 Kathleen Wynne at Queen's Park Tuesday, Jan. 29, 2013. (DAVE THOMAS/QMI Agency)
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TORONTO -- Ontario's premier-designate Kathleen Wynne and her new cabinet officially take the reins Feb. 11.
Premier Dalton McGuinty met with Lt.-Gov. David Onley Thursday to advise him officially that he will be resigning as leader of his party.
"I thanked the premier for his over nine years of service as first minister in this province," Onley said.
Wynne said she intends to waste no time, bringing back the house on Feb. 19 with a "strong" cabinet.
The premier-designate has been meeting individually with Liberal caucus members to make sure there are no hard feelings from last week's hard-fought leadership convention which saw her defeat perceived frontrunner Sandra Pupatello on a third ballot.
"There are no deep rifts in the party, there is no real rancour, but you know, just want to make sure that everybody knows that I know that we're all on a team, that we can all work together and that our relationships are intact," she said.
Wynne said she has also been in touch with the opposition -- PC Leader Tim Hudak and NDP Leader Andrea Horwath – in an attempt to find some "common ground" to avoid the fall of the minority parliament.
"I hope that by engaging with the leaders of the opposition that we're going to be able to have a different tone in the legislature," Wynne said. "I don't believe that there is a groundswell of desire for an election and I believe that Andrea Horwath and Tim Hudak hear the same message."
