Tory MPP Peter Shurman: My Salary Is Not Enough

“Frankly, on the basis of … how we’re paid at the legislature, I can’t afford two houses,” he said in an interview. “I make $112,500 a year. Some people think that’s a lot of money. To do what I have to do, or any MPP has to do, it’s not very much at all.”

Apparently, when asked about the appropriateness of this, PCPO Leader Tim Hudak's office would not comment.  The reporter, however, could hear weeping in the background, and the sound of someone banging their head on a desk.

PS.  I know a fellow whose job is to run a printing press who owns three condo units around T.O.  He works hard and saves and invests.  Peter Shurman could learn a lesson from him.

Tory Crazy Passes From Federal To Provincial Level

These three men are part of a multi-faith coalition that think McGuinty's anti-bullying bill is a "front" for a “radical sex education” agenda.

I don't know anything about Rabbi Mendel Kaplan; Jack Fonsesca (far left) is with the Campaign Life Coalition, so we can assume he's a few cans short of a six pack.  But the guy in the middle is Rondo Thomas (name inverted in the original story).  He's a pal of Charles McVety, and if you remember (I do!) he ran for the federal Tories back in 2006 against Mark Holland in Ajax-Pickering.  Got into a little trouble, he did, when a video of him exhorting his followers against same sex marriage came to light.  That video seems gone now--at least all the old links to it dead-end. but a few highlights of his remarks have been preserved for posterity (bolding is mine):
 
OTTAWA—A Conservative candidate who believes Adam and Eve set the standard for marriage in the Garden of Eden 6,000 years ago is being criticized for controversial remarks about gay unions.

And my favorite:
 
There is going to be a clash of morality views between those who believe in righteousness and those who believe in immorality and when we collide there is going to be conflict…It doesn’t matter what the media says, it doesn’t matter what the government says — the facts don’t count. We are going to win this conflict.
 
So, not only anti-gay, but against facts as well.  Now, wisely, Tim Hudak stayed away from this presser, but Frank Klees hosted, and MPPs Lisa MacLeod and Peter Shurman apparently showed up.  So, in short, the Ontario Progressive Conservatives are still courting the nutbar vote.  Definitely not ready to rule.

Update: Some more information on Mendel "gays are an abomination" Kaplan.  He's rabbi for York Region police.

Ontario Tories On Track For Hudak Coronation

TORONTO — Progressive Conservative Peter Shurman says he's not planning to run for the leadership of the party.

Shurman was probably not a serious contender in the first place. He apparently gives a good speech (he was a talker for CFRB), but there have been some concerns that, at 60 something, he might be a little on the old side, esp. since we won't be in election mode for a couple of years.