Details

 

My little band of volunteers is out this morning in Bristol Road – a very long road that runs from Yonge Street in the west to Main Street North in the east. 

There are lots of Vegh lawn signs so I see this as a challenge. But, as usual, many of them are outside empty properties.

By now, I have a standard stump speech which rolls off my tongue. 

But I’ve still got to spend time on the doorstep – as long as it takes.

There isn't a thing you can do for me

I am talking to a cold, detached man with a long white beard who emerges from his cluttered garage. He takes one look at me and says:

“There isn’t one damn thing that you can do for me that will make a difference to my life.”

I tell myself:

"Oh yes there is".

I turn round and walk away. That made a difference to his life.

Affordable Housing

I have a long and fascinating conversation with a man who knows a lot about land and property. He is engaging and knowledgeable. We talk about affordable housing. I ask:

“Where should it go?”

He says there should be an inventory of surplus Town and York Region land. And affordable housing should go there unless there are compelling reasons to the contrary.

We start talking about the campaign and how candidates (all standing as “independents”) finance it. He comes up with an interesting solution:

“People can contribute, if they wish, to an election account held centrally by the Municipality. The money is then divided equally between the candidates for the several offices. And that’s it. No developer money.”

Hmmmm. He has recognised there is a problem and has come up with his own solution. Terrific!

I like your watch

Now I am talking to a first-time voter with his Mom standing behind.

I go through the routine explaining why I am running.

Young man, looking at my wrist, says: 

“I like your Omega Seamaster."

I say:

“You couldn’t afford it.”

They smile.

Solar Power

Now I am talking to a father and son about their imminent move to Minden. I say my wife Heather and I were up there earlier this year staying in a terrific place called, appropriately, “Heather Lodge”.

Their new home will be entirely powered by solar energy. I am fascinated.

Now I am talking to an elderly man who lost his son to COVID-19. It is heartbreaking. We talk about the health system and what needs to be done but, in the moment, it pales into insignificance when measured against his personal tragedy.

Yorkshire Man

Now I knock on the door of a man with a Vegh sign on his lawn. I’ve got the ammunition ready. Plenty of it. I'm never gonna run out.

He tells me he is from Yorkshire – a county I know very well. He is from Keighley. I say:

“I know Ann Cryer. She used to be Keighley’s MP.”

He says:

“I was taught by her husband Bob Cryer.”

I tell myself I’ve got his vote in the bag. He says:

“No. You can’t put a sign up. I’ve got to find out more about you and look at your website. Come back later when I’ve read it.”

“No. This is the one and only time I’ll be on your doorstep. There are over 30,000 households in Newmarket and I’m not Superman.”

“Fair enough. But the Vegh sign stays until I know more about you.”

That's OK.

Gordon Prentice 14 October 2022

Details

 

Margaret Davis and Gordon Prentice tonight received the coveted Architectural Conservancy of Ontario A.K. Sculthorpe Award for Advocacy - an award which: 

"recognises an individual, a group or a non-profit organisation that has brought greater attention to an important heritage issue or controversy, and has been able to persuade others, change policies and practices, or mobilize people during a heritage crisis."

The award recognises the role we played - with many, many others - in saving Newmarket's historic downtown from the developer Bob Forrest.

It was an astonishing victory. But it shows what people can do when they join together, united in a common purpose.

We had been told beforehand that acceptance speeches should be no longer than two minutes.

Margaret told the entranced audience:

"I am one hundred years old and I shall speak for as long as I like."

Gordon Prentice 13 October 2022

And this is how Newmarket Today reported the news. The story has been shared an astonishing 1,900 times.

YouTube video from the ACO Heritage Awards wrap-up.

Details

Tom Vegh has a casual relationship with the truth. 

The two of them barely know each other.

I have to fact check everything he says. 

He peddles misinformation on an industrial scale.

When I call him out he squeals that he’s never been the target of such nasty attacks during his years in municipal politics. 

Non-existent Task Force

I wrote to Vegh yesterday about a claim he makes on his election website. 

He says he is a sitting member of the Newmarket Facilities Needs Task Force which was

"created in 2019 to look at the Town’s needs for a new Library and other municipal facilities.”

He tells the voters it was put on hold because of COVID even though the virus arrived in Canada on 25 January 2020.

I ask Vegh:

“Did the Task Force ever meet in 2019? And are you on it?”

I can find no reference to the Task Force on the Town’s website:

Nor can I find any minutes of any meetings.

