Election notebook

Rating: NNNNN

Votetoronto.ca, the group that spearheaded opposition to the Island Airport during the last fall’s municipal elections, has come out with its ratings of the city’s 22 Liberal MPs. And the conclusions, based on MP participation in parliamentary debates, attendance records and positions on city issues, are hardly encouraging for Grit supporters.

The dubious honour of worst MP went to Trinity-Spadina’s Tony Ianno , who according to VoteToronto.ca spoke on issues only five times in 393 sessions of Parliament since 2000. Now we know what critics mean when they call him the invisible MP.

Eglinton-Lawrence MP Joe Volpe , one of two Paul Martin frontmen on the waterfront, finished a close second. Number one among T.O. Grits on voteToronto’s assessment is former Don Valley East MP and former transportation minister David Collenette , who, alas, is not running this time around. Go figure.

It’s difficult to figure the sierra Club of Canada out. The eco group recently handed out its “eco-Olympic” gold, silver and bronze medals to candidates across Canada. It’s no surprise that Conservative leader Stephen Harper was eliminated for his opposition to Kyoto and for stating that he does not accept the science around climate change.

What is shocking is that the group awarded more medals to the Liberals than the NDP, and that recent eco convert Paul Martin finished tied with NDP leader Jack Layton , the guy who wrote the book on renewable energy. Martin’s promises to fund climate change initiatives won him the honour.

Sierra’s assessment is all the more curious in light of the fact that the eco group eliminated the Jean Chretien -led Liberals in its 2000 eco-Olympics for breaking promises to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, protect endangered species and complete a national parks system, among other things.

The Green party, meanwhile, rated hardly a mention in Sierra’s competition, finishing a distant third in overall medals, although the party’s platform was rated the most green overall.

When was the last time Martin gave up his limo to ride a bike to work?

It was with some eagerness that the Grits made calls to the media last week announcing that Grand Council Chief Earl Commanda of the Anishinabek Nation, and Tony Belcourt , president of the Metis Nation of Ontario, would be encouraging natives to vote Liberal on June 28. “The Liberal government under Paul Martin has initiated a positive agenda to reduce poverty in First Nations communities, and we want to give him the opportunity to move forward on that agenda,” said Commanda in an official statement released after a press conference at the Native Canadian Centre June 10.

“Having carefully examined the platforms and track records of all parties, we have decided that the Liberal party has demonstrated the best understanding and greatest commitment to ensuring that Canada honours its fiduciary obligation to uphold aboriginal and treaty rights.”

Strange words of support coming from a native leader, especially given that, as the First Nations Strategic Policy Counsel points out in its recent assessment of the party platforms, the Liberals also committed to “building a new relationship based on trust and mutual respect” with aboriginal peoples, as well as “recognition of the inherent right of aboriginal self-government,” back in 93 – only to renege on those promises in 95. Cabinet then adopted a policy stating that “the inherent right of self-government does not include a right of sovereignty in the international law sense, and will not result in sovereign independent aboriginal nation states.”

In other words, First Nations negotiating treaty rights should not be under any illusions that final agreements will be based on “an inherent right to self-government.” We won’t even mention proposed changes to the Indian Act that some First Nations leaders say are a recipe for cultural genocide.

Members of the former progres sive Conservative party feeling betrayed by Peter MacKay and his merger deal with the devil, namely Stephen Harper ‘s Reform Alliance, have re-formed under the Progressive Canadian party banner. The party, which is officially registered and was organized completely online – none of the organizers have actually met face to face – are fielding 16 candidates across the country, including eight in the GTA and three in Toronto (Scarborough-Agincourt, Trinity-Spadina and Willowdale). “A lot of voters are genuinely concerned about placing Canada’s future in the hands of Stephen Harper and his Conservative Party, despite Harper’s recent attempts to put a benign, benevolent face on his party,” says the PC party’s national coordinator, Joe Hueglin . No kidding.

Is Alan Tonks playing hide and seek , or is he just too plain arrogant to bother showing for all-candidates debates? The Grit MP for York South-Weston ditched a debate this week sponsored by the Portuguese-Canadian radio/television station FPTV/CIRV-FM.

When the office of NDP candidate Paul Ferreira called Tonks’s people to find out what happened, they said their man had car troubles.

“It’s another sign of Liberal arrogance,” Ferreira was quick to remark.

Perhaps Tonks was leery of wading into enemy territory, where he’d be up against the Portuguese-speaking Ferreira addressing his natural constituency.

It’s the second time in recent days that Tonks has missed an all-candidate’s debate. He failed to show for a debate at St. Matthew’s School the week before.

Tonks’s disappearing act, however, shouldn’t come as a surprise. He’s only receded further into the woodwork since being elected MP.

It’s the issue that won’t go away for Toronto-Danforth Liberal incumbent Dennis Mills . We’re talking here of that impromptu promise Dennis the Menace made last winter to convert a derelict building on Gerrard into housing for the homeless – or resign. On June 3, a homeless man was found dead a stone’s throw from the house that Mills promised to convert. The Ontario Coalition Against Poverty called a press conference the next day to remind voters of “the massive wave of social abandonment the Liberals have presided over since 1993,” and the fact that 10 homeless people have died on the streets this spring alone.

Mills was quick to lambaste NDP leader Jack Layton for suggesting broken Liberal housing promises have led directly to the deaths of homeless people. Who’s lying now?