Editing Jim Flaherty (section)

=== Opposition and 2004 Ontario PC leadership bid ===
Following the defeat of the Conservatives, Eves announced that he would resign as leader in 2004. Flaherty declared himself a candidate to succeed him, but was defeated by [[John Tory]] by a margin of 54 percent to 46 percent on the second ballot of the [[2004 Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario leadership election|PC leadership election]] held on September 18, 2004. His supporters included former cabinet ministers [[John Baird (Canadian politician)|John Baird]], [[Tim Hudak]] and [[Norm Sterling]].<ref name="20years=trinh" /> His 2004 leadership campaign was similar to that of 2002. He emphasized [[Fiscal conservatism|fiscally conservative]] themes, including further tax cuts and greater privatization. He promised to create EXCEL scholarships, whereby students attaining high grades in high school would have half their university tuition paid by the government. Until 2005, Flaherty served as [[Shadow Cabinet|finance critic]] in [[John Tory]]'s shadow cabinet.<ref name="20years=trinh" /><ref>{{cite news|author=Richard Mackie |url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/flaherty-klees-win-key-roles-in-torys-shadow-cabinet/article1004880/ |title=Flaherty, Klees win key roles in Tory's shadow cabinet |newspaper=The Globe and Mail |access-date=2014-04-11}}</ref>