See Sarah Thomson run, again

She is Liberal’s Trinity-Spadina provincial candidate
After last year’s mayoral run, she’s aiming for MPP
Kris Scheuer
(Written Mar 10 for Town Crier/Toronto Today)

Sarah Thomson is seeking a seat in the provincial legislature on the Liberal ticket. Giordano Ciampini/Town Crier file photo.

Sarah Thomson has accepted an invitation from the provincial Liberals to be their candidate in Trinity-Spadina this fall.
She made the announcement March 9 in a Facebook post.
“I’ve said I want to run in a nomination,” she said hours later, in confirming the report for Toronto Today.
Herman Ng, Trinity-Spadina riding association president, confirmed Thomson will be the only Liberal candidate at a nomination meeting held March 27.
“I investigated both the Ontario Liberal Party and the Ontario PC Party to find which party today best represents my core values,” Thomson stated in her Facebook announcement.
Thomson, a midtown Toronto resident who once lived in the Annex, is a business woman who ran unsuccessfully for mayor of Toronto in last year’s municipal race, dropping out before election day and throwing her support behind second-place finisher George Smitherman.
“There are politicians who critique others but never actually initiate anything — they run because they want a job or news headlines,” wrote the Women’s Post publisher on her Facebook page. “And there are politicians who stick their neck out and do what they believe is right — they run because they want to contribute to building a better world.”
If nominated Thomson will be taking on incumbent Rosario Marchese, who has represented the riding since 1990.
“We don’t have someone who is a doer,” Thomson told Toronto Today. “(The riding) is getting poor representation in the legislature.
“He has been there for 21 years. What has he done?”
Marchese, who was part of the Bob Rae government and has been in opposition to both the PCs and Liberals, defended his record.
“I’ve been a strong advocate for education,” he said.
He said the Liberals have decreased funding for special education and parents have fundraised $600 million to supplement school needs, creating a two-tier education system for poor and richer communities.
He’s also put forward three private member’s bills to make amendments to the condo act that the Liberals have rebuffed.
If Thomson is serious about reforms, Marchese said, she’ll have to defend the Liberals’ non-action on issues of housing, education and healthcare.
“I’m hard pressed to see what Sarah thinks she will accomplish as a backbencher or minister, assuming this government gets re-elected,” he said. “What would she be proposing?”
Marchese won with 41.1 percent of the vote to then-Liberal candidate Kate Holloway’s 31.5 percent in 2007. In 2003, he got 47.5 percent to Liberal Nellie Pedro’s 31.8 percent.

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Willowdale MPP David Zimmer seeks re-election

Tories set sights on Willowdale riding
But Liberal Zimmer vows to defend his seat
Kris Scheuer
(Written for Town Crier March 3)

Liberal MPP David Zimmer seeks a third term in Willowdale. Photo courtesy of David Zimmer.

Liberal MPP David Zimmer knows the Progressive Conservatives have set their sights on Willowdale, but he’s ready to fight to keep his seat in the upcoming provincial election.
He first came to power in 2003 beating then PC incumbent David Young.
“All the pundits, polls, newspapers and blogs in 2003 (stated) the conventional wisdom was Conservatives would lose all seats in 416 except Willowdale,” recalls Zimmer.
The commentators were mostly correct as the PCs lost all their Toronto seats including Willowdale.
“David Young was a good candidate, a lawyer. I know him and we had a good campaign,” said Zimmer, also a lawyer by trade. “I won by 2,000 votes.”
Fast forward to the 2007 provincial race and then PC leader John Tory looked closely at running in Willowdale against Zimmer but settled on Don Valley West where he eventually lost to Kathleen Wynne. The PCs ran Willowdale Councillor David Shiner as a star candidate, but Zimmer held on, beating Shiner by almost 6,000 votes.
“This year the Tories are anxious to try and get Willowdale,” Zimmer said.

MPP Monte Kwinter seeks 8th term

Oldest member of provincial parliament runs again
Kris Scheuer
(Written March 3 for Town Crier)

Liberal Monte Kwinter, first elected in 1985, is running again in the provincial election. Image courtesy of Monte Kwinter.

