By Judi McLeod & Arthur Weinreb——Bio and Archives--March 12, 2018
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“As the afternoon stretched into evening, rumours flew and it became clear Ford and Elliott were entangled in a neck and neck race, and that the party was struggling to determine a winner. (Toronto Sun) “The Toronto Sun learned that behind the scenes, officials struggled specifically with a “coding issue” that made it difficult to determine in exactly which ridings some electronic ballots were cast. “Because the race was so close, and a relative handful of disputed ballots could have changed the results if they were attributed to the wrong riding, a careful review was needed to ensure Ford had actually won.”To many, the biggest surprise of the outcome was that Caroline Mulroney, daughter of former Canadian Prime Minister Brian Mulroney, placed an embarrassing fourth. During the drawn out vote count, came shades of presidential election night 2016 (“Go home!”) John Podesta:
“However, the excessive delay didn’t sit well with the hundreds of party members who had waited patiently all day to greet their new leader. And when party officials announced at 7 p.m. everyone needed to go home to wait for the official results, they were met with a chorus of “boos.” (Toronto Sun) “And it was Ford’s fans for the most part who reacted with furious boos and “Ford won” as the convention came to a close without a result. “Former PC MPP Frank Klees was visibly agitated as the convention wrapped up, and suggested it would be “abominable” if Elliott is refusing to accept the results, though Elliott hadn’t said that.
“As somebody who has been a member of this party since ’74, has represented the legislature for 19 years, has been a cabinet minister, this moment in time is the most embarrassing moment of my life as a member of this party.” “However, other party members, including PC MPP Todd Smith, supported the decision of the leadership election officials to delay the announcement. “There are a lot of people who are hot and they’re angry and they’ve been around for several hours waiting for the result,” Smith said. “What we really need to do is make sure that the votes that were cast end up in the proper riding and that we have a true leader of the Ontario PC Party going forward.”But biggest LOL of them all, Ontario opposition parties are already aping the American Democrats left in exile after Trump’s stunning 2016 election: “Opposition parties were unimpressed with the PCs leadership process with the NDP saying the Tories are not fit to govern the province. (Toronto Sun) Who does that sound like? “Meanwhile, the Ontario Liberals issued a statement suggesting Conservatives have gone back in time to pick the most conservative leader they could find. (TorontoSun.com) Wasn’t that the main point of the leadership convention?
“With the selection of Doug Ford, Ontario Conservatives have chosen corporate interests over workers, religious extremism over the rights of women, and cuts at the expense of our healthcare and education,” the statement said. (TorontoSun.com) “The Liberals summed it up as “a leadership contest plagued with claims of corruption and incompetence culminated in a day of delays, swirling rumours and utter uncertainty.”The prospects of a Doug Ford premiership looking more than just possible, Ontarians may be able to pay their hydro bills again without having to borrow from money set aside for their groceries. Ontario PC Leader candidate, mother of 4, Tanya Granic Allen’s dream of rooting out all of Liberal Premier Kathleen Wynne’s wind turbines blighting the Ontario landscape, may be realized at long last. “We have a lot to do in a short amount of time,” Ford said late Saturday in his acceptance speech. “Together we will return our province to where it belongs.” “To the people of Ontario, I say relief is on the way,” he said. “To Kathleen Wynne, I say your days are numbered as premier.” During the upcoming provincial election, less than three months away, you won’t be able to see a sea of red hats emblazoned with the words, ‘Make America Great Again’, as President Trump saw again in Pennsylvania last night, because it will be a sea of blue hats, marked with the words, ‘Make Ontario Sane Again’.
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