Local Tories slinging mud at selves

It's no holds barred when the Tories play political suicide.
The most famous game of Kill Ourselves was the dumping of federal leader John Diefenbaker. It was a blood bath. By the time the knives were laid down, every Tory was either dead or dying. 
On a professional level, I get along well with the Tories. And there's no contest - on election night, the Conservatives have the best food.   
Since Ontario will go to the polls Oct. 10, riding associations across the province are in election-readiness mode. Nomination meetings are on the radar screen. 
I covered the acclamation of Liberal Helena Jaczek and Conservatives Frank Klees in Newmarket-Aurora and Julia Munro in York Simcoe. Everyone involved was nice. I was given accurate information. In all cases, the news was collected and delivered in both a professional and pleasant manner. When it comes to being smart, nice and respectful, they don't come any better than Frank Klees or Julia Munro. As for Dr. Jaczek, she had a lovely lady call me. Thank you, doctor.
And then it happened, the Oak Ridges-Markham Conservatives stepped up to the plate. Within seconds, they tripped and fell, landing directly on that little soft spot on the top of the head.
Frankly speaking, the Oak Ridges-Markham Tories are making bloody fools of themselves.
First, let's get the truth out of the way; Whitchurch-Stouffville's former mayor Sue Sherban and current Deputy Mayor Phil Bannon and Markham residents D'Arcy Pigott and Gayani Weerasinghe are all bidding for the Tory nomination in Oak Ridges-Markham. The race will be determined at Markham's Brother Andre High School June 2 at 10 a.m. Rumour has it 1,000 Tories will turn up. 
Now for the silly stuff. It started with me, other reporters and an editor receiving deep-throat calls.
You know the type: "I can't tell you my name BUT....blah, blah, blah."
According to the tipsters, local Tory sins include:
• Riding association president Paul Calandra, who's supposed to be neutral, is openly favouring Mr. Pigott.
Not true, says Mr. Calandra.
• Mr. Pigott was appointed to the riding association executive at a meeting that did not have a quorum.
Mr. Pigott resigned from the executive when he declared his intent to seek the candidacy, says Mr. Calandra.
• The same people are running the provincial and federal riding associations.
While Mr. Calandra is the federal candidate for Oak Ridges-Markham, he says he's resigning from the provincial association as soon as a provincial candidate is picked. Even though Mr. Calandra wears a lot of hats, I'm not convinced he can protect his little soft spot. 
• A number of members have resigned during the run-up to the nomination.
I can't confirm this and don't care.
• There are now only a handful of people attending the riding association meetings.
So, what else is new? While most riding executives are small in number, the hangers-on contribute a great deal of work. 
Then the other calls and visits to editors took place.
• Dale Carter, one of Mrs. Sherban's campaign officials, played the Did You Know? game. He reported Mr. Bannon is not really a candidate because his application wasn't approved.
I was puzzled. A few days earlier, Mr. Calandra listed Mr. Bannon as an official candidate in the four-way race.
Meanwhile, Mr. Bannon insisted he delivered the candidate nomination application to party headquarters and, while there, received party approval. Still, Mr. Carter continued to insist our newspaper is misleading the public by reporting Mr. Bannon is a candidate.
I then called the provincial Conservative headquarters, spoke to an official who confirmed Mr. Bannon is, indeed, a bonafide, 100-per-cent official and legal candidate for the nomination in Oak Ridges-Markham.
Was I surprised? No.
Mr. Bannon plays by the rules. A retired police sergeant, it's not in Mr. Bannon's nature to pretend to seek a political spot just for the hell of it. Mr. Bannon is a real Tory. Between elections, I've spotted him eating their good food at Conservative functions.
Take it from a veteran political watcher: When the mud flings every which way, you can smell the pending loss. The trouble with discrediting the competition with goofy stuff or out-and-out BS, the damned truth gets in the way.
Here's a suggestion to all. Instead of mudslinging, work your Tory membership to garner support. Do it in an upfront, intelligent, dignified and honest way. It might work.   
As for me, I'm going home. If, by chance, you're a member of the Oak Ridges-Markham Conservatives, would you be so kind as to commit suicide on your own time?

