Mississauga News endorses Charles Sousa for Ontario Liberal Leader, says his private sector experience is "invaluable"

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A great endorsement from the major paper of Ontario's third largest city!

It’s time to put Charles in charge.

We endorse Sousa, the 54-year-old MPP for Mississauga South who has held three Cabinet posts since first being elected in 2007. He has a 20-year background in banking that could prove invaluable in dealing with Ontario’s financial challenges.

Read more here!

Liberals need to renew our contract with the people of Ontario. Charles Sousa can get them to sign.

When Premier McGuinty announced his resignation, he said that it was time for new ideas and a renewal of the Ontario Liberal Party. After having some time to think about what kind of renewal we want to see in our party, I realized that I've had a front seat to seeing the positive impact that new energy and new ideas can have for the past 5 years.

The old Mississauga South was the epitome of old Tory Ontario. Largely mono cultural, it was one of the safest seats for the Ontario PC's in the whole province. But perhaps no community has been more positively impacted by change. Mississauga South is a vibrant, diverse, growing community, and Charles Sousa has been a strong representative for it. We've been great advances in Mississauga South with Charles as our MPP, including investments at Trillium Health Centre, new schools like Janet McDougald PS, progress on the Lakeview site, and a strong local economy helped by innovative tax reforms supported by Charles.

On a personal level, Charles also represented the new Ontario that families have built across the province. A successful businessman and the son of immigrants who escaped political repression, Charles represents the opportunity that this province holds. With his strong background in business and finance, but also having a strong understanding of the need to have strong and caring social services that families can rely on, Charles knows that we have to take a balanced approach to continue our strong action to grow our economy economy and renew our public service.

We've got big challenges to face as a party and a province, but I know Charles can win. I was canvassing with him in 2007 right from the get go when things looked pretty tough - we'd just lost the first Liberal MPP our riding had ever known, and we had just months before the election. But Charles knew how important it was that we get to every door and talk about the importance of protecting our public schools. As I watched the campaign grow and grow, from the back of his van to the campaign office on Lakeshore, I saw how he brought people from every community in Mississauga South together to support Liberal ideas, and on election day, Charles proved the pundits, who said he wouldn't chance wrong, winning a strong victory. In 2011, he worked hard again to renew his contract with the people of Mississauga South, becoming the first ever Liberal MPP to be re-elected in our riding.

He has the experience as Minister of Labour and Minister of Citizenship and Immigration. He has the knowledge about the economy to create jobs for families. He understands families coming to Ontario deserve strong, stable public services like health care and education. And he's a proven winner. If Charles Sousa decides to run for Ontario Liberal leader, he'll have my support and I urge you to consider him as well.

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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.

Geoff Janoscik bringing Hudak PC Slash & Burn agenda to Mississauga South?

So the first candidate for the PC nomination for Mississauga South, my home riding has declared, lawyer and former staffer Geoff Janoscik. After the debacle that was the PC nomination last time around, odds are the PC's are looking to have a more orderly procession this time around, and Janoscik, with his close ties to Hudak (he worked as a staffer while he was a Minister) has a very solid chance to pick up the nomination.

So let's take a look at what Janoscik could bring in terms of policy. He is a former staffer for, and has been endorsed by Rob Sampson, a former MPP and cabinet minister who was the point man for privatization of government services under Mike Harris, as well as minister of Correctional Services.

Perhaps Sampson's biggest "accomplishment" was the privatization of Highway 407. It's worth noting that the deal Sampson and Harris struck to privatize the road is generally held up as a textbook example (quite literally, we studied it in my 3rd year political science class) of what NOT to do in terms of public-private partnerships. Thanks so Janoscik, Sampson, and Harris, the 407 is operated privately under a 99-year lease agreement with the provincial government. The lease was sold to a largely foreign ownership group, dubbed the 407 International Inc. for approximately $$4.1 billion in 1999, far below the value of the road, which has been estimated at closer to $10 billion.

The cost given up, and the rapid gouging which happened at the road was a slap in the face to residents of the GTA West, and demonstrated a clear sign that the Common Sense Revolution had lost the sense, taking the citizens of Mississauga and other suburban areas for granted. Indeed, even former PC leader John Tory has been critical of the actions taken by the PC government of the day, and said that had he been Premier at time, he would not have leased the road.

