Gordon Prentice at Large - Politics in Newmarket
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- Written by: Gordon Prentice
In tomorrow’s Toronto Star former PC leader, Patrick Brown, boasts of his legacy. He says the Party was not left in a mess. There’s cash in the bank and the Party is much more diverse. Membership soared from 12,000 party members to either 136,000 or over 200,000 depending, he says, on who you believe.
But there is a darker side. Brown lied through his teeth about his finances to the Province’s Integrity Commissioner who said these lies were deliberate and not inadvertent.
So why should we now believe anything he says?
Brown says by-election wins triggered an avalanche of interest in becoming a PC candidate:
“We were not prepared as a party for the lengths people would go to win nominations. We had to shut down attempts to print fake ballots, produce fake ID’s, stop fistfights and even the stuffing of ballot boxes. I was beyond frustrated to hear these ongoing stories.”
This is Canada for goodness sake! Not Syria, South Sudan or Somalia. Stuffing ballot boxes is not something that is supposed to happen here.
We should be outraged.
For a while the PC’s interim leader, Vic Fedeli, was determined to root out the rot. Then the moment passed.
Brown makes it sound as if he, as Party Leader, was an innocent by-stander when in reality he was in it up to his armpits.
Often, he looked the other way, choosing to ignore the cheating, malpractice and fraud. He now tells us:
“We took steps to ensure these nominations were run fairly and free from abuse. I personally ordered the party to bring in PWC to observe and certify our nominations. I have been as shocked as anyone else to hear about allegations that a candidate stole private 407 data. In retrospect, I am increasingly of the opinion political parties are ill equipped to handle nominations and that it is time to have Elections Ontario manage this part of our democratic process.”
As usual, he is being economical with the truth.
Before Brown brought in Price Waterhouse Coopers he ruled that the nominations of the 64 candidates, already endorsed and approved, would stand even though many were challenged. PWC was brought in after the fact, checking on cheating in all nominations "going forward".
Here in Newmarket-Aurora Brown left the cheat Charity McGrath in place as the official PC candidate despite the resignation of the riding’s entire board.
On 28 May 2017, the provincial nominating committee told the Newmarket-Aurora riding Board it proposed to take no action on the documented allegations of cheating and fraud.
When Ford took over as Leader McGrath was dumped to make way for Christine Elliott.
That's how we ended up with Ms Elliott, the PC Leadership's three time loser.
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- Written by: Gordon Prentice
Ford’s at it again.
Making up policy as he goes along. 
Now he is promising to exempt Royal Canadian Legion halls from property taxes.
But municipalities already have that power if they choose to exercise it.
Ford’s latest trumpet blast was prompted by NDP candidate Laura Kaminker who doesn’t much care for Remembrance Day poppies.
Ford leapt on the candidate’s comments and immediately rolled out his new commitment to exempt the Legion. It was a headline grab.
Pure Ford.
The policy commitment didn't rate a mention in Patrick Brown's "People's Guarantee".
The Globe and Mail’s Adam Radwanski comments today:
“The PCs, who at the moment are still best-positioned to win government but find the New Democrats unexpectedly breathing down their necks, have been trying hardest to make hay of the candidate controversies. That included, on Tuesday, delegating a pair of their candidates to decry the NDP’s nominees as “radical and extreme”; later the same day they announced a new pledge to spare legion halls paying (municipal) property tax, presented without detail and seemingly concocted solely to keep the poppy-related controversy alive.”
That hit the nail on the head.
Ford's Press Release says:
"While Ontario’s Assessment Act provides some exemptions on property taxes for certain organizations, the Ontario Command of the RCL does not qualify for the exemption."
It seems to me that the Assessment Act 1990 already gives a specific exemption to land that is used and occupied as a clubhouse by people who served in the armed forces. Municipalities have the power to exempt Legion Halls if they choose. (See below.)
If Ford wants to remove that discretionary power from Municipalities he should simply say so.
The mandatory exemption of Legion Halls from property taxes will come at a cost but, for many people, that Is a price well worth paying.
Assessment Act 1990
Exemption for land used by veterans
6.1 (1) Land that is used and occupied as a memorial home, clubhouse or athletic grounds by persons who served in the armed forces of His or Her Majesty or an ally of His or Her Majesty in any war is exempted from taxation in the circumstances and to the extent described in this section. 2006, c. 33, Sched. A, s. 7.
Land in municipalities
(2) The council of a local or upper-tier municipality, as the case may be, may pass by-laws exempting land described in subsection (1) from taxation for its purposes on such conditions as may be set out in the by-laws. 2007, c. 7, Sched. 1, s. 1 (1).
Restriction
(3) An exemption under subsection (2) must not exceed 10 years but may be renewed at any time during the last year of the exemption. 2006, c. 33, Sched. A, s. 7.
Exception
(4) An exemption under subsection (2) does not affect the obligation to pay fees or charges that have priority lien status. 2006, c. 33, Sched. A, s. 7.
Update on 23 May 2018. I am told the Legion on Newmarket’s Srigley Street is exempt.
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- Written by: Gordon Prentice
The Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario is deeply corrupt.
Under Patrick Brown’s leadership there was cheating, ballot stuffing and voter fraud on an Olympian scale. The rights of ordinary PC members were casually ignored as the then Leader smoothed the path for his favourites. The National Post told us on 13 March 2018 that Brown:
“appointed candidates himself in about 60 constituencies and refused to hear appeals of those that were clouded by controversy.”
As newly elected leader, Doug Ford, told the National Post:
“There were a lot of indiscretions in a lot of nominations. I spoke to people who were disqualified the day before (the nomination election) and that’s not being transparent.”
Now we have the jaw-dropping revelations from yesterday’s Globe and Mail which chronicles the disgraceful actions of the convicted fraudster Snover Dhillon who, by all accounts, hired himself out to people seeking PC nominations.
“Dhillon played a controversial role in a number of the candidate-nomination votes that have resulted in accusations of voter fraud, ballot stuffing and other irregularities.”
Now both the Liberals and the NDP are calling for a police investigation into PC nominations.
On top of all this we now have the scandal of Simmer Sandhu and the theft of identities from the privately-owned Highway 407 ETR. It is alleged 60,000 names, addresses and phone numbers were stolen from the company’s internal systems with the thief then distributing or selling the data to candidates in GTA PC nomination races. 
Until last Wednesday Simmer Sandhu – who was employed by Highway 407 ETR - was the PC candidate for Brampton East. He protests his innocence.
Sandhu has now been replaced by another Ford appointee, Sudeep Verma.
Ford refuses to back calls for a police probe.
Clearly Vic Fedeli didn’t root out all the rot.
Ford has now appointed 13 PC candidates including the notorious Meredith Cartwright who is running in Toronto Centre. She took the rap for hiring actors to masquerade as Ford supporters outside the TV studio where the Party leaders debated.
And he’s dumped nine candidates.
And six days away from the start of advanced polling on 26 May 2018, the official PC website still doesn't show a photograph of its candidate for Brampton North, Ripudaman Dhillon.
Update on 22 May 2018: Snover Dhillon says PC candidates paid for memberships, breaking Party rules.