TORONTO

Premier Kathleen Wynne says she doesn’t think the knives are out for her.

Wynne said Monday she won’t be looking over her shoulder if the Liberals’ plan to slash hydro rates by 17% doesn’t address her plummeting approval ratings.

“I think that succession planning is often not done well actually in political parties,” she said. “I have a strong, loyal team. We’re a cohesive group and I look forward to working with them every day.”

Wynne said if there are people thinking about running for the Liberal leadership one day, that’s a good thing.

“If some of them are thinking one day they may want to be the leaders, excellent,” she added. “That will make them better MPPs, better ministers and better constituency workers because they take it to heart and they take it very seriously.”

Wynne has repeatedly said that she plans to run again in 2018.

“The pressure on me around electricity prices in Ontario is about people who are struggling to pay their electricity bills,” Wynne said.

“For me, what is critical right now, is that we get this into people’s hands. We get this onto their bills by the summer. So, that’s the pressure,” she added.

Progressive Conservative leader Patrick Brown said it doesn’t matter who leads the Liberals into the 2018 election. The party will stand for the same thing, he said.

“Regardless of who carries the flag for this government that’s been in power for 14 years, I think it will be the same tired team,” he said.