The nomination of Janoscik would be a very clear sign that Tim Hudak fully intends on unleashing outdated and impractical slash and burn ideology on Mississauga South and across the province. The "10 for 2010" website rolled out by the PC's recently further demonstrates the backwardness of the Hudak PC vision of Ontario, amounting to little more than the tired, 15 years out of date Mike Harris trinity of slashing cuts to vital services, provoking discord with public servants, and attacking public goods which our province holds dear. In 2003, Mississauga South and Ontario turned away from these ideas, in 2007 we re-affirmed our commitment to moving forward together, and in 2011, we will show that we reward the politics of new ideas presented by the McGuinty Liberals, not the re-hashed politics of division the Geoff Janoscik and Tim Hudak want to bring.

Hugh Arrison at it again

Hugh Arrison, the Tory candidate in Mississauga South last year, is going to take another crack at the nomination: http://www.voteforhugh.ca/

Arrison was a Flaherty loyalist, and it'll be interesting to see if he tries to run against Flaherty's economic record or embrace it. That Arrison actually did worse than Phill Green did in 2006, despite a spike in Tory numbers in Ontario might also be a mark against him.

Do any Tories actually know where Mississauga South is?

First this: http://theliberalscarf.blogspot.com/2008/08/hugh-arrison-doesnt-know-his-riding.html

And now the above from Christine Elliot's campaign, highlighting a Mississauga South fundraiser...in Oakville?

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)

Hugh Arrison and Jim Flaherty don't get the job done.

So Jim Flaherty was in town last night for a fundraiser with his close supporter and policy follower, Hugh Arrison.

http://www.mississauga.com/article/18997

"This riding is, quite frankly, ripe for a Conservative Member of Parliament and the member-to-be is someone who has the business background, is the right candidate for the right riding at the right time."

Interesting that Jim talks about the importance of the riding to the party, not you know, the people of the riding to the government, but I guess Jim Flaherty lacks the political sense to say something less cold-sounding.

Flaherty also talked about the funds the Tories have set aside for infrastructure in the GTA, a not so subtle attempt to try and make Mississauga voters forget about the times he said not to invest in Ontario and rejected Hazel McCallion's advice on balancing budgets.

So Jim must be pretty proud of himself, n0? Go into a riding they think they can win, put on a dazzle, $250 a pop show for the crowd, and leave Mississauga with the wind at his back.

What a shame that reality has a liberal bias.

http://www.thestar.com/FederalElection/article/502107

Mississauga Mayor Hazel McCallion, vocal in her demands for a better deal for cities, said Dion's plan is just what she's been asking for.

"And it's not for potholes," said McCallion, taking a swipe at Finance Minister Jim Flaherty's statement that Ottawa isn't in the business of fixing city roads. "It's for transit and sewage treatment and bridges and hospitals and colleges and all sorts of important things."

You know all those hard-working, middle class Canadians the Conservatives keep trying to win over? A whole lot of them live in Mississauga, and a whole lot of them like a government that doesn't bash their home province and city.

Don't Invest In Hugh Arrison

http://www.mississauga.com/article/18517

Jim Flaherty, having just dodged a bullet with Mississauga native Buzz Hargrove saying he won't run for the Liberals against Flaherty, looks set to come to town just after the drop of the writ, to fundraise for Mississauga South Conservative candidate Hugh Arrison at the tune of $250 a pop. Flaherty endorsed Arrison as soon as he won the nomination, and according to Arrison, a meeting with Flaherty convinced him to stay in the nomination race back when party HQ was still waiting for a star candidate. Given that Flaherty has spent most of his time as Finance Minister attacking Ontario (and indeed, sometimes Mississauga) directly, I can't help but wonder what kind of rhetoric Arrison will use in his election, given that he is a Flaherty loyalist: "Vote for Me, and the Conservatives won't invest in Mississauga!" The voters of Mississauga South would be better off not investing in Hugh Arrison.

