Well, the pre-election civil war in the Tory camp in Mississauga South is over, and it ended as might have been predicted, with democracy being beaten back into the corner where it can cower in shame — unless we need to call it out for a ceremonial curtain call.
When did it end?
Some would say it was the moment that John Tory agreed to have Tim Peterson cross the floor to join the Tories.
In a riding that Tory was at one time rumoured to be considering for himself, the leader agreed to accept Peterson, who crossed with the clear understanding he would be the Tory candidate. The decision didn’t just make him the black sheep in his own historically Liberal family, it made him one in the eyes of a lot of long-time, dyed-in-the-wool Conservatives in the riding too.
Most of the association already thought it had identified the rightful successor to provide the kind of low-key but solid community representation epitomized by the last two MPPs, Margaret Marland and Doug Kennedy.
Effie Triantafilopoulos had been working for a quarter century to prepare herself as a candidate. The lawyer had experience serving with federal ministers in Ottawa, at the helm of a major charitable institution and had served in virtually every capacity for the party. She ran because, “I wanted to make a positive change and I felt we didn’t have a strong representative at Queen’s Park.”
The nomination already seemed well in hand when Mr. Tory blind-sided her and the other two candidates, Brad Butt and Zoran Churchin. They folded their tents politely but Triantafilopoulos, emboldened by the outrage within the association, decided to stand her ground.
Despite what the party said, the rules did not seem to guarantee Peterson a free ride to the nomination. When the local Tory association defied president Dianne Lawson and voted to hold an open nomination, it looked for an instant that floor-crossing might not be its own reward.
However, the executive committee had second thoughts and later reversed its position on holding a nomination contest in an extremely close vote. Triantafilopoulos was left stranded. There was nowhere to appeal, except the courts, where an expensive and divisive battle awaited.
So she gave up the fight, not graciously, but in time to save Peterson and Tory further embarrassment.
You don’t get that many chances in politics, and you can hardly blame the Port Credit resident for feeling her best opportunity had been thwarted, and by the inferior (in her opinion) candidate she set out to unseat in the first place.
“I was very disappointed with what happened,” the never-an-official candidate said after her decision to abandon the non-race. She likens the experience to being struck by lightning. “Now I’m going to take time to recharge, take a holiday and just be a civilian again.”
When her family decided she would go for the nomination a year ago, they intended it to be a one-shot deal. Right now, she feels like her chance has come and gone. The former executive director of the Canadian Corporate Counsel Association found the whole experience, save the outcome, “superb. I feel I’ve grown so much.”
In what is started to sound like a trend, she will work for the party but not in Mississauga South.
And she still feels that the nomination rules ought to be changed. Mississauga-Streetsville MP Wajid Khan was not guaranteed the federal Tory candidacy when he crossed the floor and no one else should be, she argues.
“The rules ought to be clarified so you can have a contested nomination,” says Triantafilopoulos. “That way, if you change parties and you win the nomination, you create credibility for yourself.”
Ah yes, credibility. Something that is so easy to call for and so difficult to earn.
Triantafilopoulos may have caused the party she hoped to serve a painful couple of months of negative publicity, but it is she who emerges from this sad little sidebar having gained the most in reputation. She stood up for herself when the system stiffed her and she refused to just fold her tent and salute the new, party-approved instant Tory.
Believe they call that character, something they don’t give out with your party card.
Comments (8)
Facts supported by statistics may be true but very seldom do they illustrate the whole truth. Thus by their very nature part truths/half truths are very difficult to argue with.
Having worked with membership lists myself I understand the difference between numbers of membership forms filled in, submitted to party headquarters and registered and the numbers of membership forms acquired by an aspiring candidate, forms filled in but not yet submitted neither to party headquarters nor on the most up-to-date membership list.
However even taking the figures submitted by qpsandbox; Zoran 750, Brad 450 and Effie less than 300 for a total of plus or minus 1500; I have to wonder how many of those members were signed up by or in support of Mr. Peterson.
