SERIES FINALE - Election Results, Quarry Matters and Bus Drama

Sandals Still the Word in Guelph

The news may be a week old, but it’s still worth reiterating. In last Thursday’s Provincial Election, incumbent Liberal MPP Liz Sandals walked to victory in a very competitive race with 19,734 votes, a loss of barely 450 over her total vote load in 2007. Beating her nearest competition by nearly 7,800, it seems that opposition strategy to cast Sandals as Queen’s Park’s cat’s paw in Guelph didn’t seem to carry much water. And the argument for strategic voting doesn’t hold much water either because Sandals easy victory in Guelph was the closest thing to a blow-out in a region full of tight races.

But the real story in Guelph was the number 802, as in the number of votes that separated PC Greg Schirk and NDP James Gordon. Schirk won 11,950 votes to Gordon's 11,148. For Schirk it was a marginal 308 vote loss over what Bob Senechal brought in for the PCs in 2007, but for Gordon it meant a 63 per cent improvement over Karan Mann-Bowers, who ran for the NDP in the last election. Sadly for local Greens, Steve Dyck was only able to collect 3,234 votes, or barely a third of the votes of Ben Polley's third place finish in 2007.

Province-wide though the results for the Liberals weren’t so clear cut, as they won a 53 seat minority government, which is one seat short of securing their third straight majority. But will a minority McGuinty government in Ontario be under the same kind of attack recent minority governments federally were? Unsure. For one thing, McGuinty has a much closer margin than either Paul Martin or Stephen Harper enjoyed, and with so many close races, not to mention an exceedingly low voter turnout, a redo, impromptu election sometime in the next couple of years might work in McGuinty's favour. Then there's the Hudak factor. There are some grumblings about how much the PC leader didn't help the cause with comparisons to the increasing unpopular Rob Ford and commitment to potentially xenophobic and homophobic policies on the campaign trail. In an election where everything seemed in his favour to win, the reasons for Hudak's fortunes are multiple choice.

Either way, it's a new day, (almost) the same as old day in Ontario. Where will go to next?

Sandals Calls Mega-Quarry ‘Bizarre’

In a move that would have scored her points during the campaign (like she needed the help as it turns out – see above), Sandals came out strong against the proposed “mega-quarry” in Melancthon saying that “I think it’s the most bizarre thing I’ve ever seen,” while talking to the Guelph Mercury Editorial Board the day after her re-election.

The word “bizarre” is kind of putting it mildly for advocates against the quarry. An American-backed company is petitioning to build a colossal limestone quarry on 930 hectares of farmland in Melancthon Township in the Hills of Headwaters, about 80 kilometres north of Guelph. The eventual pit will reportedly be as deep, if not deeper than Niagara Falls. The Ministry of the Environment ordered a full environmental assessment of the proposal under the Ontario Aggregate Resources Act. Sandals said that the government couldn’t just say ‘no’ to the plan without a clear, technical reason why the project shouldn’t go forward, and she thinks the assessment will provide such a reason.

“At the end of the process of digging out this great huge pit is that they are going to pump out the ground water in perpetuity and grow potatoes at the bottom of the pit,” Sandals said. “How can you possibly guarantee that somebody is going to pump out anything in perpetuity?” he added before quoting Prince. “That is forever. That is a very long time.”

Bus Hiccup

Regular Guelph Transit users who were eagerly awaiting new routes and new schedules on November 6^th are going to have to put their excitement back in a box. Due to circumstances they should have foreseen, the City of Guelph has had to push back the start date till the New Year.

“Over the past couple of months, we’ve worked hard at planning and communicating the introduction of new routes and improved service anticipating a start on November 6,” says Michael Anders, General Manager of Guelph Transit and Community Connectivity. “We are ready to implement the changes, but because of collective bargaining agreement obligations, we have to move the implementation date to January 1, 2012.”

I can see the new signage running late, but some fine print in the collective bargaining agreement of Transit employees? Isn’t that something that should have been checked first off? Combine this latest incident with thrice delayed transit hub and constant yo-yoing of transit funding, the slogan of Guelph Transit should be “In Your Way” instead of “On Your Way.”

