Kevin Aylward

Kevin Aylward (born August 24, 1960) is a Canadian politician in Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. He has served as leader of the Liberal Party of Newfoundland and Labrador from August 14, 2011 until January 3, 2012.^[1] Aylward was first elected to the Newfoundland and Labrador House of Assembly in the 1985 election and served as a cabinet minister in the governments of Clyde Wells, Brian Tobin, Beaton Tulk and Roger Grimes. Aylward did not seek re-election in the 2003 election.

Upon the resignation of Liberal leader Yvonne Jones on August 9, 2011, 62 days before the provincial election, Aylward ran in the leadership race to succeed her.^[2][3] Five days after Jones' resignation Aylward was chosen as party leader in a field of seven candidates.^[1] On October 26, 2011, he resigned as leader after failing to win the district of St. George's-Stephenville East in the 2011 provincial election.

Politics

Aylward was first elected as a Member of the House of Assembly (MHA) in the 1985 provincial election. He held several cabinet portfolios in the 1990s and early 2000s, including Environment and Labour, Forest Resources and Agrifoods, Tourism, Culture and Recreation, and Environment.^[4]

Aylward was one of the seven politicians who sat on the province’s Internal Economy Commission (IEC) in 2000. During that time, the IEC decided to remove the auditor general from auditing the House of Assembly’s financial records and allowed MHA expense claims to be approved without full documentation.^[5] This decision, which was reversed under the Progressive Conservative government several years later, led to a spending scandal that saw millions of public dollars misused and led to jail time for four former MHAs, and a businessman.^[6]

In 2007, auditor general John Noseworthy announced that Aylward had made inappropriate personal claims with his constituency allowance. Aylward claimed $618 for tickets to a Juno Awards ceremony, as well as $4,419 in airfare for his children.^[7]

Environment Minister

Aylward held the Environment portfolio on several occasions. He was sworn into cabinet in 1994 as Minister of the Environment in the Clyde Wells government, and in 1996 Premier Brian Tobin appointed him the Minister of Environment and Labour. After holding several other portfolios between 1997 and 2002, he was once again sworn in as Environment Minister under Premier Roger Grimes.^[4]

Leader

On August 12, 2011, Aylward unexpectedly put his name forward for the leadership of Liberal Party of Newfoundland and Labrador.^[3] On August 14, the executives of the party chose Aylward as leader of the party, over six other candidates, citing his experience as a former MHA and cabinet minister as a key reason for selecting him.^[8]

On the night that Aylward was selected as leader his chief rival for the leadership, Bern Coffey, left the news conference soon after Aylward was named leader. Coffey had planned on seeking the Liberal nomination in St. John's East, but stated he would meet with Aylward later that week and that depending on how the meeting went he would think about running in that district. Rodney Martin, who also ran for the leadership, said that while he would not rule out running in the election he would have a tough time running under Aylward. Leadership candidates Ryan Lane and Brad Cabana have been nominated to run under the party's banner in October.^[9] Three days after he was selected as leader the party's candidate for Terra Nova announced he would not be running for the party any longer because he did not agree with the direction the party was heading in under Aylward's leadership.^[10]

In the October election the Progressive Conservatives won their third straight majority. While the Liberals managed to remain the Official Opposition, they placed third in the popular vote winning only 19.1 per cent.^[11] On October 26, 2011, Aylward announced his resignation as leader after failing to win the district of St. George's-Stephenville East.^[12]

Public opinion

Upon becoming party leader, public opinion polls showed that the Liberal Party had fallen to third place, for the first time in its history, behind the Progressive Conservative Party (PC) and the New Democratic Party (NDP). A Corporate Research Associates (CRA) poll conducted immediately after Aylward became leader showed the party's support was at 22%, compared to 24% for the NDP and 54% for the Progressive Conservatives. Another poll conducted by MarketQuest Omnifacts Research (MQO), the weekend before the dropping of the writ for the election, showed that the Liberals were supported by 18%, 11 points behind the NDP who were at 29%. The PC Party held a large lead over both parties at 53%. Aylward's personal popularity also lagged behind NDP leader Lorraine Michael and PC leader Kathy Dunderdale in both polls. 16% of respondents in the CRA poll thought Michael was the best choice to be premier, while 14% of those surveyed in the MQO poll thought he was the best choice.^{[13][14][15][16]} After a controversial statement by a Liberal candidate and after Aylward's performance in the September 28, televised leaders debate, an MQO poll released on September 30, showed that the Liberal Party's support continued to fall. Support for the Liberals had fallen by 5 points to 13%, 20 points lower behind the NDP who moved up to 33%. The PC Party moved up 1 point to 54%, while 18% remained undecided. When it came to the best choice for premier only 11% thought Aylward was the best choice, compared to 27% who thought Michael was and 62% who though Dunderdale was. Only 6% of those polled thought Aylward was the winner of the debate.^[17][18]

References