Different perspectives

The resignation this week of backbench Liberal MPP Tony Wong, the only Chinese Canadian in the Ontario Legislature, received scant coverage in the English media. But the news filled the whole front page of Sing Tao, Toronto's Chinese-language daily. Accompanied by a photograph of Wong's empty chair in the Legislature, the lead story in Sing Tao reported that Wong is quitting because he is "dissatisfied with the Chinese community being overlooked."

A sidebar story reported on Wong's demotion last week in a shuffle of parliamentary assistants. Wong, MPP for Markham, had been parliamentary assistant to the minister of research and innovation, who just happens to be Premier Dalton McGuinty. But in the shuffle he was named as a second-tier assistant to Finance Minister Greg Sorbara. (Wayne Arthurs, MPP for Pickering-Ajax-Uxbridge, remains as the first assistant to Sorbara.)

In an interview with the Star, Wong denied that he was miffed over the demotion.

He also denied that McGuinty promised him a cabinet post when he made the deciusion to run for the Legislature in 2003.

"But the premier did say something about naming a Chinese-Canadian member to cabinet," recalled Wong, the only Chinese-Canadian to run for the Liberals in 2003.

For the record, the premier's office flatly denies that any promise of a cabinet post was made to Wong or any other candidate.

Lettuce consider politics

Your humble Blog couldn’t resist that pun but you’ll see why in a moment.

Health Minister George Smitherman says he’s seen the results of the Tory diet and has this advice: don’t try it.

Progressive Conservative Leader John Tory is noticeably thinner after losing 33 pounds in two months on a high-fibre, low fat and low starch diet of 800 calories a day.

What does he eat?

“A lot of lettuce,” Tory says. No booze, but unlimited mushrooms!

Smitherman musters concern for Tory, whose downtown condo makes him one of the health minister’s constituents.

“If that’s what he’s been consuming I think that really does speak to why he’s having such a hard time developing any policy,” says Smitherman, who likes to point out the Conservatives have yet to unveil their platform for the election Oct. 4 next year.

Tory says not to worry -- “I’ve been feeling as much energy as I ever have” -- and his party will finish chewing over its promises before too long.

Then he will take his lean new physique on the hectic campaign trail, where the perils of the deep fried food group have felled many a good intention.

Take it from the Blob, um, we mean The Blog. Been there, done that, got the extra large T-shirt.

 

Note to Dippers: buy a calendar

Perhaps this is why the New Democrats seldom win elections -- they show up to vote two days late.

How else to explain the following NDP press release about the provincial by-election that is being held in Parkdale-High Park on Thursday, Sept. 14 and not on Saturday, Sept. 16.

Ethics Commissioner called on to review Sylvia Watson

TORONTO, Aug. 24 /NDP Provincial Secretary Diane O'Reggio will submit a complaint to David J. Mullan, Ethics Commissioner for the City of Toronto, calling on him to investigate possible breaches of the City's Ethics Code by Councillor Sylvia Watson in her campaign for a seat in the Ontario Legislature.

"We've received a number of complaints from constituents in Parkdale-High Park who feel that Sylvia Watson is using her City-funded website to promote her provincial campaign," said O'Reggio. "If an elected official is using public services to further their personal career instead of the public good it has to stop. The Ethics Commissioner is the authority on this so we're forwarding the matter to him."

A provincial by-election will be held in Parkdale-High Park on September 16. Sylvia Watson will be running for the Liberals led by Dalton McGuinty. On August 16, Sylvia Watson issued an e-newsletter to constituents about her campaign. She subsequently posted the same newsletter on her Councillor's website - provided by the City. The newsletter reads like campaign literature - listing Watson's political accomplishments, the date of the election, and announcing Watson's candidacy.

Toronto City Council's ethics code states: "No member shall use the facilities, equipment, supplies, services or other resources of the City (including Councillor newsletters) for any election campaign or campaign related activities."

"Toronto's Council has adopted strict rules to ensure that public funds aren't used for campaigning," said O'Reggio. "We're asking the Commissioner to ensure the rules are followed."

Ouch!

In its issue published Friday, Foreign Direct Investment magazine, a British publication owned by the Financial Times, named Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty its world "Personality of the Year."

This was front-page news in Canada's largest circulation newspaper -- yeah, this one -- but McGuinty's political foes were less charitable.

To wit, here are two press releases sent out Thursday:

 

DALTON MCGUINTY DESERVES A FEW MORE AWARDS

(Queen’s Park) - The Ontario PC Party today suggested several other awards Dalton McGuinty’s public relations experts could nominate him for after securing a “personality award” from a British magazine.

Man of the Year Award for his work on behalf of autistic children.

Community Builder Award from forestry communities in Northwestern Ontario.

Nobel Peace Prize for suspending the rule of law in Caledonia.

Airline Passenger of the Year for frequent short-haul flights on routes such as Toronto-Hamilton and Toronto-Peterborough.