Hugh Arrison doesn't know his riding very well

This is Hugh Arrison's website. Hugh Arrison is the Conservative candidate for Mississauga South, whenever the next election is. (Probably fall or next spring) As a guy who wants to be a local representative, you would think he would know his riding inside and out, right? Well, take a look at the top left corner of the site. Hugh's grinning mug, and "In Mississauga South" superimposed over that classic, Mississauga South landmark, the one that everyone thinks of when one thinks of Mississauga's lakefront....City Hall? Er, something is amiss, particularly when City Hall is put in place next to "In Mississauga South". Lets review a few basics: The boundaries of Mississauga South are from the Etobicoke Creek to Winston Churchill going east-west, and from the waterfront to the Queensway north-south. City Hall is...significantly north of that. Mississauga City Hall is at 300 City Centre Drive, postal code L5B 3C1, and a quick trip to the Elections Canada website reveals that City Hall is not, in fact "In Mississauga South", but rather Mississauga East--Cooksville. (Of course, this could just be Elections Canada's famous anti-Conservative bias at work) It's not even on the border, it is right smack inside Mississauga East-Cooksville. Given that Arrison largely won the Tory nod based on the outsider status of his main rival, the Etobicoke based Ted Opitz, one would think that he would maybe want to highlight his knowledge of the local geography. Also gotta love the note that Arrison has while his website is still being developed, saying that if elected, he will be an (caps his, not mine) EFFECTIVE VOICE in Ottawa. Something tells me that Arrison's version of being an "effective voice" isn't much different from the current Conservative voices incumbent Liberal MP Paul Szabo is hearing, which boil down to "Point of Order!". He also makes a shout out to Lakeview re-development plans, which is funny given that that area is a provincial jurisdiction, and the provincial Liberal government, led by the Conservative dubbed "Small Man of Confederation" has made the real progress on the site. The last line though, is of note, saying that it is "time to return Mississauga South to its Conservative roots". Given the draaaaawn out and hostile Tory nomination process (because we all know how well things go for the Mississauga South Conservatives when they have internal feuding and nomination strife) Szabo's increased profile with his Ethics committee chairmanship, the slump of Tory numbers in Ontario generally since the last election, something tells me the glory days of Don Blenkarn and Douglas Kennedy are not due for a sudden comeback on the coattails of the Alberta imported Arrison.

Hugh Arrison wins it

http://www.mississauga.com/article/15140

So Hugh Arrison, the financial consultant, won the Conservative nomination for Mississauga South. Given that Arrison won on the first ballot, it is likely Mississauga South Conservative spurned Ted Opitz, who faced concerns over his outsider image as he is actually from Etobicoke. So what does Arrison as a candidate mean? Well, he isn't a star candidate by any stretch, and Don Plett, when he spoke at the last AGM, openly stated the Tories were looking for one for this riding. I've speculated that the lack of one might further indicate that the Conservatives have moved Mississauga South down the target list. Arrison's first ballot victory (in a 3 horse race) would indicate that his team has at least decent organizational skills, and in a close race, could bring out the vote. Although the economy is always an important factor in any race, Arrison's background as a financial consultant and Szabo's as a chartered account as a finance man for many organizations should bring this to the forefront.

Now, how can the Liberals beat Arrison?

-Talk about (and bring to light more) Arrison's Alberta Conservative roots, (which include an endorsement from Peter Lougheed) and what this means for Ontario suburbs, highlighting the failures of the Alberta-centric Conservative Party towards the needs of the growing GTA suburbs, and how Arrison is an agent for a lack of progress in important local areas.

-Highlight the failures of the Conservatives and how they clash with Arrison's values during the nomination. On Arrison's website, he says:

"But mostly I believe in: ACCOUNTABILITY “Walk your Talk” And in continuing to reform our political institutions and processes to make them more open, democratic and accountable … to YOU."

A rundown of Conservative hypocrisy is enough to paint Arrison as more of the same double-talk that the Conservatives offer.

-Particularly compare the Conservative "accountability" that Arrison claims to represent with Szabo's chairmanship of the Ethics committee.