The Candidates: Sandals and Gordon

James Gordon Sings a New Tune

In politics, like show business, name cache matters. Just look at Julian Fantino, the former OPP Chief, who has run twice for MP of Vaughn and has won twice despite the fact that he gave no press access, and participated in no public forums. But Gordon’s not that complacent. As a singer, song-writer, playwright, and radio man, Gordon knows how important the public forum is.

Now, after being an active member of the NDP for years, and after years of having party members try and entice him to run for office, Gordon is now putting his name on a ballot, and aiming to get himself elected as Guelph’s MPP. “I think it’s because they presumed that I had a profile in the community already that would work well,” says Gordon on his appeal as a candidate. “But in the arts sector we have a natural outlet for trying to communicate messages and issues, so I’ve always said no to them because I’m already doing that work, and enjoying what I do and having fun while doing it, so why would I want to change it up?

“This is the first time when they’ve asked when, you know what, I’m ready for a change up,” he adds. “I think this is an exciting opportunity and that there’s a unique window of opportunity with this particular election.”

Gordon’s campaign has been as much about hearing what the people have to say as it is about promoting the NDP platform. Gordon’s says his summer listening tour, going to constituents’ homes and hearing what they have to say, was a smash success. “It was a great experience,” he says. “They’ve almost disappeared because every evening now is filled with debates and events. But it was such a great learning process for me, and everybody was actually surprised by the process that ‘Hey, people want to know what I have to say,’ and you realize how seldom it is that people gather for the purpose of sharing ideas and visioning.”

Liz Sandals Has More Work to Do (And Wants Your Vote to Do It)

Liz Sandals has represented Guelph for the past eight years in Queen’s Park. That’s a large amount of time to hold any political seat, so it’s no wonder that a lot of her colleagues took the opportunity this fall to retire from provincial politics to explore new ventures and new challenges. But Sandals felt that her current job still had some challenges left to conquer.

“I think we’ve made really exciting progress so far in turning the province around,” says Sandals. “It’s been tough work the last few years because we’ve had worldwide recession, but all things considered Ontario has pulled through that pretty well. We’ve recovered the jobs, but there’s still a lot of work we have to do rebuilding the economy here in Guelph, making sure we’ve diversified the economy so that we don’t take such a deep hit when there’s a recession. And I’m really excited by some of the things we’re doing with education because that’s my background.”

In the campaign, Sandals has been hitting back against the impression that she doesn’t represent the people of Guelph as much as she represents the Liberal Party in Guelph, but Sandals says this depiction is wrong. “I think if you look at some of the projects that I’ve personally been involved with advocating for here, they actually are a result of listening to people in the community,” says Sandals. She points to the development of an emergency mental health ward, working with Guelph General Hospital and Homewood, to better serve the community, particularly people in mental health crisis.

“It took a lot of work, working with all the different players of Guelph, it took a lot of bugging the Minister of Health of the day because this was a uniquely Guelph problem,” she adds. “This wasn’t something for which there was a provincial funding line, but we were eventually able to get Trellis, Homewood and Guelph General to all come together, and now there’s an emergency mental health ward at Guelph General Hospital that has the proper secure facilities.”

To hear the complete interviews, check out the Guelph Politicast, available at http://guelphpolitico.blogspot.com/

The Horse Race As It Is

With one week to go until Election Day, the polls are coming fast and furiously, and with every announcement it one thing is perfectly clear: it’s a toss up as to what the political landscape in Ontario is going to look like next Thursday. Province-wide, the Liberals and the Progressive Conservatives are in a statistical dead heat, with the NDP in a respectable, but distant 23 per cent. With these numbers and others, ThreeHundredEight.com’s seat projection model shows that the Liberals are likely to win 55 seats, which is one more than they need for a majority. It’s a loss of 15 seats for the Grits, but just barely enough to win their third majority.

Locally, the results seem much clearer. A Forum Research poll released last Saturday showed that Liberal Liz Sandals will walk to re-election with 37.6 per cent of the vote. PC Greg Schirk comes in second with 30.3 per cent followed by NDP James Gordon and Green Steve Dyck with 21.9 per cent and 8.8 per cent respectively. Next Thursday should be very interesting indeed.

