Ontario Liberal nomination race in Toronto’s Scarborough Southwest earlier this month. Federal Liberal MP Nate Erskine-Smith had hoped to be the provincial candidate in a yet-to-be-called by-election in the riding, which was seen as the first step in his plan to run for Ontario Liberal leader.
But he lost the contest to businessman Ahsanul Hafiz by 19 votes, and has appealed the result, calling on the party to redo the race which he alleges was plagued by serious irregularities. The party has defended the process, and an arbitration committee held a hearing to discuss the allegations on Wednesday, with a decision expected in days.
It is not yet known if Mr. Erskine-Smith – who says he will resign as a federal MP this summer – will still run for party leader. Another member of the Ontario Liberal caucus, Ajax MPP Rob Cerjanec, has been travelling the province and is widely expected to run. Former Trudeau-era cabinet minister, Navdeep Bains, is also seriously considering a bid. The party will announce its new leader on Nov. 21.
Liberal MPs throw support behind ex-minister Navdeep Bains’s potential run as Ontario Liberal Leader
Liberals are hoping for a resurgence from the political wilderness after coming third in three elections since 2018. Under former leader Bonnie Crombie, the party returned to official party status in 2025 with 14 MPPs, and Mr. Ford has been struggling with recent controversies such as the purchase and hasty return of a $28.9-million jet and changes to freedom of information laws.
“I think people are ready for a serious government, and I feel that they are not getting that today from this government,” Ms. Fairclough said in a sitdown interview with The Globe this week alongside Ms. Smyth.
Ms. Fairclough recently introduced a private member’s bill that would have banned the advertising and promotion of online gambling in Ontario, but it failed after the Progressive Conservatives voted against it.
For Ms. Smyth, Ms. Fairclough – a former radiation therapist who later became president of St. Mary’s General Hospital in Kitchener, Ont. – represents authenticity.
“You’re not going to see Lee with a bottle of Crown Royal pouring it out, or you know, whatever the gimmicks are, the populist things that we’ve seen with Doug Ford that tend to distract,” Ms. Smyth said, referring to Mr. Ford’s viral moment last year in which he poured whisky on the ground at a news conference to protest the closing of a bottling plant in Amherstburg, Ont.
She added that Ms. Fairclough has been touring the province, talking to Liberal Party members about their concerns.
“This is someone who cares so deeply, contrasting to a government that been really careless with our health care, with our education, with affordability.”
Ms. Smyth made the leap to politics after three decades in media, including as the former managing editor and anchor at news station CP24. She’s had her own run-ins with Mr. Ford, including when he told the legislature last month that the reason she got elected was because “CP24 didn’t want her any more.” He later called her to apologize.
“I think we agreed that we want to work to a higher standard,” Ms. Smyth said.
Kingston MPP Ted Hsu – who also ran for party leader in 2023 – and Ottawa MPP Lucille Collard are also backing Ms. Fairclough.
Ms. Fairclough represents a riding in Mr. Ford’s backyard of Etobicoke, in west Toronto. But she hails from Southampton, on Lake Huron near Owen Sound, and said she will endeavour to represent the entire province.
When she visits other areas of Ontario, such as the southwestern city of Sarnia, Ms. Fairclough said she repeatedly hears about the Premier’s fixation with his city.
“The first words out of their mouth is like, ‘Can we please have a Premier that is not just focused on being the mayor of Toronto?’” she said.
Mr. Ford’s planned expansion of the Billy Bishop airport in downtown Toronto also has her worried.
“I don’t trust what he will do with the Toronto islands and with the waterfront more generally,” she said. “I really want a Premier that is going to focus on the issues for the whole province again.”
Editor’s note: This story has been updated to correct the spelling of Southampton.