-While much of the rise in the Green vote in the GTA in the provincial election can be attributed to annoyed Conservatives and pro-secular schools activists, the rise of the environment in the suburbs cannot be ignored. Ridings like Mississauga South show the importance of why the tax shift must be argued, and argued well. If the shift can be sold as a pro-environment measure, with revenue neutrality, it can be a big hit amongst suburban voters, who do care about the environment, but ultimately will put the economy and pocketbooks first. If self doubt about the shift continues amongst Liberals, and real flesh is not put to the bones first, the Tories can jump on it, and tax resistive suburbanites will help make swing GTA ridings like Mississauga South, Oakville, and Mississauga Erindale go blue. These are the ridings the Liberals need to hold/win if they wish to form government.

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.

Don Stephens drops out of Mississauga South Conservative race, Ted Opitz the new frontrunner?

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

The guy who I assumed might have been the initial front runner, Ward 2 Peel District School Board trustee Don Stephens, is done. Stephens gave the standard "personal reasons", which of course means he didn't think he could win, or beat Szabo, or he thought he might be putting his Trustee position at risk. The most interesting tidbit is this:

The guy everyone seems to assume the party wants: latecomer Major Ted Opitz, a reservist with the Royal Canadian Regiment.

Opitz would seem to be the wild card. He has good credentials, but the wrong postal code.Mississauga South stalwarts have always been fussy about having their community represented by native sons or daughters (see Tim Peterson for details.)

Well, the Conservatives have a meet and greet at the Port Credit Post Office from 8:30 am to 1 pm for the Mississauga Marathon, I think I might show up and ask some questions. I encourage other Mississauga South residents, of all parties to do the same.

Fucking Finally

http://www.mississauga.com/article/13631

Mississauga South Conservatives will vote for the party's nominee in the next election in early June, as central party HQ finally cleared the party to have a candidate vote. A few thoughts:

1. Assuming Mississauga South is still high on the Conservatives target list, (they came within 4.1% of winning it in 2006, the 12th seat they came the closest to winning, and along with next-door Oakville, which they came within 1.3% of winning, form the Conservatives best shots at forming a GTA West beachhead) why could they not find a star candidate? Did they simply want to avoid a repeat of the provincial fiasco and let the nomination play out? Could they not find a candidate worthy of "star" status?

2. Is Mississauga South no longer the prime target it once was? With Paul Szabo only winning by 4.1%, he should be a vulnerable incumbent, but with his Chairmanship of th Ethics committee, he has gained valuable face time and recognition. Has Szabo's increased clout scared off Conservative challengers? Have dips in the polls in Ontario lowered all Ontario ridings down on the target list for Conservatives, to focus more on Quebec?

3. What is the state of the unity of Mississauga South Conservatives? With the provincial Conservatives torn by the Tim Peterson fiasco, have all wounds healed? Will the looooong freezing of the race turn off Conservatives from supporting the party and it's nominee? Will still bitter Phil Green supporters (Phil Green was barred from running for a third go, and no reason from party HQ was given) boycott both the nomination battle and the election? This is in comparison to the Mississauga South Liberals, as with the election of Charles Sousa as MPP, with plenty of help from Paul Szabo, divisions in the association most recently brought up by Sousa's challenge to Szabo in 2004, have healed, and Sousa, who managed to successfully pull Conservative votes in his election, will be ready to throw his weight behind Szabo.

4. Who will actually win the Conservative nod? I won't pretend to have expert knowledge of the race, and I have no idea who has the strongest campaign, who has been signing up the most members, who has the support of who, etc. Based on circumstantial evidence, I will guess either Ward 2 Peel District School Board trustee Don Stephens, the only candidate with any sort of real name recognition, or Major Ted Opitz of the Canadian Royal Regiment. If any other candidate wins though, don't claim I was telling people to place bets.

Oh, and the Mississauga South Conservatives are having a meet and greet during the Mississauga Marathon, near the Port Credit lighthouse between 9 am and 1pm, on Sunday May 11th. Anyone who wants to come and perhaps ask some questions should.

Mississauga South Conservative website- just a bit odd?

