September 15, 2003
Among fierce battles being waged in ridings for the Oct. 2 provincial election vote, none is as intense as the race to represent Scarborough Centre. Pundits are calling it "The saga of Scarborough Centre."
The Ontario Liberal Party hierarchy is duking it out with the angry executive members of its own provincial Liberal Riding Association, and that’s just for openers in this Battle Royale.
Reneging on their own signed letters of support--eloquent as those letters might have been--key Liberals like leader Dalton McGuinty and Ontario Liberal Party President Greg Sorbara went back on their word to the riding association-supported candidate. A new candidate parachuted into the riding, a City of Toronto councillor broke a promise he committed to writing for the candidate.
"Brutus" Brad Duguid is the parachute candidate, appointed after a suspended riding nomination meeting by McGuinty, apparently through the influence of Sorbara.
Dalton, as Premier Ernie Eves might say, remained in the dark when the lights went back on in Ontario. Included on Dalton’s doesn’t-know list, are the unbridled ambitions of Greg Sorbara, feverishly working in the background to replace him as party leader.
God only knows what Coun. Duguid was promised by Sorbara.
While the Liberal party, whose poll support began evaporating within days of the election call, should be fighting PC MPP Marilyn Mushinski, they’re fighting each other.
Standing strong in this David and Goliath Liberal family feud is the remarkably popular Costas Manios.
Forced in the 11th hour to do the "right thing," Manios is running as a "liberal independent candidate" in the Oct. 2 election.
This is not just another one of those shafted-by-the-Liberal-nomination-process stories, it’s the story of an underdog--an underdog held up high by the passion of all the little guys he’s helped over the last 20 years.
The passion of the little guys will endure right up to Election Day.
Deemed an "invaluable" member of Dalton McGuinty’s Liberals at Queen’s Park, there are many who find it repugnant that the same people who parachuted another candidate stabbed Manios in the back.
"For the past two-and-one-half years, Costas has worked to increase the profile of Dalton McGuinty in Toronto, to build up capacity of the ridings, and to maintaining and enhance linkages with multi-cultural communities. We have seen evidence of his success every day."
Those words of praise did not come from Costas Manios’ mother, but from Philip Dewan, Chief of Staff, Office of the Leader of the Official Opposition.
"Thanks for your dedication, Costas. From all of us, good luck in seeking to represent the Liberal Party in Scarborough Centre," Dewan added.
"I certainly share your admiration for Costas Manios. He was a dedicated candidate in the ’99 election and an invaluable member of my team at Queen’s Park," McGuinty wrote in a letter of response to Manios’ lawyer Michael A. Eustace.
It would seem that the provincial Liberal leader had a gameplan in place that backed Manios until Sorbara got involved.
Incredibly, as recently as Sept. 30, 2002, Coun. Brad Duguid was deflecting his parachute mission off to "intense rumours."
"As I have indicated in discussion with Party officials, I am a friend of Costas Manios, the past candidate, and I understand that he is actively seeking the nomination," Duguid wrote in a letter to Sorbara. "While I will continue to contribute in any way I can to a Liberal victory in the next provincial election, I have not put forward my name for nomination in Scarborough Centre and I have no plans to put my name forward as a candidate against Costas Manios who I believe worked very hard in the last election campaign." (Emphasis Toronto Free Press).
That was then, this is now, and Brad Duguid is the sanctioned Liberal candidate in the Scarborough Centre race.
With friends like Coun. Duguid, Manios doesn’t need enemies.
In a second letter to Manios, written last February, Duguid tells him "nothing has changed" before going on to lecture him…"You are responding to rumours and hypothetical speculation, which I will not do."
Duguid had the temerity to pontificate at large to Manios about the necessity of a change in government. "The financial and social sustainability of our city is at stake and the future of Toronto may very well depend on the results of the next provincial election."
Manios not only enters the Scarborough Centre election race with the "unanimous" support of the riding’s Association, but his hard work over the years has earned him strong support among voters from a wide spectrum, including many community leaders and cultural organizations.
Hard working, sincere, and a man who can be counted on to get the job done, he dedicated the last 20 years of his life to the provincial Liberal Party. Costas Manios is, and always was, "A Liberal by conviction not convenience."
Given his energetic track record for helping others, even non-Liberals like Manios.
When he carried the Liberal flag in 1999’s provincial election, he came close to toppling PC stalwart Marilyn Mushinski.
For Manios’ diehard supporters, this will be an election of choice, and hopefully the right choice will supercede ambitious party politics.
The independent carrying the flag in the Scarborough Centre race is a David facing off Goliath on Oct. 2. This David is going in the race to win.
In fact, according to all reports from Toronto Free Press, Costas Manios is one of life’s true winners.
The only two people who may be unaware of that are Greg Sorbara and ‘Brutus’ Brad Duguid.
Canada Free Press founding editor Most recent by Judi McLeod is an award-winning journalist with 30 years experience in the print media. Her work has appeared on Newsmax.com, Drudge Report, Foxnews.com, Glenn Beck. Judi can be reached at: judi@canadafreepress.com
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