Comments

[Andrew Keyes]

Joan, as a member of the Oak Ridges-Markham Ontario PC riding association I read your post with interest. Also, having recently been involved in two political nominations myself I’ve gained a fairly practical perspective on the competitive dynamics that evolve over the course of a nomination contest, particularly when that contest involves more than one nominee. And for anyone who has followed politics in this country it’s obvious these dynamics are not exclusive the PC Party. Perhaps the most famous example of “inside mud-slinging” was during the federal Liberal “Martin vs. Chretien” battle. At the riding association level we can recall the spirited Ignatief nomination, the Copps vs. Valeri battle, and the ongoing Liberal debate regarding the appointment of candidates without any nomination process.

I don’t mean to pick on the Liberals exclusively, but you seem to be suggesting its only Conservatives that have had these issues.

Now, back to the local level. In defence of Sue Sherban’s campaign team and the comments that they may have made. It’s important to understand that during a hotly contested, and very short nomination campaign emotions do run high and competitive instincts sometimes set in. As you yourself have acknowledged, misinformation does circulate, and team members will often pass that information along. Passing it along is not always malicious, it’s often simply “mistaken”.

Having said that, I do agree that we all need to be prudent when making claims that are not substantiated, but democracy at the grass-roots level is often conducted by folks with a bit more enthusiasm than restraint – and I do not want to discourage that enthusiasm.

[Kurt Christensen]

The Oak Ridges Markham Nomination Meeting on Saturday was one of the most exciting I have ever attended and four worthy candidates - D'Arcy, Guyani, Sue and Phil all presented themselves to party members with excellent speeches and the Auditorium at Brother Andre High School in Markham was "standing room only" with the outside halls holding even more people.

The registration in the extreme heat took twice the time predicted as several hundred committed and serious Ontario Progressive Conservatives stood patiently in line to be registered to vote for their favourite candidate for the upcoming election in October.

All candidates had elaborate hospitality rooms and each had a large following of supporters who packed the rooms between the two ballots cast.

From an informal survey taken I understand that D'Arcy Pigott had the best food and rumour has it that Joe Li brought in several trays of it. If anything, D'Arcy and his group did not go away hungry. They had so much fooe left over that they left a large tray of chicken behind for everyone else to share. To those who enjoyed your hospitality, thanks D'Arcy.

The Provincial Party President Blair McCreadie and Paul Calandra, local party President as well as Marjorie Nielsen, local Conservative President and organizer of the meeting and others too numerous to mention, including Steve Gilchrist, former high profile MPP, were present to ensure everything went smoothly, which it did aside from the heat and frustration of waiting for over an hour for some to be registered.

Paul Calandra is the Federal Conservative nominee for Oak Ridges Markham and his leadership over the past year as PC President resulted in a huge turnout and a well organized meeting which would not have been possible without Paul's commitment and involvement.

The organization at all levels - PC party and that of the candidates' teams - was superb and it was fascinating to see the democratic process in full swing.

The Liberals had better watch out since the Tories are hungry for a win in this riding and this could be one of the biggest electoral wins in the province based on this meeting.

The elected nominee, Phil Bannon, who is presently Deputy Mayor of Stoufville had almost the full
Stoufville Council, as well as the Mayor, out to support him as well as hundreds of his loyal constituents. They came out in appreciation for the excellent way he has represented them locally and were there to see him succeed and continue to represent them at the provincial level. They ensured that he would win the nomination in a walk due to the outstanding support they gave him. The superb organization put together in three weeks by party veteran Fitz Matheson, not to mention a host of other experienced party members who jumped in at the last minute, clinched the nomination for Phil against initially insurmountable leads by the other candidates who had laboured for over six months to sign up members and prepare for this day. Phil Bannon will be a formidable candidate and a solid addition to the John Tory team. He is one to watch in the new Ontario government.

The only sad part of the entire day is the fact that there can only be one winner - any one of the four candidates would have made a great representative for the PC party in Oak Ridges Markham.

Kurt Christensen,
Past PC Candidate and
Oak Ridges Markham resident.

[malcolm francois simpson]

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[jordan 8]

Towering genius disdains a beaten path. He seeks regions hitherto unexplored.