Details

Last night’s All Candidates Forum at the Royal Canadian Legion in Srigley Street produced one clear winner, Jennifer McLachlan. 

She was the only wannabe MP to turn up.

Disgracefully, the Conservative’s Sandra Cobena was a no-show. Nothing was more important than this event, organised by a group of local Christians because no-one else was prepared to do so.

Cobena should have cleared her diary to make this event a priority. She had nothing to lose. The Conservatives are trailing in the polls.

The NDP candidate was, predictably, also a no-show. Anna Gollen is a paper candidate with, literally, nothing to say. The NDP can’t win here and a vote for Anna Gollen is a vote for Sandra Cobena.

Weirdly, the organisers had asked one of their own to fill the spot on the stage where Sandra Cobena would have been sitting had she bothered to turn up.

Positive

I came away with a positive impression of Jennifer McLachlan though I prefer my politics more astringent.

Her credo is neighbourliness just like her mentor, the former MP Tony Van Bynen who was far too bland for my taste.

When she was asked questions she glanced at the folder in front of her to make sure she said the right thing. 

I overheard someone complaining she was just reading from a script.

When reciting the prepared answers she came across as wooden, referring to the Liberal leader deferentially as “Mr” Carney. 

Balancing the Budget

She was asked - to a ripple of laughter - how she planned to balance the budget. 

“Mr Carney is an economist and I will follow the leader’s lead.”

She is the ultimate Party loyalist. If you like Mark Carney there is no reason not to vote for Jennifer McLachlan. There’s no danger she will ever step out of line.

Jennifer McLachlan was so much better when she threw the away the prepared notes and went skiing off-piste. 

She said she would “go off script a little bit here” before describing her volunteering in BC, doing environmental work.

“I did so for a bigger picture on what the environment problems were. I have a 26 year old and a 24 year old daughter and I'm telling you the environment is essential to their future.”

Prepared notes

Then it was back to the notes with nods to energy efficient housing; zero emission vehicles, expanded public transit systems, ten new national parks and all the rest.  And you can’t talk about the environment these days and shut out the unfolding disaster in the Arctic with thawing permafrost and collapsing ice-roads. But I sensed no urgency about the climate emergency. It was just something on a long list of to-do-points.

“We will closely collaborate with indigenous communities and municipalities to enhance climate resilience, disaster preparedness and sustainable land management.”

Of course, all politics is local and this was where Jennifer McLachlan hit her stride.

Walk the walk

She was asked what she would do for the poor and for homeless people. She spoke about taking a homeless man off the streets and into her home for two years. 

“I am just going to speak personally here… I don't know if anyone is aware of Larry Woodcock. He was homeless and hung out on Main Street for the majority of his life, drawing the great pictures for everybody. At the tail end of his life I invited Larry in to live in my home. Larry lived with us for the last couple of years his life. I’m only sharing that because I care about homeless people. I care about the vulnerable. I genuinely walk the walk. And I gave Larry that moment in his last days surrounded by the community. An hour before he passed at Southlake Hospital he was given a Maid’s Cottage Butter Tart by a member of the community that I had sent to the hospital… if you wanna go visit……

"When I owned a restaurant (Cachet on Main Street) I hired Inn from the Cold to come and do the maintenance and lawn maintenance. I support Blue Door's construction program where people in transition learn a new skill. Or you get refreshed and get out there and start earning. I think addressing mental health is important but not everybody that's going through an economic crisis has a mental health problem either. So I've done significant support to the food pantry. I was project manager on the Cereal Centre Kitchen and donated a lot of my time to build that as well.

So again, it's really key for me, as your Member, to bring this whole community together...  I want to back up the not-for-profits, the charities and foundations in our community that are doing great work and I want to make sure they continue to get some federal investments. I want to advocate on their behalf but I want everybody to really start working together a little more as well.”

This is her life experience. Helping others. Not as a one-off but over many years. And it is clearly laudable.

She would bring that perspective to Ottawa. 

I found her authentic.

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Note: In today's polling update from the Writ, Eric Grenier has Newmarket-Aurora leaning Liberal - down from "likely". So it is not in the bag.

Update at 3.30pm from Newmarket Today: Newmarket-Aurora voters disappointed Conservative and NDP candidates skip Forum.

Details

Newmarket Today’s Joseph Quigley reports that a group of local Christians of multiple denominations is organising an all-candidates forum at the Newmarket Legion, 707 Srigley Street from 7 to 9 p.m. The doors open at 6.30pm. 

“All candidates in the riding have been invited and will be asked a range of questions, along with some questions submitted by the audience at the event.”

This is excellent news and the organisers deserve a hearty round of applause. Our democracy thrives when there is open debate and candidates’ views and opinions can be tested and challenged.

My advice to Sandra Cobena and Jennifer McLachlan is for them both to say what they mean and mean what they say. 