I just checked the Mississauga South federal association website, and this is the front page:

Now I don't exactly check the website often (particularly as long as no news develops on the nomination race), but doesn't this look kinda...odd? A couple random declarations that "Stevie Harper is a cool guy!" and that "Stephanie (sic) Dion is a wimp". Either the website got hacked, and the webmaster doesn't care/notice, (which given the MSC's lack of Facebook presence, would fit in the trend of Internet apathy) or this is the actual quality of the website. Either way, doesn't bode so well for whoever ends up getting the nod, wonder if they will use the same webmaster?

Why do Mississauga South Conservatives hate Facebook?

It seems the most common users of Facebook are students, and people running for political office. With Facebook a great way to reach younger voters (and an increasing number of older ones), I was compelled, out of being bored more than anything else, to see how well represented the parties of Mississauga South are on the site.

My method was rather crude, I simply typed in Mississauga South and see what happened. I got 131 groups, and included only groups that were Mississauga South specific (and political in nature). Here are the results I got:

Liberal
-Vote Charles Sousa
-MSFLA
-Re-Elect Paul Szabo, MP for Mississauga South

Green
-Peter Browne for Member of Youth Parliament - Mississauga South
Mississauga South - Green Party of Canada
-Mississauga South Green Party of Ontario (GPO)
-Mississauga South Green Party of Canada
-Elect David Johnston

NDP
-Mississauga South New Democrats

So the Greens have a number of groups (admittedly small in membership and overlapping), the Liberals a few, the NDP none, and the Conservatives, the 2nd party in the riding, none. (I must admit that a Tim Peterson group did exist at one point, I would reckon many defeated candidates in elections deleted the groups)

Given that most political Facebook groups are either deliberately created by the central association, or spontaneously by supporters, I can draw two conclusions about the Conservatives: The central association is either too out of touch to realize the usefulness of Facebook as a tool, or the membership is too out of touch or apathetic to create one. Given the relative slant of Conservative membership to lean towards old white people, at first it doesn't shock me that no groups exist. But then I realize-The MS Conservatives are smack in the middle of a nomination race, and no candidate has a group that could be easily found by simply searching the riding name.

While the Conservatives make no secret of the dislike they have for the youth vote, particularly youth in urban/suburban areas, (and I'm not just talking out my ass on this one, when Ian Brodie came in to talk to my class at the end of last semester, he dismissed much Liberal support as coming from "young people with no particular responsibility") to not take advantage of Facebook in a riding where on paper, they have a good shot, shows that perhaps the Conservatives, (and more specifically Jim Flaherty) given the attacks on the provincial Liberals (who Mississauga voters gave overwhelming support to in the election) and the municipal government led by Hazel McCallion (for whom 90% of the vote can be expected) are perhaps going to write this city, and this riding off.

Mississauga South MP Paul Szabo: "Election Before Summer"

http://www.mississaugablogs.com/2008/04/election_winds_wafting.html

John Stewart with another good scoop.

Mississauga South Liberal MP Paul Szabo thinks there will be a federal election "before the summer."Asked how much longer this amazing minority government of Stephen Harper's can continue to breathe, Szabo issued a sigh down the telephone line from the House of Commons this morning and said, "It's hitting a critical mass."

"I like our team," says the chartered accountant turned politico. "As far as I know, our platform is very solid."

With a statement like this from the hardest working MP in Parliament, interesting to see if the Mississauga South Conservatives, whose nomination race could more accurately at this point be described as a test of endurance, move into high gear. Or this could simply be Szabo, who is an excellent campaigner, being crafty and trying to throw the oppposition off in a seat he only won by 4% in 2006. With Effie responding to my blog post earlier with an e-mail to Stewart saying she hadn't been approached, or wasn't pursuing the federal nomination (although it was hardly a Sherman statement) I really don't know who is the presumed front-runner in the Conservative race. Don Stephens is the only candidate with real name recognition, although he has made some controversial statements regarding the place of religion in public schools, which might hurt him if he were to win the nomination. Either way, it looks like Szabo is gathering his resources, throwing out quotes like these, and hunkering down, while the Conservatives are spinning their wheels. Call me crazy, but I'll give an early edge to Szabo.

