Provincial Election

[Cre47]

Wanted to start this thread about the upcoming Ontario election coming this fall but probably many know that our good old buddy Randell Danley is running for the PC against Bob Chiarelli.



Citizen columnist ‘gets involved’; Randall Denley to run for Tories in provincial election


By TOM SPEARS and Lee Greenberg May 17, 2011 3:01 PM Comments (10)



Randall Denley joins Tim Hudak to announce Denley’s candidacy for the Ontario Conservative Party in the riding of Ottawa West-Nepean.
Photograph by: Chris Mikula, The Ottawa Citizen

Citizen columnist Randall Denley confirmed Tuesday that he’ll seek a Conservative nomination in next fall’s provincial election, saying he’s following his advice to others — to get involved.

“As a newspaper columnist you can say: ‘Other people should do this, other people should do that.’ You can’t really do anything yourself,” he told reporters.

“If you’re going to make a difference, you have to get involved in the process.”

It was a hard decision, he said: “I think the election in Ottawa West-Nepean is going to be a lot more fun to write about than to participate in.”

He called incumbent Liberal Bob Chiarelli “a tough opponent,” but wouldn’t comment on him otherwise.

Denley said Ontario faces rising energy costs and the expenses of the HST. These are job killers for young people and they erode the savings of older people, he said, and these are the issues that drew him to the campaign.

“People who have followed my writing over the last 19 years know that I fight for taxpayers. Now I want to take that fight to a new arena at Queen’s Park,” he said.

A date for the nomination meeting has not yet been set.

Party leader Tim Hudak called Denley “a star candidate,” and said the party leaders have discussed their support of Denley with others who might have entered the nomination race.

“It certainly was conveyed to (other) candidates that there was a star candidate in the race. It was very well received,” he said.

Hudak said the other potential candidates are supporting Denley. The provincial Liberals put out a statement saying Hudak forced them to step aside.

Denley is taking a leave until the election, and would quit the paper if he wins. He has been on staff since 1983.

Running for office “is something that people have often suggested to me, but it’s something I never really pursued,” he said. “I think this is a unique opportunity. I think we have a strong party, I think we do need to make change in Ontario, and I want to be part of that change.”

Asked about local issues in the riding, he said they tend to be the same as the provincial ones — taxes and energy costs.

Chiarelli, who serves as infrastructure minister in Dalton McGuinty’s cabinet, said Denley would make an “interesting” candidate.

“I welcome Randall to the race and look forward to the opportunity to engage in a very interesting debate,” he said late Monday night.

Chiarelli added he will look to Denley to clarify Hudak’s ambiguous policy stances on issues like full-day kindergarten and the unpopular harmonized sales tax. Tories have opposed both measures but are unclear on whether they would scrap them, said Chiarelli. Denley has written in his column that the HST is good for businesses.

“I’m hoping the candidate will be willing to answer those questions that Tim Hudak refuses to answer,” Chiarelli said.

The provincial Liberals, meanwhile, are pointing to what they say is a contradiction in Tory policy. In appointing Denley, Hudak overrode an open nomination process in Ottawa West-Nepean, effectively shelving the candidacies of three lesser-known figures. Hudak refused to do the same in Carleton-Mississippi Mills, where, earlier this year, libertarian upstart Jack MacLaren challenged — and eventually triumphed over — veteran MPP Norm Sterling to win the nomination.

Premier Dalton McGuinty was asked about Denley’s entry into the race Tuesday morning.

“I welcome anyone from any background who chooses to enter into the race as a candidate,” he told reporters. “You know, there is so much cynicism felt for politics and political institutions. And, as I say, I welcome anybody who chooses to get involved … And I know that Mr. Chiarelli, in particular, welcomes the competition.”

Hudak called Denley “one of Ontario’s finest journalists.”
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