frank klees Archives - Page 6 of 6

And then there were three

Christine Elliott is the latest to announce her entry into the Ontario PC leadership race following Frank Klees and Randy Hillier. Elliott announced on Twitter just after midnight earlier this morning and will be doing some press soon to give detail of her plans.

I met Elliott just last weekend as she stopped by Ottawa to measure support for a potential bid. I asked if she could differentiate herself from the other candidates and she replied, in obvious reference to Tim Hudak, that she’s not a career politician and that she brings “real-world” experience to the race. Asked for an example of a public policy initiative she would highlight should she lead the opposition in Queen’s Park she replied that the PC Party should emphasize its strength on its mental health strategy for Ontario. As for education which became the biggest snag for the party led by John Tory during the last election, Elliott conceded that vouchers and charter school would likely be off the table as something the party should champion over the coming years.

Randy Hillier also announced this week and exploded out of the gate with a very professional Hopey-Changey-styled website that emphasized three distinct policies that the former head of the Lanark Landowners Association would strive for in Ontario’s public policy debate. Abolishment of the Human Rights Commission, Senate elections for Ontario and a “Freedom of Association and Conscience Act” (allowing individuals to opt out of activities in their professions which they find morally objectionable) are the policy initiatives that Hillier will be selling at the doors over the next three (three?!) months. It is rumoured (though with some suspicion) that Hillier has already sold 2500 memberships.

Frank Klees, perhaps sensing that Hillier was set to announce on Monday, did his best to preempt the announcement by letting his intentions be known on Sunday. The former Harris cabinet minister and well-liked caucus member disappointed some as he launched without much fanfare or campaign.

Another former Harris cabinet minister is also set to announce though it is unknown as to when. The perceived (self-styled) front-runner of the race is Tim Hudak, who also has the backing of the former premier. I attended a breakfast meeting with Hudak a few weeks ago and it’s not much of a scoop to tell you that he is lining up for a serious bid. Asked then if he’d be announcing soon, he replied that for now he’s only encouraging a dialogue on the future direction of the party. Of course, he’ll be entering soon, but he’s holding off for strategic reasons. Like Fred Thompson in the 2008 GOP bid for nomination, an unannounced perceived front-runner can keep his name in the gossip of partisans and media alike by keeping the will-he-or-won’t-he chatter going, though like Thompson, withholding does not necessarily protect a candidate from flopping. Though his allies in the party executive have engineered a short race in his favour, Hudak will still have to contend among a field of strong candidates.

Conservative staffers in Ottawa are split between Elliott, who is also the wife of federal finance minister Jim Flaherty, and Hillier who carries the true-blue banner of provincial conservatism for many in this town. Many of the old pros and much of the provincial party establishment are lining up behind Hudak while the new pros are putting their chips on Elliott.

Who is considering a run at the Ontario PC leadership?

I’ve been hitting the phone, email and blackberry PIN asking known PC organizers, student leaders and strategists who’s been calling them “testing the waters”. I’ve learned that there are at least seven people considering a bid for the Ontario PC leadership to succeed John Tory. Here they are:

Tim Hudak: The perceived front-runner for the PC leadership is backed by a number of student/youth leaders, much of the party executive but has shallow support in caucus. Hudak’s people are pushing for an early leadership election (June) in order to deprive oxygen from other rivals who are trying to catch up. Hudak has been billed as a “true-blue conservative” by many of his supporters.

Christine Elliott: MPP from Whitby-Oshawa, lawyer and wife of Canada’s federal Conservative finance minister, Jim Flaherty. Flaherty ran for the PC leadership against John Tory and the organization and team may fall into place should Elliott contest the leadership.

Frank Klees: Among Hudak and Elliott, Klees rounds out the top three frontrunners who are making active and concerted pitchs to potential supporters to form a team for the 2009 leadership race. Klees ran against Tory for leadership in 2004 and served as a cabinet minister under Premier Harris.

Randy Hillier: Hillier is the former president of the Lanark Landowners Association and has represented a defiant conservative streak during his time in the Ontario legislature. The most conservative among the lot, many see a bid by Hillier as principled yet politically untenable. According to my sources, Hillier has been pushing for a later leadership election.

Peter Shurman: One of the only gains during the last election for the Ontario PC, Shurman is the MPP for Thornhill. A former broadcaster and businessman, Shurman has the profile and resources for a serious bid though my sources say that he is testing the waters carefully at this time. (update: Shurman’s out, but was considering this possibility)

Peter van Loan: Yes, the Conservative federal minister for Public Safety is said to be “leaving the door” open for a potential run at the provincial party leadership. PVL is the former president of the PC Party of Ontario, former government House leader for the Conservative government and, in his previous private sector life, he was a successful lawyer in Toronto. Van Loan is a “no guff” style administrator and would likely bring order to a divisive caucus that churned under Tory.

Dean Del Mastro: Del Mastro is the federal Conservative MP from Peterborough and has served in the House of Commons since 2006. Mr. Del Mastro is also allowing talk to circulate about a potential leadership shot to make a bid for the Premier’s office in the next Ontario election. Del Mastro plays the wouded partisan role well and this may be the contrast to John Tory’s approach that Ontario PC partisans are seeking. Del Mastro has been a visible member of the CPC caucus and has done a good job to raise his media profile in the short time he’s been in Parliament. (update: Del Mastro has ruled out a run at leadership but confirmed that he was approached to run the day of John Tory’s resignation)

UPDATE: Shurman says he’s out, Elizabeth Witmer says she’s considering a run.

