Some quacked actors are lining up to assume the leadership of the Ontario Tories now that the John Tory experiment, that ill-fated attempt to move the party to the political centre, has failed miserably. Here’s the rundown.
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1. Tim Hudak
The MPP for Niagara West-Glanbrook has been waiting – and preparing – his whole life for this and has the backing of Harrisites in the party anxious to resell the Common Sense Revulsion. But while conflict-of-interest issues have been raised about Hudak’s main rival in the race, MPP Christine Elliott (who happens to be married to Finance Minister Jim Flaherty), Hudak’s own marital ties have been curiously overlooked. Does the name Deb Hutton, aka Jabba the Hutt, ring a bell? It should. She was Mike Harris’s chief of staff. And it was her name all over those cabinet documents pushing a hard line against native protesters at Ipperwash. We all know how that ended.
2. Christine Elliott
There’s no law against it, but the fact that the Whitby-Oshawa MPP goes to bed with federal finance minister Jim Flaherty raises trust issues.
A bit green, Elliott has only held elected office since 2006, when she won in a by-election. But there are doubtless lots of people eager to stay on her husband’s good side and thus willing to lend a hand – and some dollars – to her cause.
3. Randy Hillier
Rural rights, Conservative values – that’s Hillier for ya. Word is, Hudak’s people are scrambling to get Hillier to drop out. Not one to miss an opportunity to further his right-wing agenda, though, Hillier’s price will be high. Can you say “cabinet seat”? Once thought too out-there by some in his own party – the Tories tinkered with denying him the party nomination back in 2006 – the MPP for Lanark-Frontenac-Lennox fits right in with the party’s post-John Tory hard turn to the right. As a founder and past president of the Ontario Landowners Association, he still edits OLA’s official rag, The Landowner, in which screeds against “the winds of deceptive environmentalism” and the “rising tide of regulated fascism” are regularly served up.
4. Peter Van Loan
A former president of the party who made the jump to federal politics, Van Loan started out as a red Tory but has morphed into one of Stephen Harper’s attack dogs as MP for York-Simcoe and minister of Public Safety. He wouldn’t have a problem getting a seat, a prerequisite for party higher-ups afraid of a John Tory repeat. The provincial MPP in his riding, Julia Munro, is widely expected not to run in the next provincial election.
5. Janet Ecker
The Harris-era cabinet minister is putting out feelers. It’s not a given that the Tories, despite their tilt rightward, won’t opt for a more centrist candidate like Ecker. There are more than two years till the next election, but it’s a long shot. Also, time’s running out to raise the $50,000 entry fee and scrape together an organization for a late June convention.
6. Diane Finley
The minister of Human Resources and Skills Development and MP for Haldimand-Norfolk has her own marital ties to downplay – she’s hitched to backroom pit bull Doug Finley. Yes, he’s the same guy who was escorted out by security for running interference at the Commons ethics committee hearing into Tory campaign overspending. And he’s the individual alleged to have offered dying MP Chuck Cadman a $1 million life insurance policy in return for his vote to topple the Liberals.
7. Bob Runciman
The Leeds-Grenville MPP was recently appointed interim leader for the second time. He’s been telling friends for a year now that he’s growing tired of politics. It’s tough getting motivated when you’ve been in opposition so long. But Mad Dog is always sniffing around the periphery, prepared to be pressed into service should the whole shithouse go up in flames. And the way this race is shaking down, it just may.
enzom@nowtoronto.com