Garvie's Back, Sign Issues and Debate Prep

Fourth Try for Fifth Party Candidate

The day after the writ was officially dropped for the 2011 Ontario Provincial Election, Communist Party candidate Drew Garvie announced his intention to once again run to represent Guelphites.

“Youth and working-people in Ontario are justifiably angry at the Liberal Government for protecting corporate wealth and privilege while real wages and living standards are falling, real unemployment is rising and the real economy is tottering on the edge of another deep recession,” said Garvie in a press release. “But voting Tory to punish the Liberals is like jumping from the frying pan into the fire.”

Garvie first ran in the 2007 Provincial Election, eventually winning .4 per cent of the vote. Running the next fall in the Federal Election, he didn't finish as well with only .13 per cent of the popular vote, but he did however capitalize on that in this past spring's Federal Election, increasing his vote share to .17 per cent. True it doesn't sound like much, but for a so-called third party candidate, literally every vote counts. Garvie’s entry into the race takes the slate up to five, although potential candidates have until 2 pm today (Thursday) to file their nomination papers.

Fun fact: the Communist Party of Canada was actually founded just outside Guelph in 1921. Of course, “just outside Guelph” is relative because what was outside of Guelph 90 years ago is now way inside the city limits. Some may say Garvie’s being a nuisance, but to the rest of us he’s keeping up a proud Royal City tradition. Welcome back to the race, Drew.

Sign Language

A bit of controversy to kick off the election as the Liz Sandals campaign put up election signs on Tuesday afternoon, several hours before the writ was official dropped for the start of the campaign. This is a bit of a murky area because while limitations for fundraising for a campaign are very well defined, advertising your campaign with the placement of signs is not. “Our read of Elections Ontario is that there is not a distinction,” between pre-writ and post writ advertising with signs, Sandals told the Guelph Mercury. She added that the reason her campaign didn’t put out signs earlier is out of respect for the public. “It’s more a case of respecting the public’s tolerance for wanting to look at signs, as opposed to any particular legal rule,” she said. An Elections Ontario official said that elections signs can appear anytime before the writ so long as the campaign can identify who paid for the signs.

Opening Arguments

The first all-candidate meet of the election happened last Thursday at the main branch of the Guelph Public Library. Liberal Liz Sandals, NDP James Gordon and the Green Party’s Steve Dyck were each in attendance, while the PC’s Greg Schirk and Communist Drew Garvie were unable to attend.

Not surprisingly, one of the major issues discussed was library funding, a hot button for library-lovers given Toronto Mayor Rob Ford’s recent efforts to cut the municipal library budget in that city. Gordon was quite adamant in his support saying, “Investing in libraries and cultural activities brings money to a community. It’s not ‘throwing money at a problem.’ Libraries are income generators.”

Gordon then promised to cut the wait time for the construction of a new library in half saying that 10 years is too long a time to wait. But Sandals rebutted that while libraries are a good thing, the library funding isn’t really a matter for the provincial government. Dyck, meanwhile, wanted to talk about the provincial budget and getting Ontario out of the red, which means not much room for new spending. “The Green party would hold the spending in all ministries except health care,” he said. “We can’t tax more and we need to get our debt in line. So we’d have to hold the spending for now.”

Look for several debates and candidates forums in the next couple of weeks. Two of the biggest ones will be the University of Guelph debate on September 28th, which will feature questions from students, and the Guelph Chamber of Commerce debate, which took place this past Tuesday, but will probably be repeated ad nauseum on Rogers TV.

Schirk Smarts, Garbage Woes, and Gordon Plays

Get Smart

It seems one of the big issues in these early days of the election is the newly installed hydro smart meters. The intention of the smart meters is to charge a premium during a peak hours in the effort to get consumers to pay a fee closer to the true cost of electricity and to promote conservation. But some people are calling it an unfair hit to the pocket book of Ontarians, including Guelph Progressive Conservative candidate Greg Schirk.

Schirk was joined in town last week by PC MPP Jim Wilson (Simcoe-Grey), and the two not only campaigned against the smart meters, but what they’re calling the “Smart Meter Tax,” which is a charge to administer the monitoring of the smart meters. The Tories say that under Dalton McGuinty, hydro rates have gone up 84 percent and 150 percent for homes with a smart meter, not to mention the $1 billion ($200 per household) price tag that came with installing smart meters.

