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economist suntribune political news saturday march 23 2002 local conservatives divided over which candidate will win leadership battle by usa queen staff writer york north mpp julia munro heard the rumours floating around last week but laughs off suggestions she will step aside to let ernie eves run as the tory candidate in her riding in a byelection if he wins this weekends leadership vote im just amused i certainly didnt start the rumour 1 dont have any idea where it started i heard it for the first time two days ago ms munfo said friday and with that she and tories from around the province entered this weekends vote which caps months of campaigning by the five candidates ms munro who is supporting mr eves but says she has every intention of running in the- next election predicts the former finance minister will be anointed premier on the second ballot nipping at mr eves heels she acknowledged is finance minister jim flaherty lagging in the race is health minister tony clement environment minister elizabeth witmer and labour minister chris stockwell while the tories enjoy the height ened political sport a leadership race brings the people who deliver services in york region await the decision with some trepidation the progressive conservative membership will vote on ideological lines between a red tory -7- suchas mr eves who is promising a kinder gen tler government and aneo-conser- vative such as mr flaherty who makes no- apologies for his hardline approach interestingly many providers of social services in york were reluctant to discuss the leadership vote one executive director said agen cies are fearful to speak out because the tories have spent the past seven years cutting social services and brow beating the people who provide them the executive said its safer for service providers to remain quiet and refrain from jeopardizing the funding they receive by offering political opin ions in the arenas of health care and education thdrnhills dr ian zatzman chief of family practice at york- central hospital and david clegg president of- the york region branch of the elementary teachers federation of ontario are more than willing to wade into the leadership debate dr zatzman doesnt believe the winner will have much effect oh health care julia munro area mpp is supporting red tory ernie eves in this weekends vote to replace mike harris he said it is the administrators within the ministry of health rather than the elected politicians who influ ence healthcare policy from my standpoint look at what the tories have done and the ndp and liberals before them none of them have been good for health care the last three governments have had dif ferent philosophies but the effect on health care has been disastrous with each of them he said clearly mr flaherty expresses the extreme rightwing ideology of the party which would see a renewed and heightened tension in the education sector whether its ernie eves or it is flaherty- or tony clement it really wont make a difference they may have their little flavour of what they want to do but its the same game its crisis management in health care mr clegg clearly favours mr eves over mr flaherty everything in mr eves rhetoric indicates he would take a conciliatory and consultative approach in educa tion he said clearly mr flaherty expresses the extreme rightwing ideology of the party which would see a renewed and heightened tension in the education sector while mr- eves has taken the low- key approach of a frontrunner during the campaign mr flaherty has cap- mike harris ontarios premier said good bye to tories last week as he makes way for a new leader tured headlines with many of his pro posals including a tough love plan that would make living on the streets illegal the homeless would be taken to shelters hospitals psychiatric facilities detox centres and as a last resort if they are disorderly to jails restricting the time social assis tance recipients can collect welfare to two of every five years in an effort to break the cycle of welfare dependency but its mr flahertys education platform including banning teach ers strikes and offering tax credits to parents who send their children to pri vate schools even if those institutions dont meet provincial academic stan dards that has mr clegg most upset he suggested the platform shows mr flahertys antipathy to public edu cation that would lead to nothing but discord still mr clegg isnt sure how influ ential mr eves would be in convincing the tories to take a softer approach if he is selected leader but ms munro believes the mem berships choice for premier will make all the difference in the partys future direction i think ernie has been very clear abput the need to balance fiscal responsibility with the need to provide programs in health and education that kind of balance she said jim has made a number of state ments on issues on his platform that would suggest things certainly differ ent than ernie on things like social assistance and teachers the vote will certainly be interest ing to see both candidates will sug- gest they are continuing on with the main perimeters of the government of the last seven years but mere would be a different style and priorities er leader for party supporter says alliance supporters reactto new leader by roger varley staff writer a local canadian alliance official says he is delighted with the election of stephen harper as the new party leader im a very happy man this morning bob callow said wednesday comment ing on the vote that saw mr harper selected to succeed the beleaguered stockwell day as canadian alliance leader weve got a guy here with presence and sub- stance mr callow president of the vaughan canadian alliance riding association and former alliance candidate in oak ridges which includes whitchurchstpuffville and northern markham said he believes the dissension that has splintered the party in recent months now will disappear my sense is that every one will rally behind mr harper said the vicechair person of the york regional police services board hell have a strong grip on the party mr callow noting that he recently became a grandfa ther twice on the same day said he believes the future is brighter with mr harpers election- hell have a strong grip on the party he has to stabilize things and it will take time for him to get his team together he said but he impressed me a great deal with his ideas for canada mr callow disagreed with speculation mr harper will seek to consolidate the partys position in western canada at the expense of try ing to gain ground in ontario consolidation in the west is taking place but mr harper is looking at reinvigq- rating membership here mr callow said i dont think hell leave all of us need to leave our egos wounds and bruises at the door and think what is the best thing for canada as an alternative to jean chretien bob callow president vaughankingaurora canadian alliance riding association ontario drifting he- wants ontario to be part of the future mr callow said he is opti mistic the canadian alliance will be able to offer voters a viable alternative to the liberal government in the next federal election i continue to be so disap pointed with liberal mem bers we elect from ontario he said before that election the alliance and federal conservatives need to come to terms mr callow said efforts to unite the two right- wing parties to avoid splitting the conservative vote have so far been fruitless we have a fresh new leader who wants substan tive talks with conservative leader joe clark said mr callow all of us need to leave our egos wounds and- bruises at the door and think what is the best thing for canada as an alternative to jean chretien commenting on the provincial conservative lead ershiprace he said he has been supporting the candi dacy of fooner finance min ister ernie eves and expects his candidate to win it bodes well for us he said ernie brings a steady hand to the tiller he has solid proposals he dealt with our financial problems and got them under control i think hes going to be a terrific leader