Christine Elliott – Page 3

Wednesday February 21, 2018

February 20, 2018 by Graeme MacKay

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Wednesday February 21, 2018

Patrick Brown’s PC leadership bid could lead to ‘political fratricide,’ experts say

January 26, 2018

Patrick Brown’s entry into the Ontario Progressive Conservative leadership race could lead to ruthless infighting, leaving the party at a disadvantage, experts say.

“This is a time when the party should be taking all its resources and throwing them at Kathleen Wynne,” Jim Warren, a political strategist who has worked with the Ontario Liberals, said this week.

“Instead, they’ve got the guns pointed at each other and are about to have a ‘shootout at the OK Corral.’ You will see this real insider fighting — political fratricide, if you will — of the leaders turning on each other.”

January 30, 2018

Brown entered the race on Friday, just weeks after he resigned in the wake of allegations of sexual misconduct made by two women and first reported by CTV.

The other four leadership candidates, preparing for opponents with roughly similar political advantages, will now have to revise their game plan to focus on Brown. The former leader already has a base of support and extensive political experience.

“He’s been the leader for the last two years. He has sold a lot of the memberships to the members now. Are they PC members or Patrick Brown members?” Warren said.

Patrick Brown Retrospective

Either way, Brown’s entry into the leadership race is a gift to the Ontario Liberals, according to Jaime Watt, executive chair of the public relations company Navigator and a long-time Conservative strategist.

“I think it harms all the candidates at an important time in Ontario’s history,” Watt said.

“If I were (Kathleen Wynne) I’d be running to the convenience store to buy a lottery ticket.” (Source: CBC News)

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Thursday February 15, 2018

February 14, 2018 by Graeme MacKay

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Thursday February 15, 2018

Sex-ed and other social-conservative hot buttons starting to light up Ontario Tory leadership race

For more than two years, the Ontario Tories have managed to skirt around the kind of social-conservative flashpoints that have brought them little but grief in the past. But as the party’s leadership race picks up momentum — and a surprise, potential fourth candidate — that unofficial moratorium appears to be ending.

Two of the three most prominent contenders say they will at least revisit the controversial new sex-education curriculum introduced by the Liberal government, with one charging Monday it is riddled with “Liberal ideology,” the other promising she would allow free votes on questions of conscience. And the newest would-be entrant — Tanya Granic Allen, head of a parents group that opposed the sex-ed revamp — is pledging to make sex-ed and similar issues her prime focus.

Pro-life groups are suddenly energized, and hope the candidates will also debate the Liberal law passed last fall that created “bubble zones” around abortion clinics, rendering pro-life protests illegal within 50 metres.

“We have been crying for three years, unwanted in our party, but now are back in the fold,” said Charles McVety, Ontario’s most prominent evangelical Christian activist.

Allen said she will use her candidacy to “force” those issues to the fore — so long as she raises the $100,000 needed to officially run.

“There are a lot of grass-roots conservatives who feel disenfranchised, who feel shut out of this party,” she said in an interview Friday. “I’m here to be their voice.”

The more mainstream candidates are undoubtedly eager to corral some of those Tories, too. Rreaching out to social conservatives may well be a “shrewd” short-term strategy, says pollster Greg Lyle, head of the Innovative Research Group. (Continued: National Post)

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Saturday May 9, 2015

May 8, 2015 by Graeme MacKay

Editorial cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Saturday May 9, 2015

Conservative MP Patrick Brown ahead in Tory leadership vote in Hamilton, says party official

As the Progressive Conservative party holds its second vote for its members May 7 on who will be their next leader, in Hamilton, Conservative MP Patrick Brown appears to be in the lead, say party sources.

After the May 3 vote, Brown collected 67 per cent of the votes in all four of Hamilton’s ridings: Hamilton East-Stoney Creek, Ancaster-Flamborough-Dundas-Westdale, Hamilton Mountain, and Hamilton Centre.

Party sources say Brown, who represents Barrie in the House of Commons, is also leading “across the province” after the first ballot over Whitby-Oshawa MPP Christine Elliott.

Brown’s campaign officials stated in a May 3 release they’re “expectations were exceeded” with the “thousands” of people who turned out to vote for Brown.

When asked to comment on Brown’s lead, Elliott’s spokesperson, Marie Prentice referred to Elliott’s statement May 3 referring to the “tens of thousands of Elliott supporters (that) came out to the polls in every riding and put Elliott on the path to victory.”

Elliott cited a recent poll of party members who are eligible to vote revealing 58 per cent of them would vote for her as leader.

Brown’s campaign reported in March that they had sold over 40,000 party memberships, doubling the number of Elliott’s memberships that were sold. Elliott has said she has “wide support” across the province. (Source: Hamilton Spectator)

Wednesday October 8, 2014

October 8, 2014 by Graeme MacKay

By Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Wednesday October 8, 2014

Poll suggests Whitby-Oshawa MPP Christine Elliott leads Ontario PC race

Whitby-Oshawa MPP Christine Elliott is the front-runner in the race to lead the Progressive Conservatives, a new Forum Research poll suggests.

Ms. Elliott and fellow female candidate Lisa MacLeod (Nepean-Carleton) are ahead of their three male rivals as the Tories seek a successor to Tim Hudak, who led the party to defeat at the hands of Premier Kathleen Wynne’s Liberals in June.

Ms. Elliott was at 14 per cent, compared to 9 per cent for Ms. MacLeod. MP Patrick Brown, who has said he will not resign his federal seat in Barrie unless he wins the May 9 provincial leadership, was at 5 per cent followed by MPPs Vic Fedeli (Nipissing) and Monte McNaughton (Lambton-Kent-Middlesex) at 4 per cent apiece.

Some 19 per cent said they would prefer a different candidate while 43 per cent were not sure.

“They need a major refresh — they’ve got to have learned that,” Forum president Lorne Bozinoff said, noting the Conservatives “didn’t do that well among women” voters on June 12.

“So it’s not that bad of an idea,” he said, pointing out the Tories’ main opponents are (Ms.) Wynne and NDP Leader Andrea Horwath.

Using interactive voice response phone calls, Forum surveyed 1,079 people with results considered accurate to within three percentage points 19 times out of 20.

Ms. Elliott, 59, enjoyed an even larger lead among respondents who identified themselves as Conservatives.

Of the 367 Tories polled, 24 per cent supported her and 11 per cent backed Ms. MacLeod, 39, the only candidate yet to officially enter the contest.

Six per cent picked the 36-year-old Mr. Brown, 5 per cent opted for Mr. Fedeli, 58, while 3 per cent selected Mr. McNaughton, 37. Twenty per cent preferred “someone else” and 30 per cent weren’t sure.

Even though that’s a smaller sample, Mr. Bozinoff said “if this were a delegate survey, it might look like this.”

“Some of this guys just don’t have major profile — like Patrick Brown and Monte McNaughton,” the pollster said (Source: Durhamregion.com)