Kathleen Wynne, a front-runner to succeed Liberal Premier Dalton McGuinty, and NDP Leader Andrea Horwath are willing to work together to avert an election.

Wynne, who is in a tight leadership race with former Windsor West MPP Sandra Pupatello, said she would co-operate with Horwath or Progressive Conservative Leader Tim Hudak.

“I’ve never talked about a formal coalition, but what I have said is that I would be reaching out to both Tim and Andrea,” the Don Valley West MPP told the Star editorial board Tuesday.

It has only been 15 months since the last provincial election, which resulted in a minority legislature, and Wynne said it “would be irresponsible of me not to work with the opposition.”

While Hudak sounds eager to head to the polls, Horwath said another $300 million vote would not go over well with the public.

“My preference is to sit down with whoever is elected (Liberal leader) and to get some things done for Ontarians,” she said, noting the NDP extracted concessions from McGuinty in last spring’s budget to ensure the minority government didn’t fall.

“I’m not overly interested in the details of what that looks like in terms of structure,” said Horwath when asked repeatedly about a coalition government.

“I don’t think you necessarily have to have a structure to do that ... you just need goodwill.”

Pupatello, slightly ahead of Wynne in delegate support for the Jan. 25-27 Maple Leaf Gardens convention, said Tuesday she would only go so far to appease the opposition.

“Of course I am ready to sit down with Andrea and Tim in order to see what common ground there is on achieving what I, and the Liberal party, believe we need — a determined focus on jobs and the economy,” she said.

“But I am not interested in a coalition nor is any Liberal I have talked to across the province. Liberals believe in a number of different things than the NDP, including the need for sound fiscal management, innovation and productivity.”

In the 107-member legislature, there are 53 Liberals, including Speaker Dave Levac, 35 Tories, and 18 New Democrats.

Emphasizing that “the party hierarchy isn’t circling around me,” Wynne insisted she represents the biggest change from the status quo.

“I’m hoping that I will be able to introduce a tone into the conversation and an expression of interest in working together that will be compelling to either or both of the opposition leaders,” said the former mediator.

Wynne blasted unnamed party “tacticians,” who advised escalating the feud with education unions in a bid to win last September’s Kitchener-Waterloo byelection.

“It can’t happen again,” she said of a strategy that backfired and helped the NDP win the seat, and promised an internal purge.

“There will be new people involved at all levels of the party, absolutely. Will there be anybody who’s been there before? Absolutely, because there has to be continuity, but there will be new people,” said Wynne.

Pupatello has 27.44 per cent of elected delegate’s to Wynne’s 25.2 per cent.

The two women are well ahead of their four rivals.

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Former Parkdale-High Park MP and MPP Gerard Kennedy, second to McGuinty in the 1996 Liberal leadership, has 13.99 per cent; Mississauga—Erindale MPP Harinder Takhar 13.28 per cent; Mississauga South MPP Charles Sousa 10.78 per cent; and St. Paul’s MPP Eric Hoskins 5.66 per cent.

After a Toronto Board of Trade speech Tuesday, Hoskins said he’s being courted by the front-runners, but he won’t be rushed into any decision as to who he will eventually support.

“What’s the hurry … I haven’t decided,” he said.

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