John Tory, the new leader of Ontario's Progressive Conservative Party, predicted yesterday that he will have few problems unifying his fractious party, promising he will do a better job eliminating government waste than his predecessors.
On the unity issue, which concerns many in the party, he said, "You always have to do a bit of work on this kind of thing after a leadership selection process. ... I don't think it's going to be as big a job [as others say]
"... I think [adversaries]will rally to my side. We're a team."
Mr. Tory added yesterday that even with former Progressive Conservative premiers Mike Harris and Ernie Eves holding power in the past decade, Ontario's government is too inefficient.
"I just think there are hundreds and hundreds of millions of dollars, not that are being wasted in scandalous ways, but that are just being wasted because no one said, 'Is there a better way to do this? Can we do it with fewer people or somehow faster, more efficiently?'
"[Eliminating waste]is just not part of the culture of government. And I would really like to change that culture. ... If you're determined to do that it can be done," Mr. Tory said, citing his experience in business as president and chief executive officer of Rogers Cable.
The 50-year-old Mr. Tory was undecided about whether he will try to get elected to the legislature quickly, or whether he will delay facing voters while he deals with the party's $8.5-million debt, which requires annual bank payments of $2-million.
One payment of $500,000 is due within a few days.
"I'm not sure I'll specifically start to focus right away on the legislative seat deal," said Mr. Tory, who finished second last year in a bid to become Toronto's mayor.
He said he will consult his rivals in the leadership race, former cabinet ministers Jim Flaherty and Frank Klees, as well as party officials to help him decide on a course of action.
"I want to get their advice on the timing. I think that there is no sort of answer that is the answer that says I should do it [today]or several months from [today]or whatever."
Mr. Tory won the party leadership on Saturday, capturing 54 per cent of the electoral votes. Mr. Flaherty won 46 per cent of the votes.
It marked the second time Mr. Flaherty finished second in the contest. In the 2002 leadership race, he received 40 per cent of the electoral votes and lost to Mr. Eves.
A total of 32,390 ballots were cast on the second tally, although 61,104 had signed up to vote. In the last leadership race, 34,608 party members voted on the second ballot.
Despite his narrow victory, Mr. Tory said he believes the party is ready to rally behind him with the aim of defeating the Liberals and Premier Dalton McGuinty.
"For our party, this is the end of the beginning. For Dalton McGuinty, today marks the beginning of the end," Mr. Tory told cheering party members in his victory speech at a downtown Toronto hotel.
On the first ballot, Mr. Flaherty and Mr. Klees, the two more right-wing candidates, together outpolled Mr. Tory. Mr. Flaherty received 33 per cent of the electoral votes and Mr. Klees got 22, while Mr. Tory took 45 per cent.
Mr. Tory brings to the leadership a reputation as a moderate politician in the school of his mentor, William Davis, who served as premier from 1971 to 1985.
Yesterday, Egale Canada, an advocacy group for same-sex marriage, congratulated Mr. Tory on his win, and thanked the Ontario Progressive Conservatives for choosing a leader who supports their cause.
But during the months-long leadership contest, Mr. Tory moved to embrace some of the party's right-wing policies by supporting private delivery of health care, a lifetime ban for those who defraud welfare and a return of the tax credit for private schools.
During the campaign, Mr. Flaherty and Mr. Klees complained that Mr. Tory was too much like Mr. McGuinty. Yesterday, Mr. Tory supported Mr. McGuinty's emphasis on fixing the health-care system, and listed the issue as the No. 1 goal for the government.