An Open Letter To The Residents of Haliburton-Kawartha Lakes-Brock

Dear Residents of Haliburton-Kawartha Lakes-Brock,

Given the upcoming by-election that you will be participating in on Thursday, I wanted to share some crucial information that I believe you should know before you collectively cast your ballot later this week.

As you all have been made aware over the past month, you will have a unique opportunity this Thursday to put to rest a dark and regrettable period in Ontario political history by rejecting John Tory’s bid to become your MPP. Mr. Tory has demonstrated over the past six years an impressive track record of serving his home town well and representing its values and concerns to all levels of government. However admirable this might be, let us not confuse the facts here: Mr. Tory’s roots are in Toronto, not Lindsay, and allowing Mr. Tory to succeed this week will ensure that there will merely be another Member for Toronto Centre at Queen’s Park next week, not one for your community!

As important as local representation is, it isn’t as important as what I am about to share. You see, Mr. Tory’s staff and supporters, who control the Ontario PC Party’s offices, sent me a brown envelope just over a year ago that still sits at on my kitchen table. The envelope was sent by Mr. Tory’s supporters during his recent, and much publicized, leadership review. Inside was a passionate plea for me, a voter in that review, to keep Mr. Tory as PC Party leader. What is concerning about this envelope though is that the costs associated with it were not paid for by Mr. Tory or his supporters directly but from PC Party funds. Mr. Tory, when confronted by this last year, admitted that this highly unethical act was a problem and promised to repay the thousands of dollars that were misappropriated for his direct gain. To this date, March 2, 2009, he has not publicly come forward to return this money that his supporters virtually stole from party donors.

Given the track record of Mr. Tory and his team, do we really want to give him the opportunity to access provincial coffers? What guarantees do we have that John Tory’s team won’t misuse our tax dollars given that they have already failed the test with partisan donations? Can we afford a provincial sponsorship scandal under Mr. Tory’s watch? These are all important questions that I believe clearly prove Mr. Tory is unworthy of public trust.

And so I, an Ontario PC member of 11 years until 2008, ask each of you to help us to end this nightmare. Please, to my colleagues who usually vote Progressive Conservative, understand that after asking Liberals five years ago to vote their conscience after the sponsorship scandal hit, it is our turn to do the right thing…not the partisan thing! Please, on Thursday, vote for anybody but John Tory and help our province to get back on the right track!