Grit gatekeepers get the boot

And trustee trouble

ABOVE THE FOLD

SCOOP — A quiet pre-leadership shakeup over in Liberal land…

MILTON CHAN and JACK SIEGEL — longtime operatives who have both served as party counsel (sometimes controversially) — are out as constitution co-chairs. Those are the folks who oversee changes to the party’s rulebook for process and, notably, the upcoming leadership race to replace BONNIE CROMBIE that is widely expected to be held next year.

The reason, sources tell me, is because both are expected to be partisan and take sides in the leadership race.

With high-profile contender MP KARINA GOULD officially bowing out of the contest, the field is pretty much wide open at this point. While plenty of names are floating around, like NATE ERSKINE-SMITH, ROB CERJANEC and MIKE CRAWLEY (no, the other one), no one has made it official.

Whoever takes the Grit crown has a decent shot at becoming Premier in the next election. While the PCs may be riding high in the polls, the Liberal brand is still going strong in Ontario — …