Tory in-fighting in Mississauga South, part I don't even know anymore

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/tories-bicker-in-key-toronto-area-ridings/article1897744/page1/

Conservatives in my home riding of Mississauga South must really miss the days when they could just throw a Kennedy on the ballot and have the rest of the election be a formality.

In the past few years, not a single election cycle has passed in Mississauga South without some fairly serious drama and infighting popping up, and both the federal and provincial sides. 2004-2006 candidate Phil Green was denied the chance to run a third time in the fall of 2006 (despite party insider Bob Dechert getting the go for a three-peat next door) which ruffled a few feathers. Green had this to say:

http://theliberalscarf.blogspot.com/2008/01/look-at-phil-greens-website.html

I was told by a Party official that the party would not allow me to be a candidate for nomination. No reasons were provided...I believe that in this matter the Conservative Party has shown a cavalier attitude towards our political freedoms and its pledge of fair, transparent and democratic nominations

And of course, following this, came the appointment of floor-crosser Tim Peterson as automatic PC candidate for the 2007 election, which backfired spectacularly and alienated the grassroots as 3 candidates had been actively going for the nod against Peterson. Former PC MPP Margaret Marland called the process "despicable" and Peterson was not allowed the speak at his own nomination meeting. Unsurprisingly, many Mississauga South PC activists were amongst the spearhead of the dump John Tory movement after the election.

And then came the actual federal nomination for the 08 election. After dragging the race out for months in hopes of a star candidate, the party finally allowed the nomination, which had some nastyiness of its own.

http://theliberalscarf.blogspot.com/2008/05/tim-peterson-angle-gets-played-against.html

Party establishment backed parachute candidate Ted Opitz was using cybersquatting and registering variants of other candidates names on url's to re-direct to his own website, which got him some flack, and his parachute status caused other candidates to label him the Tim Peterson of the race.

This also came out when Phil Green endorsed Hugh Arrison:
http://theliberalscarf.blogspot.com/2008/05/rise-of-hugh-arrison.html


"Green says Arrison has enjoyed a "tremendous" financial and business career and understands the concerns of the riding, because he lives in it."Just as important for me, Hugh knows that there can be a big difference between what is legal and what is the right thing to do," says Green, an obvious reference to candidate Major Ted Optiz's recent ploy to buy up web site domains that his opponents could potentially use and redirect people from those sites to his own

We also saw an anti-Opitz website, poking fun at this registration of domain names of other candidates: http://theliberalscarf.blogspot.com/2008/06/conservative-website-fun.html

Arrison ultimately won the nomination and lost to Paul Szabo. Arrison wanted to run again, and here is where the fun starts from today's article:


In nearby Mississauga South, currently held by Liberal Paul Szabo, long-time Conservative Hugh Arrison and his supporters allege he was kept out of running for the nomination to make way for Ms. Ambler last summer...Supporters of Ms. Ambler, meanwhile, say Mr. Arrison is an embittered failed candidate who had trouble co-operating with party officials...Several party sources say there had been bad feelings between Ms. Ambler and some Conservative members in Bramalea-Gore-Malton before she moved to Mississauga South...That same summer of 2009, Mr. Arrison in Mississauga South was starting to get bad vibes about the nomination in his riding.

Mr. Arrison had lost the 2008 federal election to Liberal incumbent Paul Szabo, but wanted to run for the nomination again. Mr. Arrison says he was called to a meeting in the summer of 2009 by Ms. Macgregor, the Greater Toronto Area Tory organizer.

Mr. Arrison says Ms. Macgregor asked him not to run for the nomination. Ms. Macgregor, now an aide to Tory Senator Con Di Nino, said she would have to check her notes about whether she met with Mr. Arrison, but did not return messages...Mr. Delorey said he could not comment on the details of a nomination. But a party source says Mr. Arrison was regarded inside the last campaign as unco-operative and a poor candidate.

Mr. Arrison refutes that view, saying he had lots of support within the party and even got a call from Flaherty in the days after the 2008 election congratulating him on his showing and encouraging him to run again. He came within 2,100 votes of defeating Mr. Szabo...Mr. Arrison refused to step aside after the meeting with Ms. Macgregor, and soon afterward began hearing that Ms. Ambler wanted to run in the riding...Ms. Ambler was acclaimed as the party's candidate in Mississauga South in June 2010. Mr. Arrison maintains a website, still in Conservative colours, that describes his disappointment with the party.

“There's certainly an awful lot of people that feel really disenfranchised, who feel very, very upset,” Mr. Arrison said in an interview.

