Hillier bullish on new leader

Jeff Green | May 14, 2015

Randy Hillier took a back seat during the Conservative Party of Ontario's recent leadership campaign. This was in stark contrast to the role the two-time incumbent MPP played the last time his party chose a leader. At that time he ran for the position and threw his support behind the eventual winner, Tim Hudak.

“I felt that it was more important for the party membership to make the decision about the new leader rather than being influenced by members of the caucus,” he said. “I voted for Patrick.”

Hillier said he is very encouraged by how the newly elected party leader, Patrick Brown, energized and re-invigorated the party through the leadership campaign.

“To put it in context, in '09 there were four candidates who were in the election for leader, and combined we sold 35,000 memberships. This guy sold over 40,000 memberships. I know what it is like to sell memberships. It takes an astonishing amount of effort and innovation” he said.

Hillier added that the public will see the impact of Patrick Brown over time.

“With only three weeks left in this sitting and him not in the house, there is not much that will happen. It takes time to consult with the membership and come up with policies that reflect what the membership stands for. That is something we have been missing. We have waited for the leader and his group to announce our policies and that hasn't worked for us,” he said.

Randy Hillier's standing within the party has improved since former leader Tim Hudak stepped down shortly after last year's election, which brought a fresh majority to the Liberal Party under Kathleen Wynne.

Under Hudak, Hillier had been relegated to the back benches for challenging an internal party ruling over a leadership review. But since Hudak left, he said he is “back on the front benches” serving as party critic for the Labour portfolio.

“Patrick won the vote in 80 of the ridings. He has a mandate to take his time and help us rebuild and reform the party, to take our time and bring forth a clear, coherent message to deliver to Ontarians in three years' time,” he said.