A defiant Premier Kathleen Wynne said she is not going anywhere despite concern within the governing Liberals that her unpopularity is hurting the party.

“I’ve made a decision, with the support of my caucus, to go into the next election,” Wynne told reporters at the Children’s Hospital of Eastern in Ottawa on Wednesday.

“We have important work still to do. We’re on the verge of . . . bringing in a balanced budget for the first time in nearly a decade,” she said, referring to Finance Minister Charles Sousa’s April 27 budget.

“That will allow us to do more of the things that are needed in this province, whether it’s in health care, whether it’s in infrastructure.”

Her comments came in the wake of a front-page Star story on Tuesday that revealed unease within the Liberals because Wynne badly trails Progressive Conservative Leader Patrick Brown and NDP Leader Andrea Horwath in public opinion polls.

The Star revealed that more than a dozen Liberal MPPs are considering not running again in the June 7, 2018 election over concern her numbers will drag them down.

“I understand that there is a political story around personal popularity, but that’s actually beside the point for me,” the premier said firmly.

“The point for me is to do the work that I was elected to do with the support of my colleagues,” she said, flanked by Attorney General Yasir Naqvi, Community Safety and Correctional Services Minister Marie-France Lalonde, and MPP Nathalie Des Rosiers (Ottawa-Vanier).

“Of course, there are political calculations along the way. There always are. I’ve been in this office since 2013. We won a majority in 2014 and we have been doing the work that we were elected to do.”

Asked why her personal popularity appears to be down — the economy is performing well and residential electricity rates are being cut by 25 per cent this year — Wynne smiled gamely.

“I’m going to leave that to the pundits and to the press . . . to analyze.”

The Star disclosed that some Grits are worried about continuing organizational challenges in the Ontario Liberal Party.

Within hours of those concerns being aired in print, the Liberals scrambled to announce a candidate for an upcoming byelection in Sault Ste. Marie, former local mayor Debbie Amaroso, and unveiled a new executive director of the party, former political staffer David Clarke.

One senior Liberal admitted the revelations in the Star were a “wake-up call” for a party that has been in power since October 2003.

To that end, the Grits are touting the skills of campaign co-chairs David Herle, who managed the victorious 2014 effort, deputy premier Deb Matthews, and prominent lawyer Tim Murphy, as well as campaign director Chad Walsh, a rising star in the party.

The Liberals also announced new campaign committees to oversee fundraising, candidate recruitment, the election platform, organization and communications.

Speaking in Toronto, Matthews said Wynne is “our best asset.”

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“She is making some really substantial change for our government . . . and her caucus is fully behind her and the party is fully behind her,” she said.

“You know, we can get distracted by polls . . . so do not write Kathleen Wynne off. She’s a very, very strong leader for us.”

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