“The choice Ontario families face is clear,” says Schirk in a press release. “Dalton McGuinty who plots tax hikes in secret. The NDP who plot tax hikes out in the open. Or a Tim Hudak Ontario PC Government – that will cancel the Smart Meter Tax, unplug the mandatory smart meters, and give families the relief they deserve.”

Current Guelph MPP Liz Sandals responded in the Guelph Mercury calling the Tory allegations “a campaign stunt.” She also said that the added costs to install and maintain smart meters were included in long-term energy cost projections and are public knowledge. And then, for the final blow, Sandals said that if the Tories are only finding this out now is “their problem,” and that “they have not discovered anything new.” Ouch.

Look for this to be an ongoing campaign issue in the next couple of weeks.

Garbage Woes

So was your garbage picked up last week? If it wasn’t it might be because you’re not aware of the new regulations concerning what garbage goes into what bag. On September 1st, some slight modifications were made to what type of garbage should be put in what bag. Dirty diapers and tampons can no longer be put in green bags, and plastic coffee cups and Styrofoam can no longer be placed in blue bags. These changes are but the first phase of as the city tries to follow provincial mandates and new standards concerning waste collection, including the elimination of plastic bags and the introduction of bins for household waste collection.

The Music Man

There were cupcakes with orange coloured icing, orange coloured punch, and, of course, oranges. So it must have been an NDP campaign event. James Gordon and staff officially opened their campaign office last Wednesday offering a cozy atmosphere, light refreshments and some tunes in the old Alma Gallery space. Considering that Mayor Karen Farbridge used the space last fall in her successful re-election campaign bid, perhaps the Gordon crew are hoping the good karma will rub off. "It's new what we've got here," said Gordon kicking the night off in front of over 100 supporters and well-wishers, "It's democratic and it's a party."

Several of the local NDP’s familiar faces were in attendance including Bobbi Stewart, who ran federally in Guelph this past May. Charlie Angus, NDP MP for Timmins-James Bay, was also on hand for the opening. Angus played some music, along with the candidate himself, and local favourite Tannis Slimmon. "Suddenly it's okay to for a musician to be an MP, and it's okay to bring music to politics," cheered Gordon before he broke into his first song of the night.”

Gordon’s got a lot of expectations on him being a familiar Guelph celebrity and an active activist in the community. As of last Wednesday, his campaign has raised $8,000 so far, and will be holding at least two other fundraiser, including one at Spice 11 on Monday.

Dyck Moves

Green Party candidate Steve Dyck has been quietly building support, but this Sunday he has his first big campaign event, a dinner and silent auction with special guest Mike Schreiner, Leader of the Green Party of Ontario. The dinner begins as 5 pm at the Woolwich Arms, or the Wooly to the those in the know, and includes salad, choice of meat or vegetarian lasagna and dessert. Tickets are $50 each and are available to purchase by calling the campaign office 519-780-5193. In the meantime, I stopped by the Guelph Greens website to see if, at the start of this election season, it was back up and running at full capacity. It wasn’t

For the latest campaign news go to http://guelphpolitico.blogspot.com/

All the Writ Moves

The writ for the 2011 Ontario Provincial campaign officially drops next week, which opens the doors to a tight month of campaigning for local politicians vying for the seat to represent Guelph in Queen’s Park. The slate of the four major party candidates was officially solidified in July, but the question is what moves have they been making in their operations leading up to the official campaign kick-off.

Our current MPP, Liberal Liz Sandals, has been doing what she usual does: her job. The typical series of announcements and commentary have been made by Sandals as she both fulfills her constitutional mandate and defends her party in the face to opposition statements meant to curry voter sympathy. To wit, Sandals was quoted in an August 15 article in the Guelph Mercury saying that the Progressive Conservative’s plan to slash home hydro and heating bills by approximately $275 per year was “nothing more than a shell game.”

She added that the debt at Ontario Hydro can be laid at the feet of the previous Tory government saying that it was driven up, in part, due to mismanagement. “All that money got run up during the last PC government because they were charging less than the true cost of hydro,” Sandals said. “If you don’t charge the consumer, you have to borrow from the bank.”