Think of it as an interview for a job with a base salary of $210,000 a year.

I hope there is a good turnout.

Palestine

Newmarket Today also reports on Shameela Shakeel’s efforts to get Palestine on the agenda in this election:

“Shakeel and other locals are asking for pledges to the https://votepalestine.ca/">Vote Palestine platform for both Newmarket-Aurora and Aurora-Oak Ridges-Richmond Hill candidates. The platform is a grassroots campaign aimed at getting the issue to the forefront in the election. The platform, being circulated to candidates across the country, asks candidates to support five points: 

    • A two-ways arms embargo on Israel;
    • Ending Canadian involvement in illegal Israeli settlements under international law;
    • Recognize the state of Palestine;
    • Address anti-Palestinian racism and freedom of expression on the topic; 
    • Fund relief efforts in Gaza, including the UNRWA.”

Consultation

Joseph Quigley writes: 

While some NDP, Green and Liberal candidates have endorsed the platform, including former Liberal minister of housing Nate Erskine-Smith, local candidates have not yet done so.

Liberal candidate Jennifer McLachlan said, “I am a clear advocate for human rights,” but did not wish to expand further before further consulting with fellow local Liberal Leah Taylor Roy.

My heart sank when I read the response from Jennifer McLachlan who only last Thursday hosted a meeting here in Town with Nate Erskine-Smith on Liberal housing policy. She is on record saying she wants to be Prime Minister one day.

She will not be able to get away with those evasions in a two-hour meeting on Tuesday – especially if there are only two candidates on stage.

NDP no-show

I don’t believe the NDP’s invisible Anna Gollen will turn up. 

How are the organisers supposed to contact her with no website, no contact number and with her name missing from the NDP’s official list of candidates?

But if I'm wrong I shall dance in the street.

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Update at 8pm on 13 April 2025: Anna Gollen has now appeared on the NDP official list of candidates. No website. 

 

Details

The man behind the CBC's Poll Tracker, Eric Grenier, today puts the Liberals back as likely winners in Newmarket-Aurora.

Grenier defines "likely" this way: The party has a high likelihood of winning the seat, though there is an outside chance (less than 5%) that another party could win.

Meanwhile the NDP is nowhere to be seen. Their candidate, Anna Gollen, remains totally invisible with no website or phone number with only a week to go before advanced voting begins. 

Gollen doesn't appear on the NDP's list of candidates. As I've said before, she is a paper candidate who is blowing a raspberry at the voters.

NDP vote imploding

In these circumstances it is little wonder that NDP inclined voters are moving across to the Liberals as the only show in Town. (The CBC's Vote Compass is here.)

As it happens, this morning I saw the irrepressible Darryl Wolk out canvassing with others on the street where I live. He is a dyed-in-the-wool Conservative, always ebulient and cheerful and disarmingly frank in his views. He will be knocking on doors up until the last moment.

As it stands, things look nailed down for the Liberals but we wait for the Leaders' debates in Montreal on 16 April (French) and 17 April (English).

This election, more than most, is laser focussed on the Party Leaders. For many voters the local candidates are an afterthought and don't come into the equation.

If Pierre Poilievre is to change the trajectory of the Trump Tariff election the debates will be his last big opportunity.

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 Update on 14 April 2025: The Writ/Poll Tracker says the Liberals are still the likely winners.

Details

A few days ago I got an email from YouTube informing me I had violated their rules on “spam, deceptive practices and scam” and that my account would be terminated. 

The video clips which I occasionally post here to help make a point are gone for good.

Generally speaking, if people upload material on to YouTube which goes against their rules and guidelines they are given a warning - three strikes and you are out.

Egregious

But if your transgression was egregious you can be banned from the platform immediately without going through the three strikes procedure.

Which is what happened to me.

In the case of the three strikes procedure transgressors are told what content was removed; what policies it violated; how it affects their channel and what they can do next.

But I have no idea what I've done wrong.

Repeated Violations

YouTube says accounts can be terminated for repeated violations of the community guidelines 

(1) like posting abusive, hateful and/or harassing videos or comments

(2) a single case of severe abuse (such as predatory behaviour, spam or pornography) 

(3) dedication to a policy violation (like hate speech, harassment or impersonation)

They go on to say:

“We may remove content for reasons other than Community Guidelines violations. For example, a first-party privacy complaint or a Court order. In these cases, your channel won’t get a strike.”

On the face of it, this seems to be what happened to me.  But I don't know for certain.

Complaints

YouTube acts on complaints and I’ve been wondering who is behind it all.

I poke politicians in the ribs all the time. They can give as good as they get. And if they are too sensitive they are in the wrong job.

But who else would bother?

I don’t believe Dawn Gallagher Murphy or Paul Calandra complained to YouTube.  

