At Home in Hespeler

After tonight’s provincial by-elections in Kitchener-Waterloo and Vaughan, party President Richard Ciano sent an email to the faithful:

…we showed that we are the only Party that can put Ontario back on the right track.

So you won those by-elections then?

Woah, not so fast there. Vaughan was Liberal before the vote, and we all know how hard it is to gain a seat from a governing party mid-term.

Kitchener-Waterloo then?

Well here’s the thing, it was a Conservative seat. And it’s not now a Liberal seat. No, a 22-year Tory seat is now NDP. That’s not showing we can put Ontario on the right track, it’s standing on the track wondering what that light is, and why is it getting bigger?

It’s become clear, if it wasn’t last October, that Tim Hudak can’t win. He is, as Mark Steyn likes to say about Republican Presidential candidates, a nice guy who gives great concession speeches.

Over the last nine years Ontario has gone from economic powerhouse to a recipient of federal equalization, the debt has gone through the roof and public finances are a mess. How do you beat a guy with a record like that?

Turns out, showing up isn’t enough. And neither is Tim Hudak.

I like Tim Hudak, he’s a nice guy and seems like a truly decent man, but enough already. If we are ever to get this province back on track, we need a leader who can win, and Tim Hudak ain’t him.

Tim Hudak Kitchener-Waterloo, Ontario Progressive Conservatives, Richard Ciano, Tim Hudak, Vaughan

Remember, Julian Fantino doesn’t break the law, Julian Fantino is the law:

Meeting Conservative Julian Fantino last month on the hustings for the upcoming Vaughan by-election didn’t go as Liberal Tony Genco expected. He’d imagined pleasantries between competing candidates…

“I gave him my best wishes…and he told me some of my signs were too close to his campaign headquarters so he’d had his people take them down.”

…“I asked him if he would please give them back — they’re expensive, you know — but he didn’t respond.”

Genco apparently never did get his signs back …

“My volunteers followed all the rules in putting our signs up on public property and they weren’t placed improperly.”

…Asked about Genco’s allegations, a Fantino spokesperson emailed a response: “(Liberal Leader Michael) Ignatieff’s candidate may want to talk about signs; I’m talking about what actually matters to families in our community.”

OK, you want to talk, here’s an issue: Julian Fantino is dictatorial and arrogant ex-cop who thinks the law is his to interpret. He is the kind of man who is dangerous to our democracy.

Hey, Conservatives in Vaughan: do everybody a favour, including the Conservatives, and vote Liberal on by-election day.

by-election fever, Caledonia By-election, Caledonia, Conservative Party, julian fantino, Liberal Party, OPP, Tony Genco, Vaughan