On the other hand, Sandals has tried to hit some usual constituencies. It was her voice (or e-mail, I supposed) that informed 2,4000 opponents to the mega quarry in Melancthon Township that the Ontario Ministry of the Environment has major concerns about the project. On a slightly more positive note, Sandals was on hand to announce a $77,800 grant from the Ontario Trillium Foundation to be used toward making high school students aware of the opportunities in the burgeoning agriculture sector last week. Obviously this program, if successful, could have a huge impact on Guelph.

Speaking of all things environmental, Green Party candidate Steve Dyck has been quietly getting his campaign together while getting fundraising together and doing some canvassing at local events. He officially opened his campaign office at 497 Woolwich St. N. Additionally, Dyck has been helping to get the word out about the GPO platform and leader Mike Schreiner, and responding to electors’ questions and queries on Facebook and Twitter.

Readers of my blog will already know that NDP candidate James Gordon has been spending some of his summer vacation doing a listening tour of the city. The singer/song-writer asked Guelphites if they might like to gather their friends and invite him over to their homes so that they can ask him questions and voice their concerns. This week he opened his campaign office at 133 Wyndham St. N., the former home of the Alma Gallery, which featured music courtesy of the candidate and his NDP colleague, and Timmins-James Bay MP, Charlie Angus. Gordon also helped organize a candlelight vigil for Federal NDP leader Jack Layton, who passed away from cancer a week ago Monday.

Greg Schirk, candidate for the local Progressive Conservatives, spent much of his summer campaigning not for provincial office, but to get acclaimed as his party’s local candidate. Securing his candidacy in late July, Schirk has hit the ground running by hosting events and doing the leg work to get his campaign off the ground. Despite his late entry in the race, Schirk’s political machine was quick to establish itself and get to work, and with a province-wide lead in opinion polls, the PCs here and across Ontario don’t want to lose momentum going into the race before it’s even officially begun. Especially since recent polls have shown the provincial Liberals starting to turn their own downtrodden fortunes around.

Starting next week, look for Campaign 2011 Coverage Part 2: “The Wrath of Khan.” Also, check out my blog, Guelph Politico, for all the latest updates and election scoops at http://guelphpolitico.blogspot.com/ And if you’re not sick of me by then, I’ll probably be a guest on CFRU’s “Beyond the Ballot Box” political show before too long. Happy election season, folks! Here we go again.

Summer Editorial Series – Parsing the Slate

Last Monday, the Guelph Progressive Conservative Riding Association had their nomination meeting and selected local businessman Greg Schirk as their candidate for this Fall’s Provincial Election. With that belated selection, the slate of four main party candidates was complete for the riding of Guelph, which means the election season is unofficially underway, at least until the writ is dropped at the end of summer.

So with about a month to spare till the campaign begins in earnest, lets take a look at the names we’ll be seeing on the ballot, their strengths and weaknesses, and maybe what the political landscape, provincially-speaking, is going to look like on October 6th.

Liz Sandals – Liberal
Incumbent Candidate
2007 Election: Won by 20,346 votes; 40.92 per cent

Sandals is a quality candidate: stalwart, loyal and a background of committed public service to the community she represents. On the other hand, there’s not a lot of love out there for her boss, Premier Dalton McGuinty. A recent opinion poll put PC leader Tim Hudak up 11 percentage points on McGuinty, with people citing issues like the HST and hydro prices as reasons for backing the Official Opposition, but since they literally rebelled against the HST in BC, how bad could we hate it here? Still, Sandals may be the nice, safe choice. She works hard, she does her job, and the only press she makes has to do with funding announcements and facility openings. Plus, if the comments in the blogosphere are to be believed, a lot of people in the city are on her side with the whole Health Unit drama. Maybe that’s enough for a hat trick.

