The curiosity candidate on Day One is arguably John
"The Knife" Mykytyshyn,
Common Sense policy creator and former pollster for Mike Harris (c.
1990-
1999) and Stockwell Day (c.2000), and co-founder of the Conservative Leadership Foundation (c.1990), which undertook a
youth retreat at McMaster that offered an early snapshot of what would become an Ontario PC dumpster fire.
Ontario Tories apologize to party activists after controversial youth seminar
(Toronto Star, Robert Benzie, August 23 2016)
A Progressive Conservative campaign training session for young party activists was marred by shoe-throwing, sexist language and participants being denied adequate food and water, the Star has learned.
More than 100 youth members paid between $295 and $395 for the Conservative Leadership Foundation (CLF) event and the party has received 40 complaints from participants and their parents.
Organized by veteran strategist John Mykytyshyn — and attended by Tory Leader Patrick Brown — the Aug. 12-14 conference at McMaster University’s Les Prince Hall was designed to prepare young Tories for the hothouse atmosphere of a campaign.
But sources said the election boot camp got out of hand with the youth members being deprived of food and water in the seminar room — including a diabetic who experienced considerable discomfort — and an official hurling his shoe and yelling sexist epithets at a young woman during his presentation.
Mykytyshyn, who was an ardent Brown supporter during last year’s Tory leadership race, did not return messages seeking comment.
He is no stranger to controversy; in 2000 he resigned from the executive of the Canadian Alliance, a precursor to the federal Conservative Party of Canada, for saying Maritime residents “don’t want to work for a living, to go to where the jobs were, like all our ancestors did.”
Elsewhere…
Questions over Tory forum
(Toronto Star, Robert Benzie, Aug 17, 2007]
A controversial California-based "self-help" group was enlisting new recruits at a major Conservative youth meeting last weekend, the Star has learned.
Landmark Education, the San Francisco organization descended from Werner Erhard's 1970's-era EST, held a 90-minute session as part of the Conservative Leadership Foundation conference. The foundation boasts connections to both provincial and federal Tory parties.
Ontario Progressive Conservative Leader John Tory spoke at the event, but was not aware that organizers had also invited Landmark to do a presentation.
Landmark, which operates in 25 countries around the world and employs 450 people, emphasizes on its website that "dozens of psychiatrists, psychologists, clergy members, and other professionals ... have concluded that Landmark's programs are not psychological, cult-like, religious, or sociological in nature."
"Mr. Tory attended the event, but did not organize it. The organization you refer to was not on the agenda that was presented to Mr. Tory's staff," said PC campaign spokesperson Ingrid Thompson.
"Had we known that they were going to be attending we would not have supported attending the event," Thompson said yesterday.
"It's ridiculous," said one PC member, who expressed concern at the party entangling itself with Landmark.
"There were kids as young as 14 or 15 years old at this. Imagine you're a parent who lets their son or daughter go off to what they assume is a political meeting and other organizations like this are participating," said the veteran party activist.
The Conservative Leadership Foundation hosts the annual conference, which is organized by veteran strategist John Mykytyshyn.
And…
Mr. Mykytyshyn's mistake (The Globe & Mail, Aug 16, 2000)
Alliance official quits after anti-East slur (The Globe & Mail, John Ibbitson, Aug 16, 2000]
He certainly seems to have a hard time with August.
He's also a shadowy partisan operative,
described by Macleans in a story on the Eve Adams nomination battle:
…John Mykytyshyn, a well-known Tory warrior with a reputation for bare-knuckle politics.
“He’s been stacking meetings and directing riding campaigns for decades,” says Arthur Kryzycki, a former Tory staffer and longtime Adams friend. “If there’s an uncomfortable situation that can be made worse, he has the skill and aptitude to do it.”
Which invites the question: Is he actually running for council or is this about the provincial election?
Edited to add:
It turns out, both of the Day One candidates for Ward 13 have fresh and explicit ties to the Ontario PCs.