Article content

TORONTO — Ontario Liberal leader Kathleen Wynne says becoming the first openly gay premier in Canada is “historic” and “exciting.”

But she says she doesn’t want it to overshadow her role in governing the country’s most populous province.

We apologize, but this video has failed to load.

tap here to see other videos from our team. Try refreshing your browser, or Becoming first openly gay premier in Canada 'exciting,' Kathleen Wynne says Back to video

She says she feels a special responsibility to young gay people who are looking for the possibility that there might be a more accepting world somewhere.

She says it’s important to her that she may be helping people to be less frightened.

But Wynne says she’s not a gay activist and she doesn’t plan to spend the next few months talking about it.

She says for her, the real historic thing is that she’ll become the sixth woman premier in Canada once she’s sworn in.

“We’ve wondered about why we haven’t had a higher percentage of women in legislatures and in Parliament,” Wynne said Sunday. “Well, maybe now we’re reaching a critical mass.”

Wynne, who is married to Jane Rounthwaite and has three children and two grandchildren, has said homophobia always comes up in her campaigns and did in this one too, with a Toronto newspaper editorial asking if Ontario is ready for an openly gay premier.