Greg Schirk – Progressive Conservative
2007 Election: PC candidate Bob Senechal received 12,180 votes; 24.49 per cent

Schirk is an accomplished entrepreneur and a life-long Guelph resident, and in this business they call that cache. But in all seriousness, Schirk is going to be tough competition for Sandals, especially if the poll numbers continue to hold up in Hudak’s favour. But ay, there’s the rub. Who’s preoccupied with politics in the middle of a heat wave? Well, except you and me, of course. Still, Sandals should not be underestimated, and neither should the people of Guelph and their affinity for our Liberal representatives. In her last election, the people and the press were junk piling on Brenda Chamberlain for things like voting against same sex marriage. Yet, she still won her final election in 2006 by a healthy margin, and against a very attractive Conservative candidate. Sometimes, the odds go out the window.

Steve Dyck – Green Party of Ontario
2007 Election: Green candidate Ben Polley received 9,750 votes; 19.61 per cent

On paper, Dyck has got it going on. He’s a local businessman (he’s President of Guelph Solar Mechanical Inc., a solar heating solutions company), he’s a trained mediator, and he knows how to socialize (he’s the inventor of Green Drinks, a regular Green Party social). The man has definitely got his Green credentials down, but the question is if Dyck will be able to capitalize on Polley’s gains in 2007? That’s a tough one if you consider the results of the recent Federal election. Like Polley, Mike Nagy ran before and was able to capitalize on previous gains. In 2011, John Lawson wasn’t able to keep pace, and perhaps lost ground to the resurgent Liberal. Could Steve Dyck be looking at a similar fate in his own 2011 race?

James Gordon – New Democratic Party
2007 Election: NDP candidate Karan Mann-Bowers received 6,880 votes; 13.84 per cent

While it seems unlikely that an Orange Revolution will sweep Ontario, the ascension of Andrea Horwath to the leadership of the party means good news for the NDP, and the same can be said of Gordon’s nomination locally. Advantage one: name cache. People know the name James Gordon, and if they don’t like his politics, they might surely appreciate his unique brand of folk music. Advantage two: Gordon is no fly by night politico. He knows the issues and has been engaged in local politics for some time. In short, he’s accomplished. The problem? The NDP don’t have a lot of success with local celebrities, but maybe this time it’ll be different.

Stay tuned, because it’s countdown to Election Day. Well, again. Election Day 2! “The Wrath of Hudak.” “The Search for Dalton.” “The Voyage Horwath.” Whatever you want to call it. We’ll see you in September with more election news, and see you next week with more editorializing.

Wait, Don’t We Have Three Levels of Government…?

Why yes. Yes we do. Whatever the reason – mostly municipal election related – we’ve neglected coverage of our provincial and federal representatives these last few months. So with all things municipal chilled out until the new council sits for the first time on December 6th, let’s check in with our local MPP and MP and see what they’ve been up to.
 

Sandals Like a Pro

Guelph Member of Provincial Parliament Liz Sandals has been keeping her usual low profile, quietly doing the work of your average, everyday MPP. In fact, Sandals career as MPP is so chill that it’s always surprising when she makes the news for something that has nothing to do with a policy, funding announcement, or other act in accordance with her responsibilities as an elected official.

But back on August 20th, Sandals made the news in an unexpected way. She was name-checked by Progressive Conservative MPP Peter Shurman from Thornhill as a member of Premier Dalton McGuinty’s caucus who was more deserving of cabinet position in the last reshuffling of the portfolios than some of the less experienced MPPs who were elevated to the head of a ministry. “Liz Sandals has been toiling away ... for a very long time,” Shurman said in an interview with the Mercury. “She can take the compliment. Maybe she would have been a better choice.” Of course of the two people who were given cabinet seats, Sherman said that the represented “an additional opportunity to tax and spend."

Aside from that one, odd piece of news, it’s been business as usual for Sandals. In October, she delivered $650,000 from the province for local literacy programs at Action Read and Conestoga College. The money is part of Ontario’s $122.9 million investment in the Literacy and Basic Skills Program. On that same day, Sandals also handed a cheque for $100,000 to the Guelph Wellington Women in Crisis Centre. The money will go to help repair a leaky roof at their 38 Elizabeth St facility. All in a day’s work it seems for Sandals.
 

Frank Valeriote in “The Road Warrior”

Meanwhile, things are much more interesting on Valeriote’s side of the street, not to mention dangerous. Family members of Guelph Member of Parliament Frank Valeriote, along with other members of the community, were victims of vandalism. Occurring overnight in the waning days of October, at least nine cases were reported to police of cars having their break lines cut, tires slashed, or having the letter ‘L’ spray painted somewhere on the property, sometimes all three. The incidents mirror similar vandalism committed recently in Toronto and again in Guelph earlier this year.

