After more than six turbulent years of pushing Ontario through a revolution of tax cuts and slashed spending that altered politics across Canada, Premier Mike Harris announced yesterday he will resign.
His plan to depart, abruptly ending his tenure as one of the country's leading right-wing politicians, comes as he is trying to reconcile with his wife, Janet, is at record low levels of popularity and faces the province's most difficult economic times in a decade.
He denied that these factors led to his decision, which he said came while flying home for Thanksgiving and during a period of calm reflection about life and what he wanted to do.
"At this time of year, one of the most breathtaking experiences is to fly over the miles and the miles of autumn colours on a crisp, fall day. I saw the leaves. I saw the land like I really had never seen it before. And I had the time on that flight and I had time over Thanksgiving weekend to stop and to reflect."
But his former companion, Sharon Dunn, said Mr. Harris decided some time ago that he wanted a quieter life.
"The Premier told me months ago that he was planning to leave politics, and he wanted to live in North Bay," Ms. Dunn said in a statement.
"I told him that I wanted to stay in Toronto, where I'm raising my children. It was at that time that we realized our paths were diverging, and we decided to part ways."
Mr. Harris separated from his wife in August of 1999 and acknowledged his relationship with Ms. Dunn in March of 2000. Last month, he said that he was attempting a reconciliation with his wife.
Mr. Harris will formally step down in March or April, and will stay on as MPP for Nipissing, the riding he has represented for more than 20 years. He said he will look for other jobs, but does not have a lucrative post waiting for him.
He won't be struggling for money. The conversion of MPPs' pensions five years ago left him with a nest egg conservatively estimated at more than $900,000.
He leaves a party united in its allegiance to him. He rebuilt it over five painstaking years, recruiting almost all the MPPs in the 56-member Progressive Conservative Party caucus and supervising the developing of the Common Sense Revolution that won the Tories two majority election victories.
Now, as the party searches for a new leader, the fiscally obsessed neo-conservatives on one side of the party will face off with the philosophical descendants of the Red Tories who once controlled the Ontario Progressive Conservative Party. The leadership fight is expected to be bitter and acrimonious.
Mr. Harris's departure comes after consistently negative political news in the form of failed by-election campaigns and public-opinion polls that showed dissatisfaction with his leadership.
Sixty per cent of eligible voters consistently say it is time for a change.
Further, the government faces several serious issues including the report on the contaminated-water tragedy in Walkerton, Ont., legal challenges to reveal the Premier's role in the shooting of an unarmed native protester at Ipperwash six years ago and a squeeze on provincial finances as the economy enters its first slump under the Tories.
But Mr. Harris said these issues did not influence his decision to resign, which he described as "a personal decision."
Instead, he said he was leaving because, "It is time for new leadership." He said he is not prepared to commit himself to spending another five years in politics.
"At the end of the day, on balance, your gut kind of tells you what you think is best for Mike Harris."
He stressed that he had not been pressured to leave by his wife of 27 years, who prefers life in their hometown of North Bay to the glass house in which she might have lived as the wife of the Premier in Toronto.
Mr. Harris has asked the media to respect the privacy of his wife and himself as the couple attempt to reconcile.
"She was prepared . . . to support me in whatever decision I made," Mr. Harris said.
"She was very positive in encouraging me to do what I wanted to do."
Mr. Harris announced his decision at a morning meeting of the Tory caucus.
He left afterward to visit New York with Liberal Leader Dalton McGuinty and New Democratic Party Leader Howard Hampton.
At an afternoon press conference in New York, where he met briefly with Governor George Pataki, Mr. Harris somberly deflected questions about his future, visibly perturbed that his visit to the site of the World Trade Center was overshadowed by the surprise news of his departure.
Mr. Harris's good friend, Ernie Eves, resigned as finance minister in January to go to well-paying jobs with a law firm and an investment bank. Many would like to see Mr. Eves seek the leadership, but he is comfortable in the private sector and left public life before the government faced the financial squeeze.
Jim Flaherty, the 52-year-old Finance Minister and Deputy Premier from Whitby, is the acknowledged front-runner as the race starts.
But his network in the party is not as extensive as those of some of his rivals and he faces the prospect of making some difficult cuts in spending if the province is to avoid running a deficit.
Tony Clement, the 40-year-old Health Minister, "has been running to be premier since he was six months, no, make that six weeks old," said a fellow Tory who frequently has sparred with him. This naked ambition could cost the Brampton politician support.
Mr. Clement played up his own role in rebuilding the Tory Party alongside Mr. Harris yesterday.
"He built up the party from the ashes. I was there. I saw it. I helped it as party president."
Janet Ecker, the 47-year-old Education Minister, has wide support throughout the party as a result of her years in Tory ranks going back to her role as press secretary for former premier William Davis.
While many applaud the fact that she follows Mr. Davis's example in trying to build a consensus on issues, such as the peace worked out with teachers over extracurricular activities, some in the party complain that the Pickering politician lacks the steel admired by true believers among the Tories.
Elizabeth Witmer, the Environment Minister from Kitchener-Waterloo who turned 55 yesterday, is respected for her ability to manage a difficult ministry, such as health, without getting into too much trouble.
Conversely, she is criticized for not taking the risks that many Tories believe the government must accept if it is to reinvent itself and rein in government spending in areas such as health.
With a report from Simon Houpt in New York