I ask Vegh:

“Have you invented this Task Force to embellish further your long list of achievements in office?”

I wait to hear from him.

Respecting your tax dollars

Elsewhere on his election website Vegh tells us he respects your tax dollars:

“Newmarket taxes continue to be 10% below the GTA average. Tom has consistently supported limiting tax increases to 1.99% at or below the cost of living.”

Here are the tax increases in Newmarket since 2019 together with the annual increases in the Consumer Price Index as reported by Statistics Canada. The percentage increase is for the Town portion of the tax, excluding the Region’s tax take.

The table shows that in two of the past three years the Town’s percentage tax increase has been higher than the Consumer Price Index.

The CPI is one of the most widely used measures of inflation. It measures the average change in retail prices encountered by all consumers in Canada but it is important to note it is not strictly a cost of living index which measures price changes experienced by consumers in maintaining a constant standard of living. 

I am not entirely sure what Tom was thinking about when he told us he respects our tax dollars – or where he got his information from.

Gordon Prentice 13 October 2022

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Details

My copy of the Newmarket ERA arrives on my drive earlier today with a thud.  

It goes to every household in Town. But mostly it is old news wrapped in a huge bundle of flyers.

There is a piece profiling me and my opponent Tom Vegh which has been slowly maturing for 53 days. 

The ERA wants to know why candidates are running for office.

I say:

The incumbent, Tom Vegh, accepts campaign donations from people intimately connected with the development industry and votes in line with their interests. I deplore this. He over-promises and under-delivers, promising a new library and seniors’ centre in 2018 and walking away from his clearly stated and unambiguous commitment. (50 words)

I send in my completed questionnaire in August.

Ted McFadden, the Managing Editor of York Region Metroland, gets in touch to say I’ve got to re-write my reasons for running or it won’t be published. (Photo right)

He says I’ve got to omit any reference to my opponent Tom Vegh.

I tell McFadden:

“But he’s the reason I’m running.”

He warns me again that without a re-write it won’t be published.

I refuse to change one word.

I ask him to explain in a little panel where my “reasons for running” should appear, his own reasons for refusing to publish.

And, Ted McFadden, true to his word, publishes my profile, a few days before voting begins, excluding my reasons for running.

I fear this could torpedo my chances.

We all know everyone in Newmarket relies on the ERA for their news.

Gordon Prentice 12 October 2022

You can read the email chain. Click "read more" below and scroll down.

 

Details

The election debate at Newmarket Public Library went ahead last night in the absence of a key participant, Tom Vegh.  

I learned at 6.30pm that evening that he would not be turning up. I was told he would be making a presentation on behalf of the Lake Simcoe Conservation Authority at the Old Town Hall just minutes away across Market Square.

I now know he was handing out awards to local environmental champions.

Vegh’s duplicity is breathtaking.

Here is a man who voted to open up over 12 square miles of open countryside across York Region for development. For comparison, the Town of Newmarket covers about 14 square miles.

(Photo right: agricultural land in East Gwillimbury which, to the horizon, Vegh opened up for development.)

Prime Agricultural Land

At York Regional Council he voted to change the land use designation of prime agricultural land allowing it to be used for other purposes.

Last night I spoke to a genial, attentive and very well-informed audience.

But they would have liked to see the two of us debate the issues and Vegh's record in office. 

I was ready to publicly eviscerate Vegh by exposing his shameless lies and evasions. He would have had the opportunity to respond. That is the dialectic.

Vegh given notice of debate

His post to the Facebook Groups Newmarket Votes site suggests the debate was something sprung on him:

“??? I have never confirmed my attendance at my opponent’s campaign event. In fact, this is the first time I’ve seen this poster…”

It probably was the first time he’d seen the poster – it went up on my websites on Monday 10 October 2022.

But I have been pressing Vegh for a public debate since 18 August 2022 with no success.

He treated me as an inconvenience.

I am posting below my emails to Vegh together with his only response, also on 18 August 2022.

It's Vegh's call

I remain ready and willing to debate with Tom Vegh on any date, place and time of his own choosing, with his choice of moderator in the chair..

This is the first time ever that I have run in an election and had no opportunity to debate in public with my opponent.

It leaves me feeling deeply uncomfortable.

I think the voters have been short-changed.

You can read the email chain by clicking "read more" below and scrolling down.

Gordon Prentice 12 October 2022

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