“I guess I've had three or four hundred emails, lots of people who are even going to change their votes. It's definitely an issue because people really don't like it when you're told what you're going to do and your vote is completely ignored. That's the big issue. Do the people really count? Do members even matter, and apparently they don't.”"


And bringing it back to Phil Green, here is what he had to say when Ambler got appointed/acclaimed in a letter in the Mississauga News:


The Conservative Party has parachuted Stella Ambler into Mississauga South by calling a nomination for June 28, without opponents. Ambler, who works for Finance Minister Jim Flaherty, moved to Mississauga South last August from Bramalea-Gore-Malton, where she ran unsuccessfully in 2008...

Interfering in nominations corrodes our democracy. “A prime minister demeans local democracy when he parachutes a candidate into a riding over the objections of local members,” said Prime Minister Harper in 2005 — something he clearly no longer believes, or cares about...

The Conservative Party used to say that candidates should be nominated in a fair, transparent and democratic manner. I remain loyal to that principle. I refuse to vote for a candidate, even from my own party, that was not. Such a vote is a vote for the subversion of our democratic rights. If that offends my party today, too bad.


The PC's look like they are having a contested nomination for the provincial nod, and it will be interesting to see if they follow what is now a proud Mississauga South Conservative tradition.

Tim Hudak pics up a big endorsement!

With the race for PC leadership getting into the next stage (the 17th was the cutoff for candidates to enter the race), endorsements have started to roll in more heavily, including over 40 2007 PC candidates declaring for Hudak, including a big (in more then one sense of the word) endorsement from right here in Mississauga:

(ok, my only reason for blogging on this was because I wanted an excuse to use this picture again)

Conservative website fun

While the dispute between Opitz and the other candidates over Opitz using re-directing web domain names similar to the other candidates back to his own website was settled, with Opitz no longer using the practice, (although he appears to be a hypocrite, with http://www.mississaugasouth.com/ directing to his website, http://www.mississaugasouth.ca/ is the website of the EDA) it seems Opitz's rivals at least set-up a counter to this, as they at some point had the domain name registered tedopitz.net go to an anti-Opitz text, which I've screencapped using the magic of cache:

If you have trouble reading, or the image messes up, the text states:

Ted Opitz is a nomination contestant for the Conservative Party of Canada in Mississauga South.
Ted bought domain names of other nomination contestants, and used them to direct traffic to his own web site.
Ted says:
"There's nothing illegal about it"
"It's not evil or nefarious"
"It's an electoral tactic."
"A wise candidate would secure all of the domain names that could be potentially used as web sites for their candidacies."
Ted forgot to buy www.tedopitz.net.

What is also interesting is that the very bottom provides a link to a blog post written by John Stewart about the tensions in the race, including the disputes around domain names. However, this post was written on the 22nd of May. A later post of Stewarts, on May 28th, says that Opitz has dropped the scheme. The tedopitz.net website, while inactive as of now, was at the very least, still up until 1 Jun 2008 00:08:12 GMT, as demonstrated by the screencap. Careless negligence, or a deliberate attempt to try and continue hitting Opitz? Who knows.

Also of note, is that Phil Green (the previous Conservative candidate in 04 and 06, who was banned from running again, and has made no secret of his displeasure) has a title at the top of his (still fairly regularly updated) website www.philgreen.ca, saying "I'll be back". Green is supporting Hugh Arrison for the nomination, and it will be interesting to see what role Green will play if Opitz, who has been attacked (most notably by Arrison's campaign manager) as being Tim Peterson Mark II, wins the nomination. Tim Peterson Mark I still got Effie Triantafilopoulos to vote for him, but many of her supporters and other Conservative die-hards either stayed home or protest voted Liberal/Green.

Just for kicks, here is Effie's (still active, hmm) website:
http://www.effie.ca/default.asp
Lots of fun tidbits about Tim Peterson too!

The rise of Hugh Arrison?

http://www.mississaugablogs.com/2008/05/missy_south_rumblings.html

New John Stewart entry, with many very interesting tidbits on the (mis)adventures of the Mississauga South Conservatives:

-Phil Green, the Tory candidate in the previous 2 elections, endorsed Hugh Arrison. Green wanteed to run a 3rd time for the Conservatives, but was vetoed by the party, and has not hid his disappointment. Green, in his endorsement, also takes a not so subtle shot at Ted Opitz, the out of riding candidate who increasingly seen as the choice of the party establishment:

"Green says Arrison has enjoyed a "tremendous" financial and business career and understands the concerns of the riding, because he lives in it."Just as important for me, Hugh knows that there can be a big difference between what is legal and what is the right thing to do," says Green, an obvious reference to candidate Major Ted Optiz's recent ploy to buy up web site domains that his opponents could potentially use and redirect people from those sites to his own."

Additionally, the choice by the other candidate, Raya Shadursky to have long-time Tory and two-time mayoralty candidate Roy Willis nominate her clearly shows that Raya and Hugh are going to make Opitz's outsider and establishment image an issue, which could leave Opitz facing an "Anyone but Ted" situation, as Mississauga Conservatives rebel against what they see as Tim Peterson Mark II.

Speaking of which:
"Tim Peterson, who has already expressed interest in running provincially again for the Tories against Charles Sousa in Mississauga South in 2014 (I'm assuming he means 2011), has his house for sale."

To which I say, Say What? Not surprising Tim is selling his place on Indian Road, but Tim Peterson running for the PC's again? He got the worst results for the PC's in the history of the riding, alienated a huge chunk of the Conservative electorate, and ran a bad campaign reliant entirely on John Tory, who has no guarantee to be around in 2011 anyway. I guess he can go for the nomination (something tells me he won't get appointed this time around) but I can't see him performing even close to respectably in an open nomination process.

Anyway, if Opitz does win (although I would say his chances might be a bit lower now) he will have to fight a tough narrative of being Tim Peterson Mark II, with plenty of anti-Ted quotes by prominent local Conservatives floating around. Less then 2 weeks to go now.

The Tim Peterson Angle gets played against Ted Opitz...by the Conservatives

http://www.mississaugablogs.com/2008/05/ground_control_to_major_ted.html

John Stewart is back, and while the stuff about Opitz's use of websites is interesting, but hardly a new political development, the real meat is the words of ex-tennis champ David Brown, (who by the way, I am pretty sure is not the same David Brown who ran for the PC's in the last provincial election in Mississauga-Erindale and the federal PC's in Mississauga South in 2000) who is rival candidate Hugh Arrison's campaign manager:

" Brown proceeds to play the Tim Peterson card, suggesting that Mississauga South Tories do not accept interlopers well. Opitz, of course, doesn't live in the riding which means he has to work twice as hard to prove himself to the 400 or so core members of the association, who will likely end up holding the balance of power in the contest."

And while in fairness in Orpitz, who says he will no longer use the re-directing sites, after a talk with the other candidates, I wouldn't be shocked to see Brown's words used in some anti-Opitz literature, should he win the nomination:

"It's not the way to represent the party and it's not the way to conduct yourself with the other candidates. I think people will use this to judge the character, or lack of character within this individual. This is not the way we feel Conservative candidates should be operating."

While we are on the subject, I find it interesting that Brown plays the Tim Peterson card, considering that when I was working in Szabo's campaign office in 2004, Brown came in a requested a Szabo sign with the "Team Martin" part folded back, because he said he wanted Szabo to win re-election, but the Liberals to lose overall, so I am assuming he cast his vote for the MP he is now hoping to knock off with Mr. Arrison.

Sad state of Mississauga Conservatives

I was just reading the Mississauga News website when this: http://www.mississauga.com/article/11451 caught my eye. While ultimately whoever wins the nomination is more or less pointless (Mississauga East-Cooksville is a safe Liberal seat and Albina Guarnieri is a very entrenched incumbent) that Conservative HQ is so fast to want to appoint a party switcher to the protest of the grassroots brings to mind every ones favourite floor crossers, Tim Peterson and Wajid Khan. Seriously, can the Conservatives have a home-grown candidate in Mississauga for once rather than an ex Liberal opportunist? Interesting to see if when the election finally does come if any Peterson-style backlash hits the ME-C Conservatives.

10 reasons to vote against Tim Peterson

1. His floor crossing showed his lack of respect for the democratic process and the people of Mississauga South

2. He does not have a single idea or thought that was not first had by John Tory

3. He would be Queen's Park voice in Mississauga South, not Mississauga South's voice in Queen's Park

4. His weakness and indecivness on faith based schools, refusing to take a clear position on the issue

5. He crossed the floor not out of conviction or purpose, but because he didn't think he could get re-elected as a Liberal after the riding boundary re-adjustment

6. Was handed PC nomination in an undemocratic process criticized by previous PC MPP Margaret Marland called "despicable"

7. Sold out the family business

8. Turned his back on the investments made by the Liberal government in Peel and embraced a PC legacy of cuts and downloading.