The Liberal Bag is mildly famous

http://www.mississaugablogs.com/2008/03/tuesday_notes.html

After Conservative Party of Canada President Don Plett gave his keynote speech at the recent meeting of the Mississauga South federal association and disappointed many by not specifying a nomination date, speculation about a possible "star" candidate waiting in the wings ramped up significantly.Mississauga South university student William Norman, originally from the City, speculated at his www.theliberalbag.blogspot.com/ site that Effie Triantafilopoulous might be in line for an appointment.To which Effie replied in an email: "I have not been approached by the party nor am I pursuing it. Just idle speculation."

Well Effie, I'll openly admit it was idle speculation. Also I am laughing that my little blog has managed to have even a tiny effect on the politics of Mississauga South. Anyway, the other thing Stewart touches on in this blog posting is also of interest to Mississauga, specifically the ongoing adventures of the other Mississauga riding to have a floor crossing, Mississauga-Streetsville.

Yesterday, Crombie's spouse Brian — who was the co-chair of the highly-successful Mississauga summit late last year — was named as one of four senior officers at Mississauga's Biovail Corp. who are the subject of serious allegations of misrepresentation by the US Securities and Exchange Commission and the Ontario Securities Commission.Crombie is the former chief financial officer at Biovail who has long worked with its founder Eugene Melnyk. The charges have not been proven, of course, and Crombie and Melnyk have both declared their innocence and vowed to fight the charges. Nonetheless, the timing for a political spouse simply could not be worse.

Due to Melnyk's relationship with the Ottawa Senators, this incident has gotten quite a bit of press up in Ottawa, but I was unaware of Bonnie Crombie's husband's relationship. I ultimately don't think this will effect Crombie much. Khan himself both broke a law specifically related to our democracy, and subverted the will of the people of Mississauga-Streetsville by crossing the floor, while Bonnie herself is not directly involved in this, and is building herself up a nice profile within the community, in a city which is turning increasingly Liberal-safe. I'm still calling Mississauga Streetsville an easy Liberal pick-up.

Mississauga Conservatives left hanging

First of all, let me say the OYL AGM was a blast, and congrats to all the winners, particularly our new Eastern co-ordinator, Krista Balsom.

http://www.mississaugablogs.com/2008/03/doubts_linger.html

John Stewart of the Mississauga News gives a pretty good summary of the MSCPC AGM the other day, and discusses some things I've mentioned in previous blogs:

President Don Plett of the Conservative Party, who was the special guest speaker at the agm, didn't make the announcement so many were anticipating.Instead he faced some pointed questions about why the five-and-waiting candidates in the race (Tom Simpson, Ryah Shadursky, Don Stephens, Hugh Arrison and Ted Opitz) must wait even longer for a date with destiny.

Hugh Brown, who is the campaign manager for Arrison, gently pointed out that the Liberal incumbent, Paul Szabo, is well-entrenched in the riding, has just received oodles of national face time as the chair of the Commons ethics committee looking into the Mulroney-Schreiber standoff, and is getting off to a nice head start.

...And, oh yes, Plett explained, Harper and the Conservatives are very interested in recruiting women and ethnic candidates, and even better if they come in one package.

...Plett took some umbrage at the suggestion that the fix is in, and pointed out that even a fresh, ethnically-pure, gender-correct superstar with a party-issue blue parachute would not be appointed because Mr. Harper is opposed to appointments.But, as one long-time Tory who attended last night's function said, "something really doesn't smell right here. Something's wrong."

I've long thought that Effie Triantafilopoulos, who would have likely gotten the provincial Conservative nomination had John Tory not appointed the floor-crossing Tim Peterson, might be a good shot to get appointed as the federal Conservative candidate, and I think Plett's comments, as well as the refusal to call a nomination date lend more credence to this. The appointment of Tory candidate Melissa Bhagat in Mississauga East-Cooksville shows that the Conservatives are definitely looking for female and ethnic candidates in the GTA West, although considering that riding is basically unwinnable for the Conservatives, as opposed to Mississauga South, which other than Oakville is really the only shot for the Conservatives in the region, it is unusual that the Conservatives would want to let Szabo get out to an unchallenged head-start, particularly at a time when his name-recognition has never been higher. I honestly thing Mississauga South Conservatives are being strung along by the central party, just another example of how fast Conservatives are to ignore residents of urban Ontario, even the party members themselves.