Bullying and harassment

In the case of our newly re-elected MPP Dawn Gallagher Murphy, my videos were straightforward, run-of-the-mill political comment which touched on her extravagant, publicly funded BBQs and her alleged – and well publicised - bullying of staff. 

In the case of the Government Minister Paul Calandra I used a few clips from Question Time at Queen’s Park when he repeatedly explained away the Greenbelt scandal by saying, ridiculously:

“We made a public policy decision that was not supported by the people of Ontario.”

Opening up the Greenbelt to development was not in the 2022 Progressive Conservative election platform.

The last video clip I posted was on 25 February just a few days before the Provincial election. 

Bogner v Gallagher Murphy 

Standing outside Gallagher Murphy’s constituency office, I called out her alleged bullying by quoting from the affidavit filed at the Ontario Labour Relations Board by her then office manager, Teena Bogner.  

Bogner settled with the MPP before the complaint was heard by the OLRB and since then her lips have been well and truly sealed.

Gallagher Murphy had spoken at Queen’s Park about non-disclosure agreements and how they could unfairly gag the victims of abusive behaviour.  Precisely what had happened here.

It is frustrating not to be told which video clip broke the rules and to have no opportunity to challenge the decision. But I suppose that could risk identifying the complainant.

Fake News

I’ve been absurdly accused of peddling “spam, deceptive practices and scam”.

I don’t do fake news. If I’ve got something wrong I correct it. No ifs or buts.

Anyway, life goes on. 

But without YouTube.

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PS: In 2022 when I was running for Deputy Mayor the editor of the Newmarket Era, Ted McFadden, said I could have 500 words to introduce myself to his readers. He didn’t like what I had written and asked me to change it. If I didn’t, the piece wouldn’t be published. And it wasn’t.

And for some strange reason - known only to YouTube - a clip of Doug Ford survives on my website. The Premier is apologising for his Greenbelt policy. By the time you read this it too could have disappeared.

Details

Newmarket Public Library’s Report to the Community 2024 is seriously misleading. 

It claims a “significant increase” in membership between 2023 and 2024 when, in reality, there was a decrease of 7.9%

In her presentation on Monday 7 April, the Library Chief Executive, Tracy Munusami, told councillors the Library had 22,234 “active library cardholders” in 2024.

Ms Munusami told the Province it had 24,136 active library cardholders the year before, in 2023. (See table bottom right)

The Province requires all libraries to file a wide-ranging set of statistics annually showing membership, usage and so on.

How does the Chief Executive explain the claim there were 9,476 new library members in 2024? The question was never put to her by councillors.

Business decisions

At Monday’s meeting Ms Munusami was quizzed by Ward 4 councillor Trevor Morrison on the reasons for membership numbers fluctuating over the years.

She told him:

“In 2022 we were looking at ways to evaluate the people who are using the library card numbers as well as to clean up our databases.…  In 2022 we've removed accounts from the system that were no longer active library users. The definition of an “active library user” is someone who's used the library in the last 24 months. And in order to make better business decisions we had to have the most accurate data. So that's why we made the change in 2023."

Cllr Morrison: 

“And as a follow up…  the 24 months… is that just something that… the Board (has) come up with or as a library policy?”

Tracy Munusami: 

“So that is the definition through the… We do a survey every year to the Ministry. It's called the annual Public Library survey and that's the definition that they use.”

"Active Library Cardholders"

The statistics submitted to the Province show “active library cardholders” in December each year. Newmarket library card holders have to renew their membership every two years so there is a constant churn with people joining the Library, leaving or renewing their memberships.

Fortunately, the Ontario Public Library statistics allow us to compare apples with apples. The figures do not back up the claim by Library Board Chair, Darryl Gray, that the past year had been marked by a significant growth in membership.  

The Chief Executive’s presentation drew attention to 1,543 new card memberships in 2024 resulting from the Library’s outreach work. That is impressive but this wasn’t enough to lift the total number of active library users in 2024 above the 2023 level.

Outreach

Outreach work is important. The Board and the Council have made it clear there are no plans – nor any ambition – for a new library or even another branch in the foreseeable future. 

Instead, there has been renewed emphasis on outreach work – getting to parts of the Town that are underserved by the Library. The downtown area has a much higher level of Library membership than neighbourhoods further afield.

There was a big breakthrough last October when the Board was shown library membership statistics by ward for, I believe, the first time. Councillors had been pressing for this information. And now that we have the number of active library members by Ward and the Town-wide total we can easily track the number of non-resident Library members who, last year, made up more than a quarter of Library members.

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Note: Some data held by the Province (years 2022, 2020 and 2019) is temporarily unavailable on-line but we can access figures going back to 2014 – and earlier. The Library Chief Executive reported the 22,234 membership in her presentation to councillors on Monday 7 April 2025.

 

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