By definition, honeymoons are time limited.

Yet incoming premier Kathleen Wynne didn’t even get a day’s grace before the gang-up began — at warp speed — inside the often vicious, viscous bubble that is Queen’s Park.

With graceless timing, Tory Leader Tim Hudak disgorged an attack ad on the first business day after Wynne’s weekend triumph.

Next, NDP Leader Andrea Horwath laid a crass political trap of her own by demanding a costly full judicial inquiry into cancelled gas plants (which the NDP also wanted cancelled) instead of letting MPPs and the auditor general do the accounting job they’re paid to do. To be clear, Horwath’s first “ask” was to demand Wynne arrange her own hanging.

That’s politics. Just not the kind of politics Hudak and Horwath were clamouring for when promising to make minority government work.

In Ontario, the opposition never misses an opportunity to miss an opportunity — or poison a honeymoon.

But here’s the thing: For Ontarians living outside the bubble, the opposition doesn’t decide when a honeymoon goes sour — the public does.

No one knows whether Ontario’s first woman premier will enjoy even a short-lived love affair with voters, or be served with divorce papers forthwith. But it’s quite possible many Ontarians believe she deserves to catch her breath before the oxygen supply is cut off and the opposition goes for the jugular.

Horwath should take care that her own extended honeymoon with voters — she now boasts the highest approval ratings — doesn’t sour if she mishandles Wynne. As for Hudak, he will have to walk a fine line — both on style and substance.

With a straight face, the Tory leader repeatedly complained about losing four months to prorogation when Dalton McGuinty suspended the Legislature last October — but then refused to support an NDP plan to tighten the rules of prorogation. Now, Tory MPPs are poised to tie up the legislature with procedural games over gas plants when Wynne recalls it next month — bogging it right back down again.

Horwath, who first demanded that prorogation be constrained, made no mention of that — or any other constructive idea — in her Monday news conference (or 10-minute private phone call that followed with the incoming premier). Instead, Horwath invited Wynne to sign her own death warrant by — improbably — setting up a commission to provide opposition ammunition in time for the next election.

Remember the last $55 million public inquiry (Cornwall, 2009)? Why waste more money over wasted money? The auditor general will report on the government’s waste of public funds in March. And MPPs now have more than 50,000 documents to wade through in a legislative committee, which is part of their job description.

Why not at least try — for a few weeks — to find the common ground the public wants?

Horwath could collaborate with Wynne on social services reforms proposed by (long-time New Democrat) Frances Lankin in a report she co-authored last year. Hudak could push his demand for better arbitration rules and government accountability. Both opposition parties want greater consultation when siting wind turbines in rural areas — which Wynne has pledged to improve. And they could fix our prorogation problem.

Perhaps they have concluded co-operation is too risky, lest it undercut their bedrock support. Neither opposition party was expecting Wynne to win. Horwath now faces in Wynne an articulate, female progressive who exudes authenticity and demonstrates a command of the issues.

Hudak faces a different challenge. As a perceived progressive, Wynne opens up space on the centre-right that his Progressive Conservatives would dearly love to reclaim. Trouble is, he has been tacking hard right for a year, issuing provocative “white papers” proposing to privatize electricity generation and unravel union rights. Many centrist voters who might have been up for grabs may be scared off.

Unless Hudak makes a quick course correction, he could lose altitude. And unless Horwath gets her bearings, she may end up on a collision course.

Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading...

Honeymoon getaways can be turbulent. Time for the three party leaders to build bridges, rather than crash and burn.

Read more about: