TORONTO -- A provincial byelection today in east Toronto is giving residents across the province a closer look at the still relatively untested leader of the Opposition, whose recent flip-flop on a new sex education curriculum has dominated the last week of the campaign.
A letter was distributed -- under Progressive Conservative Leader Patrick Brown's name -- to residents in Scarborough-Rouge River last week saying that if the party forms government after the next provincial election, they will "scrap" the Liberal government's changes to the sex-ed curriculum.
The curriculum was updated last year for the first time since 1998, but complaints from some parents ranged from not being consulted enough to the lessons being age inappropriate to anger over mentions of same-sex relationships, gender identities and masturbation.
Brown disavowed the letter days later, saying he didn't know about it and actually won't scrap the curriculum despite what he calls a lack of parental consultation. But opposing the curriculum would have garnered his party votes in Scarborough-Rouge River, where it is deeply unpopular, Brown acknowledged.
The Liberals quickly seized on the reversal as evidence Brown will take whatever position is most politically expedient. But they also say questions remain about where the letter originated, whether it really was with the local campaign as Brown has implied.
It bears his electronic signature and says it is authorized by the CFO of the Progressive Conservative party, Deputy Premier Deb Matthews noted. And the letter was translated into other languages -- in a riding where more than half of residents don't speak English as their first language -- but Brown only appears to be professing his pro-sex-ed stance in English, Matthews said.
"If the correction is not going to the thousands of people who received translated copies of this letter, he is intentionally misleading those voters," she said.
Opposing the curriculum could hurt Brown provincially, but would play well in the riding, said Chris Cochrane, an associate professor of political science at the University of Toronto Scarborough campus.
This vote could serve to define Brown, as it's the first truly close byelection race since he became leader last May. It will also test Wynne's leadership at a time when, halfway through her term, polls show her as unpopular with voters, Cochrane said. But he also thinks the NDP stands a chance.
Polls have suggested the race is a tight one, mostly between the Liberals and Tories.
In the 2014 election, Liberal Bas Balkissoon -- whose surprised resignation triggered the byelection -- won with about 39 per cent of the vote, but Neethan Shan wasn't far behind with 31 per cent for the NDP and Raymond Cho garnered 28 per cent for the Tories.
The latter two candidates are running again in the byelection against Liberal Piragal Thiru, so will benefit from some name recognition in a race finally without an incumbent. Balkissoon held the riding since 2005 and before that Alvin Curling had represented the area for the Liberals since 1985.