Defense Lawyer of the Year for a passionate defense of Cabinet Minister Harinder Takhar after he broke the law.

Heisman Trophy for prolific punting of major issues such as property tax and municipal finances.

Academy Award for role as a tough guy in ongoing fiscal “fight” with federal government.

Pulitzer Prize for Fiction for the 2003 Liberal Party Platform with its famous line: “I won’t raise your taxes.”

Olympic Gold Medal for Gymnastics for twisting around his coal promise.

Exporter of the Year for sending tens of thousands of Ontario manufacturing jobs abroad.

Ultimate Fighting Champion for his willingness to pick a fight with Ottawa at any time, over any issue.

Team Canada MVP for telling the other premiers how much more important he was than them.

American Express Consumer of the Year for his efforts to remind Ontarians how much fun deficit spending can be.

 

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KORMOS RESPONDS TO McGUINTY’S ‘PERSONALITY OF THE YEAR’ AWARD

QUEEN’S PARK - NDP MPP Peter Kormos statement to Premier Dalton McGuinty named world "Personality of the Year".

"Give me a break, it's not like he was the Sunshine Boy! The real test is what the people of Parkdale-High Park think of him, not some British fish and chips magazine wrapper.”

Putting the "new" in New Democrat

As the director of communications for the NDP at Queen's Park, Jeff Ferrier is familiar with the labour movement.

But labour took on a whole new meaning Tuesday when his wife Joanna Carson gave birth to their first child, Astrid Grace Carson Ferrier.

The big event took place conveniently close to the Legislature at Women's College Hospital at 2:54 p.m. with Ontario's youngest New Democrat weighing in at 7 pounds, 2 ounces.

Mother and child are doing well and dad's sense of humour hasn't changed. Less than 24 hours after the birth, the proud papa was in the office showing off pictures.

"The baby is beautiful, she obviously doesn't take after me," he quipped.

Half of life is just showing up

Prime Minister Stephen Harper, the most powerful man in Canada, has been rightly criticized for shunning the 16th International AIDS Conference in Toronto.

Microsoft founder Bill Gates, the world’s richest man, found time - and $500 million (U.S.) - for the gathering of 20,000 delegates searching for ways to curb the disease.

Harper, of course, was too busy asserting Canada’s sovereignty in the Arctic and dispatched federal Health Minister Tony Clement to the prestigious conference.

But the second most powerful man in Canada did turn up for the event.

Premier Dalton McGuinty welcomed delegates on Sunday with remarks at the Rogers Centre.

"Since the world first heard of AIDS, it has killed 25 million people - twice the population of Ontario," McGuinty said.

"So the theme for this conference could not be more appropriate: it is time to deliver."

The premier noted that this year his government will spend $54 million on HIV-related research, treatment, prevention, care and support services.

It’s a mere drop in the bucket, but at least McGuinty showed up.

Every Mad Dog has his day

Bob 'Mad Dog' Runciman, the former Harris/Eves-era cabinet minister and long-time Leeds Grenville MPP, isn't wasting any time gearing up for the Oct. 4, 2007 provincial election.

Silencing skeptics who wondered if the 63-year-old firebrand was still interested in Queen's Park, Runciman announced Tuesday that he will seek re-election for an eighth time next year.

"I’m enthused and encouraged by John Tory’s leadership and increasingly optimistic that Ontarians will look to him and the PC party as an alternative to a McGuinty Liberal party that has lost their trust and confidence," Runciman said in a statement.

Tory, for his part, called the move "great news."

"I’ve been encouraging him to run for some time because his tested leadership and experience will be enormously important in our efforts to form the next government," said the PC Leader.

Some close to Tory had worried Runciman, a long-time supporter of Prime Minister Stephen Harper, might opt to run federally in an election expected as early as next spring.

Provincial Tories aren't the only people at the Park relieved to hear the Mad Dog will bark another day.

As a former journalist, Runciman has always been popular with reporters, who appreciate his candour, his oft over-the-top rhetoric and his refusal to duck tough questions.

Loss of Ross

The exodus from Premier Dalton McGuinty’s government continues despite a provincial election looming in a little more than a year.

On Thursday, Ross Parry became the latest senior official to announce he was leaving.

Parry, chief of staff to Public Infrastructure Renewal Minister David Caplan, is widely considered to be one of the dozen or so brightest lights in the government.

He is departing at the end of July to start his own government relations/communications business.

To underscore the well-liked Parry’s importance to the administration since 2003, here’s Caplan’s lengthy memo to staff distributed Thursday:

Dear PIR Staff:

It is with a heavy heart and deep regret that I wish to inform you of Ross Parry's departure as Chief of Staff.

After more than two years as my principal advisor, strategist and above all friend and colleague, Ross has offered his resignation to resume his career in the private sector and I have reluctantly accepted.

As all of you know, Ross has been a critical part of the PIR team and has helped shape and lead this ministry since its inception into a highly effective and accomplished part of the government.

