Randy Hillier On PCPO Reform: Still Crazy After All These Years

Randy, like many PCPO mpps lately, has been advocatin' democratic reform for the Ontario Progessive Conservative party.  No concrete new policies on offer yet, unless you count ditching all the old policies.  I took to twitter, and noted how, as part of this repositioning, Randy seems to have softened his views on union bashing and other issues since June 12th's inglorious defeat.

Debate ensued:

For old times sake (but not that old--it's from 2004), here's Randy arguing that rural Ontario has to get out from under T.O.s socialist nanny state booty.

Revolution Rebuffed?

Actually, I got it wrong: last night's meeting of the Carleton-Mississippi Mills PCPO riding association was to choose the riding executive, not their provincial candidate. In any case, Ontario Land Owner's ex-President and rural revolutionary Jack Maclaren got hosed. In fact, he is calling foul! on the whole selection process:

MacLaren said the party’s head office denied membership to many people he and his supporters signed up as party members. He put the number of disputed members at 150.

Metroland Media spoke to multiple people who showed up to vote, only to find out their names weren’t on the list of eligible members. MacLaren said the disqualifications targeted only those people he or his supporters signed up as party members.

“The Progressive Conservative party thinks democracy isn’t important in this riding,” he said. “We didn’t even know the format of the meeting until we got here.

“We had to find out from (PC party headquarters) in Toronto when the meeting would be. They did everything they could to be unco-operative. It’s a goddam farce.”

The candidate gets nominated sometime in March-April of 2011, so there will be all sorts of "Tory Turmoil" to come, I imagine.

The Revolution Begins Today?

The Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the Carleton Mississippi Mills Provincial Progressive Conservative association (CMMPCA) will be held at Sacred Heart High School, on Wednesday Dec. 1. Registration will start at 6 p.m.

And when it ends we will know if rural revolutionary and former Ontario Landowners Association President Jack MaClaren has unseated sitting Tory MPP Norm Sterling. I've written about the consequences of a MaClaren candidacy before...the provincial Tories slide off the right side of the political spectrum...but if you want to know the cut of a man's jib, I say look at the web-design of the sites they're associated with. Mr. Maclaren was just elected a director of the Canadian Justice Review Board; here's their "articles" page. When I look at the colour scheme, the old "kookometer" hits about a 6.8. So, not as nuts as they could be but, yeah, nuts.

Rural Separatist Has Plan B: An Elected Ontario Senate

Conservative MPP Randy Hillier, who has in earlier times advocated that rural Ontario should separate from the rest of the province, now wants to achieve the same end through a back door:

What we need is a bicameral provincial government with a Senate of 50 elected representatives, one from each county, regional Municipality, and (in the north) district, to lessen this growing urban-rural chasm by tempering urban priorities that cause damage and harm to rural Ontario. Much like the federal Senate, this upper chamber ought to be able to amend or defeat most bills passed by the lower house, but be unable to introduce, alter, or defeat money bills. However, to ensure that they have a greater regard for their communities than for party discipline, provincial Senators ought to be excluded from cabinet posts.

Note that the point of all this is, quite simply, to avoid majority rule, for representation in any elected Ontario Senate is to be "based on communities of interest, not population". This deviation from the "one man, one vote standard" is apparently needed to free Ontario's rural minority from the yoke of the Urban elite, who are apparently responsible for everything that has ever gone wrong in the Province:

The priorities of Ontario's urban politicians and bureaucracy are bans and restrictions, and they are out of sync with the people of rural Ontario. This has resulted in Ontario going from first to worst in economic performance, a painfully dismal record in health care, high taxes, a ballooning bureaucracy, deficits, reduced individual responsibility and freedoms, and have-not status. This dismal performance is a reflection not of coincidence, bad luck, or external factors, but of the wrong priorities. In a democracy, people, politicians, and governments are the authors of their fortunes, good or bad. But institutions matter as well as personalities. An improved bicameral political structure is needed so that the urban drum is not always the loudest.

A bit of an eye-roller of an idea to begin with, as it would require the province to

... give constitutional recognition to the boundaries and legitimate jurisdictions of municipalities, counties and districts, just as the federal government does to the provinces.

And this will not happen.

More importantly, however, outside of a few rabble rousers at the OLA, I don't sense any vast discontent out in Ontario's rural communities, even those that typically vote Conservative.

Another interesting question for Mr. Tory when he's out on the campaign trail. Does he support a bicameral provincial government?

More Fun With Tory And Hillier

Randy Hillier, the Ontario Progressive Conservative Party nomination in Lanark—Frontenac—Lennox and Addington, has "a history of police confrontations". For example, in May of last year he disrupted a NavCanada conference where participants were discussing the new clean water Bill:

May 17, 2006 CORNWALL - Unrest among rural landowners boiled over Tuesday as protesters burst through a police barricade, forcing their way into the Nav Canada main lobby.

Leading the charge was Randy Hillier, president of the Ontario and Lanark landowners associations.

Hillier forced his way into the conference and demanded to speak. Conference host Jeff Ridal consented, and Hillier vowed "destruction" should the bill be passed. Merle Bowes, Vice President of the Lanarck Landowners Association (Hillier was President at the time) threatened to "detain government officials who tread their property while carrying out government regulations."

Despite their harsh rhetoric, Ontario PC Leader John Tory appears to have a soft spot for these rural revolutionaries. In early March of 2006, during a Queen's park protest, Randy Hillier "was escorted by the opposition into the Legislature" to present LLA demands. Maybe they wanted to help him pick out what seat he preferred when he became an MPP.

And, during a protest later that month, John Tory commented:

"American farmers, farmers in Quebec, get a big check at the beginning of the year," Tory said. "Our farmers, from the McGuinty Liberals, get a little bit here and there..."

Appeasement, anyone?

PS. What is it with these Rural Revolution types and their red suspenders? Symbolism, or something?