Liberal MPP Monte Kwinter is running for an eighth term this fall.
He has represented Toronto’s North York at Queeen’s Park since 1985 and was officially nominated by the Liberals on March 1.
“My reasons for running now is the same as in 1985 – to make a difference and help people,” said Kwinter, rep for York-Centre.
Over the last 25 years, he’s held five different portfolios and is currently the parlimentary assistant to the Minister of Economic Development and Trade.
“We are a very heavily trade dependent jurisdiction. We have to export to the world,” he said. “Ninety percent of our trade is to the U.S. They are going through difficult times right now. We are looking at other areas to trade with China, India, Brazil and Russia.”
He is also quite pleased that his government is opening a new accute care centre in his riding near Keele Street and Wilson Avenue.
The hospital will serve 600,000 people in the surrounding area and is in the design stage after three years of planning. He expects to see a shovel in the ground this later year and for the hospital to take two years to build.

Jane Pitfield provincial run?

PC party asked Pitfield to run in Ontario election
But she declined offers, focused on other projects
(Written for Town Crier Feb. 22)
Kris Scheuer

Former Don Valley West Councillor Jane Pitfield has declined offers to be a PC candidate in the provincial election. Francis Crescia/Town Crier file photo.

Former Leaside councillor Jane Pitfield is busy with a lot of projects these days, but running a campaign for a seat in the Ontario legislature isn’t one of them.
Pitfield said she was approached to run provincially for this fall’s
election, but declined.
“Three different ridings all looking for Conservative candidates asked me
to think about it,” she said in February. “I said I wasn’t interested.
“The level of government that appeals to me the most is municipal.”
Pitfield ran in a competitive race in Toronto-Danforth Ward 29 during last
fall’s municipal election. She came second to councillor Mary Fragedakis.
Though surely disappointed that she wasn’t able to get back to city hall as
a municipal representative, Pitfield began tackling other projects.
This January, Exchange Solutions contracted her services to help them launch
a new program Give Get that allows shoppers to donate to various charities
just by buying products at participating retails.
It’s free to join Give Get and there will be a list of charities online that
customers can choose to support when they purchase products at participating
businesses. The website is going live this month.
A website associated with a Leaside fundraiser connected to the Give Get program is already online.
Beyond charitable work, Pitfield is also the new owner of Gaultois Inn in
the Coast of Bays region of Newfoundland. She said it is scheduled to open
in May.

Kathleen Wynne seeks re-election

The Don Valley W provincial rep nominated by Liberals
Her opponents are unknown, so far
Kris Scheuer
(Written for Town Crier Feb. 17)

MPP Kathleen Wynne. Town Crier file photo.

Don Valley West MPP Kathleen Wynne is hoping for a three-peat when she runs in the provincial election this fall.
It may be early in the game, but as of mid-February, her chances looked pretty good: the Progressive Conservatives, Greens and New Democrats have not officially nominated candidates in Don Valley West.
“I don’t know who my competition will be yet,” said Wynne, who is also currently transportation minister. “I never take for granted I will be re-elected.”
Wynne is ahead of the game as the Liberals officially nominated her as their candidate in Don Valley West on Jan. 30. About 200 supporters were in attendance at her nomination party.

Sarah Thomson mum on provincial run

Former mayoral candidate could seek a nomination
May run for PC or Liberal party in 2011 Ont election
Kris Scheuer
(Written for Town Crier Jan 25)

Sarah Thomson at the Town Crier offices last year. Town Crier file photo.

Less than six months after she bowed out of Toronto’s mayoral race, rumour has it Sarah Thomson will be taking yet another stab at politics.
There’s been speculation the Rosedale resident will run in a Toronto riding for the Oct. 6 provincial election.
One political insider told the Town Crier Thomson has been in discussions with both the Liberal and Progressive Conservative parties, but any firm decisions have yet to be made.
While Thomson has not ruled anything out, she is mum on a possible jump into provincial politics this election year.
And, in January, she firmly denied reports that she’ll be running for MPP in Parkdale-High Park.
“That was a candidate who had put that out as a rumour,” Thomson said Jan. 24.
“I haven’t talked to anyone about Parkdale-High Park.”

Toronto Centre byelection candidates

Former Toronto Centre MPP George Smitherman running for mayor
Byelection to be held Feb. 4, meet the candidates then vote
By Kris Scheuer and Christopher Reynolds
(Written Jan. 13 for Town Crier. Election night UPDATE.)

There are fabulous candidates running: Greens Stefan Premdas, NDP Cathy Crowe, PC Pamela Taylor and Liberal Glen Murray in the Toronto Centre byelection Feb. 4.
Here’s a snapshot of each of them based on interviews by myself and colleague Chris Reynolds. Scroll down to read each mini profile. We didn’t interview Freedom Party candidate Wayne Simmons or Ontario Libertarian Party candidate Heath Thomas for our story but they are both running in the byelection.