Our successes under his strategic vision and leadership are many, but it would be remiss of me to not note a number of spectacular achievements that are attributable largely to a combination of Ross' unmatchable political acumen, Herculean work ethic, and an unwavering commitment to the government's legislative agenda to improve the quality of life for all Ontarians.

Let me start with Places to Grow, our ministry's most recent accomplishment. The release of the final Growth Plan for the Greater Golden Horseshoe marked a personal highlight and achievement for me and I believe for the future of the province.

While many close to this initiative are well aware of Ross' singular contribution to the successful development and rollout of this initiative, many others are unaware of the enormity of Ross' efforts over the past two years that ultimately ensured the near universal acclamation the growth plan has received.

Perhaps it's self evident, but building consensus across such a varying group of stakeholders and over such a diverse and contentious range of issues is no easy feat. But through a deft combination of brokering and consensus building, Ross and the PIR team managed to do what others said would be impossible.

I would also like to acknowledge Ross' contribution to the development and rollout last year of ReNew Ontario, the government's five-year strategic infrastructure investment plan. ReNew Ontario has redefined capital planning for the government, both in terms of financing, procurement and planning. Again, Ross' ability to strategize politically and develop astute policy was invaluable to me in the successful development and now implementation of this initiative.

There are many, many more files that have benefited from Ross' leadership, including, but not limited to:

-the ongoing successes on the Toronto Waterfront

-the successful negotiation of the historic Canada-Ontario Affordable Housing Agreement

-ongoing management of some of the government's biggest and most important partners such as the OLGC, the LCBO, the ORC, and the Strategic Asset Management Unit

-the launch of Infrastructure Ontario and the repositioning of OSIFA

-the development of the Building a Better Tomorrow Framework and the Alternative Financing and Procurement policy

The amount of gratitude I would like to express to Ross is immeasurable and my indebtedness to him for his contribution to me and the government is infinite, so I will simply compensate with brevity: Ross, thank you.

Ross' departure will no doubt leave a huge gap in the ministry and in my own office, but I am pleased to announce the appointment of Andy Stein, currently Senior Policy Advisor in my office with responsibility for the ORC, the LCBO,SAMU and the Toronto Waterfront and a host of other sensitive files, as Acting Chief of Staff.

Like Ross, Andy brings exceptional experience, strategic thinking, work ethic and commitment to the task and I am confident that his leadership will allow for a smooth transition. Please join me in congratulating and welcoming Andy to the position.

Trivial and floral pursuits

Just in time for Canada Day, Premier Dalton McGuinty has launched the Ontario Trivia Challenge on his website, www.ontario.ca/premier.

The multiple-choice quiz boasts 30 questions and three levels of difficulty: easy, medium, and hard.

"Taking the Ontario Trivia Challenge is a great way to mark Canada Day," McGuinty said in a news release Friday.

"Ontarians can test their knowledge of our great province and learn more about our rich history and diversity."

Not surprisingly, one questions asks what Ontario's official flower is. The answer, of course, is a white trillium.

Oddly enough, the premier's recently launched high-technology website, which features streaming video and the most images of McGuinty this side of his mother's living room, does not display the Liberals' controversial new trillium logo.

Instead of the much-panned "three-men-in-ecstacy-in-hot-tub" design created for $219,000 by Grit-friendly ad firm Bensimon Byrne, the premier's official site still displays the traditional three-petal trillium that dates back to 1964.

Since the Toronto Star revealed last week the Liberals' puzzling scheme to replace the classic logo with one that bears a suspicious resemblance to the trillium on the party's trademark, the newspaper has been inundated with letters, e-mails and calls from readers angry about the change.

One elderly woman called the Queen's Park bureau to say she broke down in tears at the eventual extinction of a government logo that predates Canada's Maple Leaf flag.

Another gentleman wrote to the Star's editor in chief to complain about "an ugly little drawing that doesn't even look like a trillium."

On a more comedic note, a botanist rang to say the design actually resembles poison ivy.

Well, the imbroglio around Trilliumgate certainly has senior Liberals feeling itchy!

One politico who is enjoying the kafuffle is Progressive Conservative Leader John Tory, who launched a website at savethetrillium.ca, which displays the different official designs of the provincial flower over the past 42 years.

Musical chairs at Queen’s Park

As the Legislature begins its summer break, folks are moving around and moving on from the Pink Palace.

Steve Erwin has left the Canadian Press bureau for a new role of answering questions instead of asking them.

He’s going to work as spin doctor for Energy Minister Dwight Duncan, who’s going to be busy selling his controversial plan — including two new nuclear power plants — to keep the lights on in Ontario over the next 20 years.

Given the tight power supplies in Ontario and the risk of blackouts, Steve is no doubt joining his new boss in praying for cool weather in July and August.

In another energy-related switch, Matthew Gibson is leaving the office of Progressive Conservative Leader John Tory to do government relations for Union Gas.