CollingwoodToday welcomes letters to the editor. Send your letter to [email protected]. This letter is in reference to Doug Ford's appointment of Brian Saunderson as the Simcoe Grey candidate for the PC party.
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After living a year and a half with COVID in our presence we have been asked to make many sacrifices. From stay-at-home orders and parents juggling children in and out of school to our front line workers and small businesses bearing a terrible burden to keep us all safe. The people of Ontario have by and large been very subservient to the ever-changing government wishes.
It can even be argued some of the government requests were unconstitutional, perhaps the best example was Premier Doug Ford’s insistence to close schools when his cabinet voted to have them stay open.
But one thing that remained steadfast during the pandemic was our democratic right to vote…Until today.
Ford put a stop to the democratic process taking place right here in Simcoe-Grey. After almost a year of candidates signing up new members for support – 783 to be exact – Ford inserted himself into the nomination race and self-selected which candidate would represent the Ontario PC Party in the local riding for next year’s election.
Stripping party members of our voting rights, Ford announced that he was appointing Brian Saunderson – a half-term Mayor of Collingwood – to be the candidate. This decision gave no regard for the democratic process or paid any respect to the efforts of the three other candidates.
This is not the first time a Premier has appointed a candidate; however, it is typically reserved for a candidate of distinction.
The sum total of Mayor Saunderson's political career is one complete term as deputy mayor of Collingwood and half a term as our mayor. During his time as mayor, he has made a name for our town as having one of the costliest judicial inquires in the province, all at the expense of the taxpayers at over $8M. Then, there is our current water crisis which is forcing the town to halt any future development for up to two years.
Since Ford’s announcement, the chairperson of the riding association's nominating committee, amongst others on the board, has resigned.
I ask myself – what is behind Ford’s strategy to alienate so many long-time conservatives? Both Ford and Sanderson’s fathers were in Premier Harris’ cabinet – is this all it takes to for an invite into Ford’s political circle?
Unfortunately, Ford has the power to shield Brian from having to face his political baggage. But should we be forced to watch, not only our town, but our riding continue to crumble? How can we expect Mayor Saunderson to continue to dedicate 100 per cent to his mayoral duties whilst campaigning to be the MPP of Simcoe Grey?
Mayor Saunderson, you've been given so much, why not have the decency to resign in your current mayoral role so the town you’ve represented for the past couple of years can start to pick up the pieces?
I, and the other 783 members, want our membership fees back.
Ted Rowe
Collingwood