The question on everybody’s mind though was whether the slicing and dicing was politically motivated. Valeriote’s nephew was one of the affected, however the Guelph MP was not. “I don’t believe it is a personal statement,” Valeriote said last week. “I believe it is a statement against authority.” Guelph Beat Readers will also remember incidents of graffiti and vandalism directed against Valeriote near the conclusion of Guelph’s aborted Federal by-election in 2008. The incident was precipitated by the wide-spread destruction of election signs, until one Saturday when the homes of people who had Liberal lawn signs where vandalized with slogans like “Vote Liberal C-68 slime” spray-painted on houses and the break lines of cars were cut.

In more positive news though, Valeriote is moving forward with his community outreach endeavours, not the least of which was bring his boss, Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff to Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic High School for an open mic Q&A session. As well, he held an open forum to respond to constituents’ concerns this past Tuesday as well as pledging his support to the “Movember” campaign to raise awareness about prostate cancer. “I’m proud to be part of the Movember team helping to support those suffering from prostate cancer and to raise money to advance research and education towards its eradication” Valeriote said in a press release. “4,400 men die from prostate cancer annually, and with the incidence of prostate cancer rising as a result of our aging population, a cure must be found.”

Bell Not Green, Compliments Paid & Nudity

Bell No Longer the Green for Guelph

In a bit of surprise election news, though not in the election we expected, Bob Bell has officially stepped down as the Green Party candidate for Guelph in the next federal election. Bell's reason is that he believes that Prime Minister Stephen Harper will call a spring election, which will conflict with the busiest time in Bell's bicycle-trailer manufacturing company.

“My business is seasonal — busy in spring and slow in fall,” Bell told the Guelph Mercury. “Originally it appeared as though we’d have a fall election and I was ready for that. But now an election is likely in the spring, and that’s not good timing for me.”

Bell continued to say that while the responsibilities of being a federal candidate were minimum outside of an election period, the 40-60 hour per week commitment would be too much for him in the event of a spring election. As for Bell's other job, the one that he's got to run for again in a few months anyway, he's still not sure if he's going to have another go at city council. “Some days I’m going to run again; some days I’m not. I just don’t know right now,” he said.

In an interesting side note, Bell's runner-up for the Green Party nomination was Russell Ott, is now running for Ward 1 city councillor, one of two seats currently held by Bell. As for the Greens, Bell expects a new nominee to be named before year's end, probably in the fall.

Just Take the Compliment

An article in the Guelph Mercury last week examined an unusual bit of bipartisanship:

Progressive Conservative MPP Peter Shurman suggested [Liz] Sandals missed getting a cabinet position in favour of less-experienced politicians during Wednesday’s cabinet shuffle. “Liz Sandals, who has been an MPP for seven years, was once again passed over for cabinet by MPPs elected less than one year ago,” the Thornhill MPP wrote in a press release.

Sandals holds the position of parliamentary assistant to the Minister of Health and Long-Term Care, but I suppose it's always nice to be affirmed by others, especially in the esteemed opposition, that you've got potential to be more than a parliamentary assistant.

That wasn't all Shurman had to say about the cabinet shuffle. On CTV.ca, Shurman is quoted as saying that instead of overhauling his cabinet, Premier Dalton McGuinty opted for "cosmetic changes that won't provide any relief for taxpayers" with the creation of new ministers. "What he's doing for Ontario is acting like a speeding train -- going in the wrong direction," Shurman said. "And the two new faces represent an additional opportunity to tax and spend."

Still, one appreciates Shurman's sentiment, but you have to wonder what the idea behind it was. I know it seems unusual in modern politics for people to do things out of the goodness of their own heart, but maybe Shurman's just looking out for a colleague. “Liz Sandals has been toiling away ... for a very long time,” Shurman said in a telephone interview with the Mercury last Thursday. “She can take the compliment. Maybe she would have been a better choice.”

Nothing like bipartisan support. Weird.

