Coming up on one year since the election of Dalton McGuinty's minority government, perhaps it's timely that we get renewed interest in people running in the eventual provincial election. To wit, the Progressive Conservatives of Guelph have a new name to mull over to represent them in that election when it comes, Anthony MacDonald.
MacDonald has made a name for himself, politically-speaking, speaking out about the Liberal government's removal of slots at horse racing tracks across the province and the loss of income that means for trainers, owners and riders. Obviously, in the Guelph area, MacDonald and others in his business have some traction on that issue.
In the last provincial election, Liberal Liz Sandals won handily with 19,734 votes, while PC Greg Schirk and NDP James Gordon coming in second and third with 11,950 and 11,148 votes respectively. After last October's election Schirk had said that he would be interested in running again for the PCs, but he's not yet said anything official yet as to whether or not he will duke it out with MacDonald for the nomination.
Gordan has already announced that he will once again seek the nomination of the local NDP for the next provincial election.
Here's the press release from the PCs announcing MacDonald's nomination.
Guelph – Thursday, July 19, 2012 - Allan Boynton, President of the Guelph PC riding association, is proud to announce that interest in becoming the PC nominee for the next provincial election – and ultimately Guelph’s next MPP – is heating up! PC Headquarters in Toronto approved the candidacy of Anthony MacDonald last night.
Anthony MacDonald is a highly successful harness horse driver who has raced all over North America for the past 15 years and has won over 2285 races during his career. He is 35 years old and married, with a 15-month old daughter. He was born in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, and has lived in Guelph for 5 years.
As one of the over 60,000 people involved in horse racing in Ontario, Anthony is a vocal opponent of the McGuinty government’s plan to remove slot machines from Ontario racetracks and renege on a long-standing funding agreement for a vitally important industry in this province. Anthony’s capacity for speaking out effectively is evidenced by the speech he made at a Queen’s Park rally on March 26, 2012 -
However, Anthony’s motivation to become Guelph’s next MPP is also based on concerns beyond this issue: “The people who need government the most have been forgotten. For me, as an Ontarian, enough is enough. Our jobs have been slashed and depleted, our private sector crippled and the Liberal government’s answer is to raise taxes and hydro rates? Where is our leadership? It’s time for the people to have their voices heard. We need common sense politics -- from politicians with common sense.”
“My family comes from Prince Edward Island and were heavily involved in politics and government. I have never seen a provincial government like McGuinty’s that disrespects its citizens by thinking they aren’t paying attention to what it does. The mismanagement of Ornge, wasted dollars on eHealth, investing in green energy companies that haven’t got any chance of operating without government support, moving a power plant from Mississauga to Sarnia – how many more millions of dollars in mistakes is he going to stick us with?”
Allan Boynton agrees with PC Headquarters’ decision to approve Anthony’s candidacy for the Guelph PC nomination:
“Anthony MacDonald is a dynamic individual who is getting involved because he sees the direction our province is going in and knows it needs to be changed. Ontario has suffered a great deal since Dalton McGuinty became Premier. It is only a matter of time before he breaks another promise, increases the massive deficit that burdens all Ontarians, and puts the future of this great province in even greater jeopardy than it is already in.”
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