Last night I nipped down to the magnificent David D. Simone Performance Hall at the Town Square in Aurora for the latest candidates forum hosted by former Aurora Mayor, Geoff Dawe. 
The evening was designed to give a stage to all the candidates running in Newmarket-Aurora and, to our south, Aurora-Oak Ridges-Richmond Hill.
In the last Parliament both ridings were held by the Liberals, Tony Van Bynen (who is retiring – again) and Leah Taylor-Roy who is the incumbent and running for the second time.
Low expectations
I went along with very low expectations.
I no longer expect feisty exchanges and the clash of opposing views, deeply held. Those days are a distant memory.
Now everyone is reading from a script. The candidates aren’t even allowed to challenge or interact with each other. It’s politics as an analgesic. Low energy, killing any excitement.
As expected, the Conservative candidates Sandra Cobena and Costas Menegakis didn’t show up. And neither did the two paper candidates being fielded by the NDP.
I saw in front of me Jennifer McLachlan (Liberal, Newmarket-Aurora) and three candidates from Aurora-Oak Ridges-Richmond Hill.
Star of the show
Leah Taylor Roy – who originally said she would only turn up if her Conservative opponent did – was the star of the show.
She was thoughtful and knowledgeable and her answers to the questions posed were persuasive and to the point. She got a round of applause from an otherwise comatose audience when she spoke about the need for electoral reform. Her riding is regarded as a bell weather and it would be a tragedy if she lost as a result of a split in the non-Conservative vote.
She confronted Tom Muench on stage about infringing election law.
Tom Muench from the Green Party was a huge disappointment. His ponderous, meandering replies were a complete turn-off. He reminded me of the pub bore constantly telling the audience that if they knew as much as he did - about pretty much everything - they would, in awe, vote for him. There was nothing recognisably Green about anything he said. Where on earth do political parties get their candidates from?
People's Party
Alongside Muench, sat Igor Tvorogov from the People’s Party of Canada. He is anti-vax, pro Protest Convoy, pro-white European, anti everyone else. Oh yes! And he didn’t know the meaning of the word “portfolio”. 
Dawe asked the candidates if they were successful which portfolio would they like to be offered. After a long convoluted answer from Igor (he wants to be Minister of Software) Dawe sighed:
“The question was meant to be whimsical.”
New to politics
Jennifer McLachlan is a thousand times better when she forgets the notes in front of her and talks from the heart. But this only gets her so far. I sense there are still yawning gaps in her knowledge on a range of important issues. She explains:
“I am new to politics and I have some learning to do. I have Mr Van Bynen who has been mentoring me over the last while and he will continue to support me while I head to Ottawa and work with the community after. People always ask how are you gonna fill his shoes? And I say there's no chance I will fill his shoes but he's passed me the torch. So let's see how fast I can go with it and run around this riding as much as I can.”
Oh dear!
That means safe and middle of the road and unadventurous. That’s not what I want in my MP. I want a free thinker and someone who will use the platform they’ve been given to speak out and make a difference. Throw away the crutch. Don’t lean on your mentor indefinitely. Be yourself.
The curse of the old banker
It appears that despite his multiple retirements over the years Tony Van Bynen is destined to be forever in our lives. It is the curse of the old banker.
Only five days to go.
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