9. On every issue he claimed was a reason for leaving the Liberals, he had prior praised the government on

10. Because Charles Sousa simply deserves it

Tim Peterson's lack of leadership on faith-based schools

While Ottawa Centre Progressive Conservative candidate Trina Morissette is far from my favourite person (both politically, and personally, the first time I met her at a Carleton Campus Conservative meeting I was attending because several of my friends are involved she lectured my ear off for about 5 minutes after she found out I was a Liberal) at least she has taken a stance on the John Tory destroying issue of the campaign, faith based funding. Trina has always been a firm supporter of the plan, and pledged to vote in favour of it if elected and the Conservatives form government. Now as the Conservatives are going to be in opposition benches for awhile now, and Trina herself has/had zero chance of winning her left-leaning riding, it may just be her attempt to gain favour with party insiders, or at the very least, appear to take a stand. Now while Trina's stance is obviously wrong, I do give her credit for taking a stance.

Tim Peterson, the current pseudo-incumbent in Mississauga South, fails in this regard. As the only PC candidate currently in office, Peterson is the standard bearer for John Tory in this city. And yet while other PC candidates such as Mississauga East-Cooksville candidate Zoran Churchin, who has come out loudly against the plan, as has Nina Tangri, the Mississauga-Streetsville candidate, and Mississauga-Erindale candidate David Brown who seems moderately in favour of the plan, Peterson has refused to take a clear stand on the issue, which given his flip flopping, floor crossing ways is not a surprise.

In the Mississauga News:

"Tim Peterson, the Mississauga South candidate and only PC incumbent in Mississauga, also said he'd wait for the legislation and vote based on the will of his constituents. "Certainly my community leans against it, but I want to talk to them and see what the options are and what the legislation is," Peterson said. He added, "There's also quite a strong feeling that came out that everybody was surprised by, that there should be no funding for any faith-based schools, including the Catholics. We have to look at that as a possibility, too."

I find it supremely ironic that Tim is discussing following the will of his constituents, because his track record on that is hardly stellar. So basically, although you've known the content of the platform since you joined the party, you've had months to talk to policy advisers, community leaders, and the people of Mississauga South, you are still "undecided", and will basically vote as the polls see fit. Also apparently getting rid of Catholic schools are going to be part of the Progressive Conservative plan, according to Mr. Peterson.

The official press release is no better:

" John Tory is a principled Leader who listens to people. He has heard the message from people that there are different views across Ontario about his plan to bring faith-based schools into the public education system. As a result, John Tory confirmed today that he would ensure a free vote at Queen’s Park on this issue, demonstrating that he is listening to the concerns that were raised. I will consult with you, the people of Mississauga South by telephone, fax, Internet and mail to ensure your views are heard and I will vote according to your views. As you know, I feel passionately about representing your concerns. Over the last four years, Dalton McGuinty and his government have failed to address the many problems that confront you. I welcome the opportunity to continue working for you. I ask for your support and vote on October 10th. "

Yes, because principled leaders change the central campaign plank mid-election. Apparently Howard Hampton will wake up tomorrow and realize he better start campaigning in favour of the MPP pay rise (although given 2 of the NDP members didn't attend the vote on the raise because they privately agreed with it, maybe this isn't such a long shot).

So basically, if you vote for Tim, according to this release, you are voting for a candidate who hasn't made up his mind, is indecisive, and needs more time to come up with an about-face answer. That is not leadership, and that is not what Mississauga South needs.

The meaning of signs

I've always been interested in the ways people visually identfy themselves politically. This has brought me to an interest in pins and buttons obviously, but also posters and signs. Having been in a number of different ridings over the course of the election, the differences and similarities between the parties and candidates is very interesting.

Liberals

Charles Sousa-Mississauga South, Yasir Naqvi-Ottawa Centre

Most Liberals don't stray very far from the template, as seen above. Strikes a nice balance between the central party and the candidates individual name, and the candidates personal website. The only candidates who I've noticed have different signs are Ministers like Jim Watson, who I included in the collage above. Jim has had that "re-elect a good MPP" since forever, and was allowed to grandfather it in. Dalton also has a few different designs, seen here: although he also has plenty of "standard" designs.

I'm assuming Ministers have more choice in choosing a custom sign vs. a standard sign, such as Kathleen Wynne's standard bags:

compared to George Smitherman's "last name only" signs

The template is designed to show both party solidarity, and highlight the individual, which is a good reflection of the Liberal team values.