By the reaction from members and non members alike I would guess that the number is somewhere around zero. Let us say perhaps one possible Mississauga South Provincial Progressive Conservative signed up in support of Peterson. I base this hypothesis on that member’s virtually simultaneous announcement of pledging his support for Peterson while the John Tory/Tim Peterson announcement was being made downtown. That one member showed no shock or even mild surprise at the announcement and after months of hard work and personal commitment to his own campaign threw in the towel without a whimper.
Now let’s get to the period of time immediately after the grand announcement about Mr. Peterson’s sort-or, kind-of, maybe like halfway crossing the floor with the intention of going all the way like later at a more or less convenient time when hopefully the noise has died down.
The two remaining candidate want-to-be were so incredulous that they did not really believe that Mr. Tory would do such an umm, don’t know how to say this diplomatically, stupid thing. They continued to sign up new members in support of their campaigns, not Peterson’s acclamation.
Now let us pretend (because I don’t like to assume) that following the defection announcement and all its ancillary implications that people did rush to sign up in support of Peterson. I guess that one truth would be that those signing up in support of Peterson would be doing so as a symbolic show of support and not out of necessity because he has been promised an uncontested nomination.
In the unlikely event that Peterson did sign up new members to the Conservative Riding Association; it would be very interesting to see how many of those members names cross-reference with the Liberal’s Riding Association membership list. I’ll show you mine if you show me yours.
Posted by Stephen Wahl | June 16, 2007 10:43 AM
Posted on June 16, 2007 10:43
To reshape Mississauga South’s political perception behind realities and myths, Charles Souza and Tim Peterson may have to visited the actual Helter Skelter coming from the “Piano Room“ scenes behind our original Mississauga South public referendum or pick up on whether emigrants really are smarter than the regions COA makes us Canadian Mississaugian natives out to be .
I ain’t no Bono but I could have sworn worn I was playing Chops Sticks in the key of F before sister Deb Mathew’s was determining whether pooling natives away from public forum attendance records was a very smart thing to do in the first place.
Posted by Wayne Nagy | June 12, 2007 4:00 PM
Posted on June 12, 2007 16:00
From memberships submitted to the ontario pc party.
I do not speak in euphemisms. Only truths.
Posted by qpsandbox | June 12, 2007 1:35 AM
Posted on June 12, 2007 01:35
Well, you know what the Dave Matthews Band always said: don't drink the water. In this case, don't drink the political Kool-Aid.
Posted by crazyrabbits | June 8, 2007 2:57 PM
Posted on June 8, 2007 14:57
If ‘qp’ in lower case is code for the acronym ‘QP’ as in Queens Park and ‘sandbox’ is euphemism for ‘toilet’; then perhaps I do understand where those membership stats quoted below came from. Otherwise I haven’t got a clue.
Posted by Stephen Wahl | June 7, 2007 8:33 PM
Posted on June 7, 2007 20:33
Effie would not have won. Why is that so hard to understand??
When Tim crossed the floor, Zoran had sold 750 memberships, Brad Butt 450, and Effie LESS THAN 300.
How is that "had the nomination well in hand?"
Posted by qpsandbox | June 7, 2007 11:41 AM
Posted on June 7, 2007 11:41
Well democracy is never perfect, as Mrs. Triantafilopoulos can attest. It is her democratic right to question the process; it is her democratic right to volunteer where, when and if she chooses.
I am sure that Peterson will agree.
One local MPP does not agree. In the past, for someone like Mrs. T,
written threats of lawsuits, demands to report to the ICNSS for remediation, and lawsuits filed for defamation of character have resulted, when someone reportedly said they were leaving to volunteer somewhere else.
I guess some political parties treat their volunteers better than others. At least the PCs in Mississauga South won’t be sued for half a million dollars for banging on the walls or leaving!
Posted by Janet Seabrook | June 6, 2007 10:08 AM
Posted on June 6, 2007 10:08
KHAN.
PETERSON.
MISSISSAUGA COUNCIL.
Seriously. What's wrong with the Mississauga drinking water?
Posted by The Mississauga Muse | June 6, 2007 7:09 AM
Posted on June 6, 2007 07:09