First shot fired in battle over Tory’s future

Next year, in February, Ontario provincial conservatives will converge on London for their annual general meeting. Ontario PC leader John Tory is sure to face pressure before that time from Ontario Tories regarding his leadership after a poor showing during the last General Election.

Today, a press release landed in my inbox from “DraftALeader.com”, a website “with the goal of giving a voice back to the grassroots of the Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario”. The man behind the effort is conservative Nick Kouvalis, a campaign manager from Windsor Ontario. He writes, “It’s all about accountability and John Tory’s leadership of the Party. He made the last campaign all about leadership. The people of Ontario had their say in a vote, now it’s time for the membership of the Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario. I recently attended a campaign debrief put on by John Tory to explain the dismal performance of the PCPO in the last election” said Kouvalis. “Obviously there are many people who have serious concerns about that campaign. These issues all come back to ‘Leadership’ and that is why we are here today.”

Kouvalis is calling for Ontario PC members to vote “yes” to a leadership review.

I contacted Kouvalis for an interview via email.

ST.ca: “Mr. Kouvalis, the purpose of your website is to ask the grassroots to vote yes to a review of John Tory as the leader of the PC Party of Ontario. Why do you believe this is necessary now?”

NK: I can tell you that from the response we received on DAY 1, this party is strong, very fiesty, and it wants to be heard! I did not ever anticipate such a tremendous turnout of support in less than 24 hours of launching this campaign. I am simply shocked at the level of traffic, emails, donations and overall support we have already received.

The grassroots of this party must have a voice in this very important debate. AGM’s and Delegate Selection Meetings are quickly being organized with no information being provided on the party website as to the timings and other details. The average supporter, member, donor, and volunteer need to know these details.

The purpose of the site is to give the membership a voice, a platform that is on equal footing with the “messages” coming from the “No” camp.

I do not believe that accountability will ever be achieved without a leadership race, where the shareholders of this party have an opportunity to know what really happened, who was responsible, why certain decisions were made and why others were continually put off.

When should the membership stand up and take ownership of “their party”? Now is the time to organize to bring accountability back to this party.

My role is to ensure that the membership is aware of meetings, aware of deadlines, understands that many things were way out of place in this campaign and it was not one issue that cost us this election. At the end of the day it will be up to the members of this party to encourage potential candidates to step up and step out, I am here to ensure that their voice is heard.

Our strength is in our people, in our message and in our numbers.

ST.ca: “Since you are launching a campaign to review Tory’s leadership, you are presumably against Tory’s direction of this party. Why is that?”

NK: It would not be fair for me to speak on behalf of the grassroots with respect to the direction that John Tory has taken this party in. That is a question for the membership at large to answer.

Personally, I feel that when you ignore the people with respect to policy development, when you ignore the backbone of this party – board members of riding associations, volunteers and donors, when you surround yourself with “yes” men, when you build the entire PC brand, policy and image of the Party around one man, when you ignore decisions of the elected executive, and then make the campaign about Leadership – then that Leader alone, must be accountable to the membership.

Many of us believe that John Tory is a good man. Many of us believe that John Tory has exceptional skills. That does not mean that John Tory is the right Leader for this party. Leadership Matters……it Matters Big Time. If John Tory cannot command the loyalty of a significant majority of this party, then he cannot lead us.

My role is to ensure that the membership is heard loud and clear. My role is to ensure that information regarding Delegate Selection Meetings reaches the grassroots in time that each slate of Delegates that arrives in February actually represents the membership at large.

ST.ca: “Doesn’t Tory deserve an opportunity an another election? One failed election has rarely been justification for an immediate ouster of a party’s leader.”

NK: Frank Miller, Larry Grossman and Ernie Eves.

John Tory�s fate ultimately must be decided by the membership.

People in Ontario had numerous reasons NOT to vote for Dalton McGuinty but this Leader and his Team gave Ontarians a reason NOT to vote Progressive Conservative.

Of course, we can infer that what Kouvalis and his co-travelers are doing is securing delegate spots at the upcoming convention in order to vote “yes” to a question of whether or not the PC Party of Ontario should review the leadership of John Tory and we can infer that Kouvalis intends to hasten Tory’s retirement. Of course, all Tories believe in taking the pulse of congregating delegates on this question (for lack of a better system. *cough* One member, one vote *cough*), but critics would say that Kouvalis’ strategy here is to bring his agenda to the meeting.

So far, at Kouvalis’ website, he has Elizabeth Witmer, Tim Hudak, Christine Elliot, and Frank Klees under “pick a leader”. It is unclear as to whether these Ontario conservatives endorse Kouvalis’ efforts or whether they have simply been selected as potential future candidates for leadership. Noticeably absent in the list is John Tory, which further indicates what may be the real intent of the site. Hudak and Klees have been rumoured to covet the top job.

Of course, as a number of PC Tories were upset by the electoral defeat a couple of months ago, the unveiling of such a site was only a matter of time. And, of course, the first move was theirs to make.

I have contacted John Capobianco, the “point person” of the “No” campaign of the leadership review. Answers to questions that I will pose to him will of course receive equal time here.