In Special Occasion News…

So we’re going into the last couple of weekends of summer, and you might be looking for something to do. I believe there was something this coming weekend, what was that again? Oh yes, I believe it was The Top Freedom Day. A pair of young ladies from Guelph, Lindsay Webb and Andrea Crinklaw, are picking up the baton thrown down by Gwen Jacob, who won legal recognition for a woman’s right to walk around topless after the landmark 1996 Ontario Court of Appeals case. Jacob was charged after walking down the streets of Guelph without her shirt in 1991.

As for the official celebration, organizers Webb and Crinklaw call it “a step towards making it acceptable for a woman to be top free in public” and a chance to continue the effort to “desensitize the masses to the female breast.” The festivities begin at 2:30 pm in St. George’s Square and runs until 10 pm with music, speeches and, of course, body painting. For more information, check out the day’s Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=133537073352921&ref=search

Good Wishes for a Good Year at the Levee

It’s called a New Year’s Levee. That’s pronounced “lev-e” not “lee-vee.” It’s a tradition carried out by a number of officials and organizations in modern times, from the Governor-General to the Armed Forces. But it originated in the court of French King Louis XIV, where in the Levée du Soleil, or the Rising of the Sun, was the practice of the “Sun King” receiving his subjects in his bedchamber after just waking up. Louis’ idea caught on with monarchs across Europe in the 18th century.

But in 2009 Guelph, a levee is a chance for MPP Liz Sandals to meet with her constituency, and they with her. This year, Sandals was joined by newly minted MP Frank Valeriote. Jenny Waterson, a staffer with Sandals’ office, told me that this was her boss’ fourth New Year’s Levee, and that they decided to offer Valeriote the chance to share the occasion given the fact that his office is still establishing itself after the MP’s victory last October. Waterson said that joint levees aren’t usually the norm, but in this case it was the logical thing to do.

The setting was the Italian-Canadian Club on Ferguson Street in the East End. The parking lots off Ferguson were full and the line into the main banquet was long. Who comes out to the levee? All kinds from the looks of it: seniors, young families, individuals; all from numerous multicultural backgrounds too. The attire was business casual, so lots of suits and ties, or failing that, a tasteful turtle neck. I took my place in line, and thought of something to say to both Sandals and Valeriote, and it had better be good.

Sometimes the line moved quickly, and other times it seemed to grind to halt. Snaking around the foyer of the Italian-Canadian Club, I noticed why there was a delay as I got closer to entering the Hall – the place was packed. Well, it wasn’t a standing room only situation, but as I got closer, I noticed that staff were opening up the patrician in the centre of the hall so that more tables were available for people to take a seat and enjoy the coffee and snackables offered, once pleasantries were exchanged with the politicians.

Waterson told me that the turnout for this year’s levee was good, and that the number of people that come out to it seems to increase with every year. I recognized a few people there. I caught up with Liberal blogger David Graham and talked about missing the never-ending by-election. I talked with Kyle Mitchell, whom I knew from my days at The Ontarion. He’s a former Valeriote volunteer and current Valeriote legislative assistant. He went to Ottawa expecting to get down to work, only to find himself back in Guelph once parliament was prorogued following November’s economic update. “Hopefully, it’ll be more predictable this time, and not as crazy,” he said about heading back for the budget at the end of the month.

Around this time, my position in line had finally made it into the banquet hall, and Sandals and Valeriote were just metres ahead now. Both politicians were in good spirits, enthusiastically shaking hands with well wishers and hugging old friends. I got Valeriote first, who took my hand warmly and wished me a happy New Year and gave me his thanks for coming out. I asked him if being a parliamentarian is everything he thought it’d be. Without stopping to think Valeriote said it’s not “about what you hope for, but about what you expect, and it’s certainly beyond my expectations.”

Clearly, the House being put on hold and the internal turbulence of his own party hasn’t affected the Valeriote enthusiasm for governance he showed on the campaign trail. Sandals, for her part, was just as welcoming and her experience at being on the receiving line was clearly evident as she shook hands and welcomed each person in turn. And then that, as they say, was that. Coffee and cookies were being served at the back of the room. Some people enjoyed them in groups and stuck around to converse, while others went home to enjoy their Sunday. Meanwhile, outside the banquet hall, they were still lining up.