

Maria Babbage, The Canadian Press





MARKHAM, Ont. -- Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne isn't ruling out teaming up with the New Democrats to form a government if the Progressive Conservatives win the most seats on June 12, but fall short of a majority.

The Liberal leader said her main focus now is working hard for the remainder of the campaign to ensure her party wins the election.

Once the voters decide, her party will "make that determination," she said Wednesday after visiting an elementary school in Markham, north of Toronto.

"I'm not ruling out anything except working as hard as I can over the next 16 days to make sure that we get to Queen's Park and we can implement our plan," she said.

Wynne said she's demonstrated that she can work in a minority parliament and promised to continue to do so if the Liberals fail to win a majority.

"So you need to look at what I've done over the past year and a bit, that's how I would function, but I am not going to pre-empt what the people of Ontario might decide on June 12."

Whatever the configuration of the next parliament will be, she'll bring forward her plan for the province and do everything in her power to make sure it gets implemented, Wynne said.

NDP Leader Andrea Horwath, who has called the Liberals corrupt, was tight-lipped on the subject.

"I'm going to wait until June 12, until the people of this province make a decision about what kind of government they want and regardless of what decision they make it'll be the right decision... and we'll deal with that outcome once it's upon us," she said.

In 1985, the provincial Liberals and NDP teamed up to replace the newly elected minority Tory government under then-leader Frank Miller.

The New Democrats agreed to prop them up on the condition that the Liberals implemented some of their policies. But two years later, the Liberals won by a landslide and the NDP lost seats.

The Progressive Conservatives say voters deserve to know if Wynne intends to form a coalition government if she loses the election.

"What is clear is that Kathleen Wynne is so desperate to cling to power that she will do absolutely anything to keep her job," they said in a news release.

Tory Leader Tim Hudak issued similar warnings in the 2011 election, saying the province could end up with a Liberal-NDP coalition government that would raise taxes.

But then-premier Dalton McGuinty ruled out a coalition with one of the opposition parties in the dying days of the Ontario election, saying he wouldn't make any deals to form a government.

However, history appears to be repeating itself, with public opinion polls suggesting that it's a tight race between the Liberals and Conservatives.

This time around, Hudak has turned further to the right, pledging to cut government spending -- along with 100,000 public sector jobs -- to balance the budget more quickly than his rivals.

He's been forced to defend his promise to create one million jobs over the next eight years, after a growing number of economists and the Liberals questioned his math. Hudak insisted Wednesday that he stands by those numbers.

If the Tories win a minority, it's unlikely Horwath would support their agenda. But the NDP leader would still be in a difficult position if the election produces another Liberal minority government.

Wynne has vowed to re-introduce the May 1 budget that Horwath rejected, saying she had lost confidence in the scandal-plagued Liberals.

Horwath has upped the ante in recent days, saying the Liberals remain "rife with corruption" and only a change in government will bring accountability to Queen's Park after years of scandals.

The NDP leader has repeatedly blasted the Liberals for pulling the plug on two gas plants -- including just days before the 2011 election -- that could cost the province up to $1.1 billion.

If the NDP were to reject the budget again, the province could be plunged into another election. The party could also abstain from the confidence vote to avoid sending voters back to the polls, but would be propping up a government they've called corrupt.

-- with files from Paola Loriggio.