By MANDI HARGRAVE
Published January 18th 2007 in Orangeville Citizen (Ontario)
"Finally," remarked Ms. Jones with an enormous smile after being declared the winner. "This nomination was the best training a person could ask for to prepare for October's general election."
Currently executive assistant to Conservative leader John Tory in his role as MPP for Dufferin- Peel-Wellington-Grey, Ms. Jones was the first of six candidates to announce she was running for the position. Her competitors were former Orangeville Mayor Drew Brown, former Orangeville Deputy Mayor Nick Garisto, political newcomers Paul Hong and Lynne Moore, and former Caledon Councillor Jim Wallace.
An unusual preferential voting system was used to determine the winner. Members voted just once and ranked each candidate from one to six. The candidate with the fewest top rankings was dropped after each round of counting and their ballots redistributed to the voters' next choice. The ballots were then counted again until one candidate had an absolute majority - 50 per cent plus one vote.
The closeness of the contest was shown by the fact the ballots ultimately had to be counted five times.
Party officials refused to release any of the results or even to indicate who was being dropped. However, scrutineers observed the process and advised their candidates that the fifth and final ballot was a battle between Ms. Jones and Mr. Hong. Mr. Garisto was dropped first, followed by Ms. Moore, Mr. Brown and Mr. Wallace.
Out of about 2,500 registered PC members in the riding, 1,515 attended the event to cast a ballot, and about an additional 500 spectators were present just to watch.
Each candidate was given a 10-minute timeslot for a speech before voting took place. In some cases, a portion of the timeslot was used by a supporter introducing the candidate.
Mr. Tory also spoke, saying it was a source of great pride for him to see a meeting of this size in the new riding.
With nine more months for him to serve in the old riding, he thanked the party members for having accepted him as their candidate after he was elected leader and former premier Ernie Eves gave up the seat.
Mr. Tory, who has been nominated to contest a Toronto riding, said he's learned a lot from the local riding, which had made him a better leader.
"I've learned to love these communities, about the importance of the rural communities and smaller towns in Ontario, about the importance of the farm and accommodating farm communities and our farmers.'
The leader said he is proud his party could produce six candidates with great qualities and people who had the courage to offer themselves for public office in Dufferin-Caledon.
"All of them are people who you know can serve as members of provincial parliament with distinction and with ability," he said.
He urged members present to get behind the candidate who emerged with the most votes because they were all winners and it was important to unify.
"The stakes of doing otherwise are too high," he said. "Holding this seat is an important part of forming a new Progressive Conservative government for the province of Ontario."
Explaining his decision to run in Toronto, he said he was doing so because that's where he's from and he feels it's important to renew the party in Toronto, where the Conservatives currently have no seats in the legislature. He said the person to show that courage and leadership should be himself.
Mr. Eves also attended the meeting and spoke, saying it's encouraging there were six very qualified candidates running. He noted the huge turnout spoke well for the riding.
In introducing Ms. Jones, Orangeville businessman Doug Harkness reminded the audience that her career in politics started over 15 years ago when she began working for current MP David Tilson, and continued with Mr. Eves and Mr. Tory, noting she had earned the trust of all four to work in this riding.
He said this experience had given Ms. Jones a unique perspective into the issues facing the riding.
In her speech, Ms. Jones said the candidate must have a good understanding of the riding's issues and not just one or two contentious issues, because they would likely change by the election date and over the term of the government.
"You must be able to react quickly, with a clear understanding of what is good for the riding, which means you must know the entire riding now," she said. "I know the riding. I've been meeting with people and dealing with the issues for 15 years."
Ms. Jones said that as Conservatives they don't expect much for the riding from the current Liberal government.
"What we do expect is that the infrastructure needed to get it to work will be maintained and improved," she said. "It shouldn't take 20 years to widen Highway 10 through Caledon Village or extend the 410."
She continued, "We expect to have a family doctor when we need one and emergency rooms that are staffed with enough nurses and health care professionals to do the job."
As well, Ms. Jones said a government that understands rural Ontario needs to be elected so farmers can farm instead of having to protest in Toronto.
She thanked her opponents for their competition, which she said had made her work very hard.
Ms. Jones told reporters after her victory that she planned to begin campaigning for the October election immediately, at an event she was to attend Sunday.
Asked what she saw as important election issues, she replied: "I think provincially you're going to see the top three being health care, education and the environment. Locally, we always seem to have transportation issues and infrastructure problems that need to be dealt with."
If elected, Ms. Jones said, she will continue working for the riding, farmers and to have health care improved.
"I'd like to think I will continue to do what John Tory and Ernie Eves have been doing before me," she said in an interview Tuesday, "which is advocating strongly for the riding to make sure we're getting our fair share and to make sure the money is coming in for health care, infrastructure, farming and the environment."
However, Ms. Jones said there are some serious inequities with how the money is coming through for infrastructure, whether for roads and bridges or in the health care system.
She said Headwaters Health Care Centre is finding itself at a disadvantage because money and resources from the current government aren't keeping pace with the riding's population growth.
Ms. Jones said agricultural issues need to be addressed and solved province-wide, but Dufferin and Peel farmers are in a unique situation. Since they are so close to urban centres they tend to receive some of those pressures sooner. She said bigger-picture solutions are needed for farmers all across the province.
"We have to make sure that Dufferin-Caledon's voice is heard,"she said.
The order candidates were to give speeches was determined by lot ahead of time.
Mr. Hong, the first to speak, told the crowd he ran for three reasons. The first was because he values the opportunities this country and community have given him and he would like to give back.
Secondly, he cared about the community so he couldn't just sit back and watch while the Liberal government took it down the wrong path.
His final reason was because he shared the same values - of volunteerism, hard work, personal integrity and commitment to building a strong and diverse team - as Mr. Tory.
Mr. Brown reflected on his career in municipal politics, as a member of Orangeville council for three terms as a councillor and mayor for two terms.
He said he was elected to fix the poisoned relationship Orangeville had with its neighbours. He had been able to do that and therefore able to see a bypass built for the town. He had a record of accomplishment and a reputation of dealing with issues others tend to shy away from after the election is over.
Mr. Garisto highlighted his move from a small town in Italy to Toronto where he had lived and worked before starting a family in Orangeville. He was a member of Orangeville Council for nine years - six has a councillor and three has deputy mayor.
Mr. Garisto discussed seven issues of importance to him: transportation, health care, seniors, waste management, energy, taxes and agriculture. He said the safety of commuters is his first priority and a plan needs to be established to bring in affordable housing for seniors and recruit more physicians to the area.
Ms. Moore has lived and worked on a farm for the past 24 years and has worked in the Ontario Superior Court trial office at Brampton for the last 19 years.
She wanted to see the time frame of when a child is diagnosed with a learning disability shortened, as children with such disabilities often aren't diagnosed until their self-esteem is gone and they become young offenders.
Ms. Moore said rules for immigrant doctors need to be standardized faster to help with doctor shortages in Dufferin-Caledon and the rest of the province.
Mr. Wallace, who with his wife Susan owns the Belfountain Inn, said he has great management skills, having been able to turn a struggling restaurant into a thriving, award-winning restaurant.
He said he took incredible pride being a Caledon councillor because they were able to establish a strategic plan to solve some transportation issues, become debt-free, increase community safety and develop activities for youth.
Issues important to him included the environment, agriculture, growth and health care. He predicted that now that the election is nearing there will be a flurry of activity from the Liberal government to deal with some of these issues.