Ontario NDP Leader Marit Stiles dismissed her chief of staff and principal secretary, Global News has learned, after a chaotic party convention that delivered lukewarm support.
In the wake of a diminished electoral result during the snap campaign in February, Stiles faced caucus and party members during a three-day convention in Niagara Falls.
While Stiles was expected to receive fulsome endorsement of her leadership, the leader of the Official Opposition was backed by just 68 per cent of NDP voters at the event — high enough to claim two-thirds support, but low enough to be viewed as problematic for the leader.
Multiple sources told Global News the low result — which triggered an emergency caucus meeting on Saturday — was intended to be a message to Stiles that party members were expecting change within the senior leadership ranks.
“There were some missteps,” an NDP source told Global News. “It became one of those situations where you realize that some of the staff didn’t have a handle on things that they should have.”
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Sources said a driving factor was the election result, in which the NDP netted less than one million votes provincewide and dropped from 31 seats to 27. The Ontario Liberals, by contrast, received 1.5 million votes but were left with 14 seats.
The senior leadership team, sources said, lacked the necessary experience to mount an effective campaign against Doug Ford’s Progressive Conservatives.
Sources said Stiles’ team was “shocked” by the result, and then faced caucus members for a “confronting” conversation over what they felt needed to change.
While the NDP caucus appeared on stage to support Stiles, sources said they also expected quick-paced changes from the leader.
Over the weekend Stiles ousted her two top advisers before the NDP convention was over as a signal to caucus and party members that she intended to deliver the change they were demanding.
A source close to Stiles, however, suggested the two staffers had discussed their resignations with the leader before the convention took place as part of a “planned transition.”
Stiles has yet to announce who will take over the positions.
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