Progressive Conservatives

Tim Peterson-Mississauga South, Trina Morissette-Ottawa Centre

Now here is a good example of how psychology can effect a candidate and his or her sign choices. Tim Peterson, the floor crosser, has a sign that has little Conservative blue in it, and has that stupid by-line "Your John Tory Candidate" as well as a link to the "leadership matters" campaign website. For Tim at the start of the campaign, this would have made sense. First, avoid using partisan colours as much as possible. In the period in which he was an Independent, Tim largely stuck to a neutral yellow and grey template in his literature, his MPP website, and in this official photo.

So using a white sign to try and give something of a non-partisan image makes sense. As does the ignoring of everything Tim Peterson related but the actual name on the sign. "John Tory candidate" is because Tim's entire platform is John Tory, and was thought up in the pre-flip flop days when Conservative candidates thought Tory would lead them into to promised land with his leadership on faith-based funding, instead of electoral oblivion. Same goes for the "leadership matters" webpage. For those of you who still doubt the slavish devoution Tim has for all things John Tory, look at this banner outside his campaign office.

You can't really get a proper scope of size from that photo, but this thing is HUGE. With Peterson headed for defeat at the hands of Mr. Sousa, perhaps he will ponder what could have been had his attendtence record not been so poor, and his floor crossing not so unpopularly recieved.

Trina is a whole different story. Unlike the psedo-incumbant Tim, Trina would never have won her seat, even in a best case scenario, considering Ottawa Centre is a Liberal-NDP battleground. But her sign is all Conservative blue, has her own personal website listed, and none of that "John Tory for insert every riding in province" bull here. She also has the riding listed, which is something that is becoming increasingly rare on political signs.

It is important to note that both Trina and Tim's signs have the PC logo cramed in as small as legally possible, probably to avoid voters connecting the candidates to the Harris days. Shocking, how voters have a tendancy to hold parties responsible for what they did in government.

New Democratic Party

Ken Cole-Mississauga South, Will Murray-Ottawa Centre

I couldn't actually find any online pictures of Ken and Will's signs, but since they both use the same template as shown in the collage, it is not a huge loss. The NDP, more so even than the Liberals, are very focused on consistancy in signs. The only difference in any signs I've seen personally or could find online is that Lynn Hamilton in Ottawa West uses a someone darker shade of orange, and Ric Dagenais in Ottawa Vanier uses a different template, white background with black text and orange and green highlights, which I couldn't find pictures of. Oh, and Ric and Will both have the bi-lingual aspect on the signs, with NDP alongside NPD.

That Ken and Will would use the same design is interesting. The NDP design as is seems to focus much more on the candidate, with the NDP (or NPD) logo cramed into the green highlight. Ken in Mississauga South faces an unwinnable fight, as the NDP has struggled, particularly in the last few decades, to even put in a respectable showing, usually finishing with below 10%. Ken might be better served with the current signs, as the NDP brand is not particularly strong here, and he does have some name exposure from being the perpetual NDP candidate, having run in the last few provincial elections and one recentish federal election for the Dippers.

Will Murray however, is locked in a tight battle with the Liberals, in a seat the NDP already have federally. Given Murray's profile (like all the major candidates, to be frank) is somewhat low, I would have figured Murray would strongly rely on the NDP brand name to help him out in an area that has elected NDP'ers both federally and provincially before. Both signs also fail to mention the individual website, and provide a link to the party one, although the green shadow used on the white text makes it very hard to read the smaller print of the website adress from any sort of reasonable difference. Lynn Hamilton's slightly darker shade of orange makes the website somewhat easier to see.

Greens

David Johnson-Mississauga South, Greg Laxton-Ottawa Centre

Couldn't find any pictures of David's signs, but they are the same template as Greg's. The Green signs are a classic example of placing brand first. The last name of the candidate is large enough to get you to remember it, but the main emphasis is on the colour green, and the word "green" (dunno why they like lowercase so much). This makes sense considering the Green brand rather than the individual candidates are more likely to pick up voters. The Greens further shun individuality by giving the party website, as opposed to the candidate website, and interestingly, follow the PC's in placing the election slogan ("Real Issues. Real Answers") on the signs.

2% Tim!

According to the daily record of Votes and Proceedings, available publicly on the Legislative Assembly of Ontario’s website:

Tim Peterson had the fourth worst voting record in the Legislature.His overall voting attendance – 176 of 470 votes or 37%!

There were 33 days of meetings between the day Tim crossed the floor (March 29) and the last day (June 4). In those 33 days there were 62 votes. Mr. Peterson participated in one vote on the last day of the session (June 4).

You heard correct. As an Independent member, Mr. Peterson participated in one of 62 votes (2%).

2% TIM!

The good people of Mississauga South (myself included) are going to reject Tim Peterson's floor crossing, irresponsible ways on Oct 10.