The Ontario NDP's freshly elected members of provincial parliament are aiming to decide by early next week which of them to suggest serve as the party's interim leader, and four MPPs have emerged as favourites, according to well-placed sources.

The four who NDP MPPs are deciding between are Peggy Sattler, Peter Tabuns, Bhutila Karpoche and Jennifer French, one caucus source and another closely linked to the party told QP Briefing.

The New Democrats' 31-member caucus plans to meet on Friday and by Monday want to make a final recommendation to their provincial council of who should take the party's reins until a new leader is elected, the caucus source said.

QP Briefing promised anonymity to sources so they could disclose otherwise closely-kept information.

Whichever NDP MPP caucus decides to recommend as the interim leader doesn't automatically get appointed to the position. Caucus's pick should be close to a shoo-in, however.

The NDP's provincial council — the larger of its two governing bodies, which also includes the members of the other: its provincial executive — elects an interim leader, according to the party's constitution. Interim leader nominations are made in two ways: by the provincial executive, after it consults with caucus, and from the provincial council floor.

Whoever is elected interim leader will be the first new face atop the party in 13 years. Outgoing leader Andrea Horwath announced she'd be stepping down on election night after her party fell short of its goal of removing Doug Ford's Progressive Conservatives from power. The NDP placed second in seats, making them Ontario's Official Opposition for a second consecutive PC majority.

The NDP's executive has been planning to meet sometime by the end of next week to begin outlining how its leadership election will work, another party source told QP Briefing.

Party insiders have already been debating their preferences for a leadership contest. Most are in favour of choosing a new leader by sometime in the fall, which would be considered a quick contest, according to the two sources mentioned earlier.

No MPPs have officially declared their intention to run for leader yet, but at least two — second-termers Joel Harden and Marit Stiles — have said they're mulling over the possibility. Newly-elected MPP Kristyn Wong-Tam, who was a star NDP candidate in this spring's election, said earlier this week that she wasn't currently considering running, but also said she didn't want to "rule it out in the future."

In a typical leadership election, candidates would spend time touring Ontario, meeting with riding associations and grassroots members, fundraising and recruiting new members, and participating in a debate against one another — which altogether takes at least a few months.

It's likely that numerous high-level staffing changes will take place within the Ontario NDP over the coming months, too.

Karla Webber-Gallagher, the NDP caucus's principal secretary during Ford's first mandate and a longtime senior staffer, will be stepping down, according to the caucus source and another source close to the party. Webber-Gallagher has not announced this publicly yet.

Michael Balagus, Horwath's chief of staff, also shared with party staff earlier this week that he will be resigning on Sept. 15. In the message he sent notifying staff, Balagus said he would stay on to help the interim leader and their team "in whatever way they wish."

Of the MPPs who sources said the caucus will decide between nominating as interim leader, Tabuns, who was elected first in 2006, has the most experience in the legislature. In the years before he was elected provincially, Tabuns was a Toronto city councillor and Greenpeace Canada executive.

Sattler has sat as an MPP for the second-longest amount of time of the four, having been elected for the first time in 2013. She spent time in academia and was a London school board trustee before she became an MPP.

French was elected for the first time in 2014. She was a teacher before running for the New Democrats.

Karpoche — who had been rumoured to be considering running to be Horwath's non-interim successor — was first elected in 2018. Karpoche worked for her predecessor, 11-year NDP MPP Cheri DiNovo, for most of a decade before being elected, and was also an academic.

The party's spokesperson declined to comment on Webber-Gallagher's departure and the timeline for the appointment of the interim leader.

NDP MPPs to soon suggest one of four favourites be interim leader, say sources

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