Seen
By Eric Dowd
Toronto – An Ontario opposition leader has done something they said couldn’t be done – made himself known without having a seat in the legislature.
Progressive Conservative John Tory has been waiting five months for the chance to run for a seat and has one now former premier Ernie Eves has resigned his fairly safe Conservative seat northwest of Toronto and a by-election will be held there March 17.
Many Conservatives have fumed and fretted meanwhile their leader cannot make his name a household word without being able to use the legislature as a forum and non-partisan analysts have tended to take the same view.
Bob Rae as a New Democrat leader without a seat in 1982 was advised by his party’s strategists he had to win one as quickly as possible because `a leader has to be at the centre of political activity, the legislature.’
But one indication Tory has managed to get himself recognized is the extensive coverage he has been given by news media. Any reporter covering the issue has accumulated a fat file of clippings from newspapers across the province.
The Conservative leader has achieved this by being around the legislature most days to comment on issues and holding so many press conferences in its corridors reporters are afraid to leave their offices in case he pounces on them.
He also has travelled the province, making speeches and dropping in on news media and spreading his message. None of these tactics is new, but he has done more of them.
Tory has managed to be noted by news media on almost every topic that has come up since he became leader.
His position is known on pit bulls. He has been heard saying he does not support the Liberals’ plan to ban them, but would favor legislation if it addressed all dangerous dogs.
He has been heard arguing the Liberals are rushing their plan to designate much of south-central Ontario as greenbelt without proper analysis and consideration, trying to compensate for breaking their promises to restrain building elsewhere.
Tory has been seen trying to look more moderate than his out-of-fashion, further right predecessors, Eves and Mike Harris.
Many have suggested Tory is philosophically a reincarnation of the durable centrist premier William Davis, on whose staff he served in the 1980s, and he has tried to foster this.
He has aimed to appear less partisan to attract wider support. He backed the Liberals’ demand for a greater share of federal funds, saying the provincial government is starving.
He said he does not believe Health Minister George Smitherman, whom his party accuses of browbeating, does not care about people.
He said he will raise the level of behaviour in politics by civilized debating and avoiding personal attacks and is shocked by MPPs’ unruly antics in the legislature and the `dysfunctional’ way it operates.
.But Tory put out news releases calling Smitherman a bully and `Furious George’ and said the Liberals indulge in graceless mudslinging, promise-breaking, dishonesty and incompetence.
He also helped organize a filibuster that delayed legislation on the ground ministers failed to show up and sent underlings to explain and pilot it through, none of which was conducive to restoring harmony.
Tory has been helped become known also because the Liberals have broken promises and are seen as on the ropes and his party as governed so often news media view it as the natural alternative.
Some in the public also may find his name memorable – this is the first time an Ontario leader has had the same name as his party.
Tory has even enjoyed a small advantage from not being in the legislature, because anything he says there will be more open to other parties’ scrutiny and rebuttal.
This is something the Liberals will count on, but a leader who can prosper even without being in the legislature should be able to reap some benefits from being there.
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