Nuttall under fire: PC nomination committee asks him to step down

By BOB BRUTON BARRIE EXAMINER December 8 2010
Alex Nuttall could walk out on provincial politics, or he might be pushed.
The nomination committee of Barrie’s Progressive Conservative riding association has asked Nuttall to step down as a candidate at the Dec. 17 nomination meeting, or the Ontario party’s executive will be asked to remove him.

Barrie’s Ward 10 councillor was handed a note outlining these choices late Tuesday morning by a member of the local PC party’s nomination committee. He has until later today to respond to the nomination committee, comprised of Jack Garner, Lance Triskle and Michael McCarthy.
Garner said he would have no comment on this matter until after 6 p.m. on Wednesday, the deadline for a response from Nuttall.
“Six o’clock, that’s the witching hour,” Garner said, noting the committee was unanimous in its decision to give the letter to Nuttall.
He is being accused, by some local and provincial party officials, of irregularities in his recruitment of new members for the nomination meeting — which will elect a candidate for the Oct. 6, 2011 provincial election.
Nuttall said Tuesday night that he didn’t see this coming.
“As the clear frontrunner in this nomination, I had expected to be attacked, but these tactics have crossed a line of what I consider normal,” he said.
“I am familiar with the rules of membership and of the nomination and have followed each to the letter and have instructed all my supporters and volunteers to do so.”
Ken Zeise, president of the Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario, said he was very disappointed in the actions of the Barrie nomination committee.
“It seems the local committee has made a decision in advance, based on findings not shared,” he said. “Our party is taking the nomination process very seriously. We have four excellent candidates.”
Rod Jackson, Greer Hermiston- Campbell and Wayne McCallum are the other PC nominees for the Barrie riding.
According to documents obtained by The Barrie Examiner, an investigation by an Ontario PC party official concludes that of 641 membership forms submitted by Nuttall’s campaign team on Nov. 26, only 268, or 41%, appear to be legitimate.
This report found that 199 of the memberships were paid in $10 bills which were in serial sequence, 111 memberships appear to have falsified signatures and another 63 signatures were suspect.
‘One must suspect that the Nuttall campaign paid for the vast majority of the memberships submitted on Nov. 26,’ says the report, dated Nov. 28. ‘It was immediately evident that a disproportionate number of memberships had been paid with crisp, new $10 bills.
‘Since a very large number of membership forms appear to have been signed by people other than the member indicated, it would suggest an organized effort to fabricate signatures.’
Ontario PC party membership applications can only be paid for by the person applying for the membership, or by a member of his or her immediate family. The cost is $10 a year.
The report says that, in order to obtain such a large volume of crisp, new $10 bills in serial number sequence, they must have been bought from a financial institution during the week prior to the Barrie PC party’s membership deadline, since the nomination date was only announced Nov. 18.
Of the 111 memberships which appear to have false signatures, the report says it’s evident that a single person has signed as many as 17 membership forms. Only about 15 different signatures could be identified, the report says, although in many cases concerted efforts were made to try and alter signatures.
‘However, the signature patterns were very evident,’ the report says.
Zeise said the report is preliminary at best.
“It’s an analysis from one member of our committee,” he said. “It is not a finding of fact.”
This report was intended for internal party use only and the party is doing a more detailed investigation.
“The party is verifying some of the memberships,” Zeise said.
Nuttall picked the report apart, even questioning some of its math and the conclusions from it.
“The only conclusion I can draw from this unverified, undated and unsigned report and the correspondence I received (Tuesday) is that you cannot please everyone all the time,” he said. “I have a great deal of respect for my colleagues who are seeking the nomination and I will in no way mudsling during or after this contest.
“These are unsubstantiated allegations that I am confident will be proven incorrect. Nomination rules do call for the possible challenge of members on the basis of signature and payment verification by the member at the meeting. There are no rules that I am familiar with that deem the eligibility of members on the basis of the opinion of a single person making observations.”
Nuttall has already received criticism for seeking the PC nomination so soon after being reelected, and by an over-whelming majority, to Ward 10 in the Oct. 25 municipal election.
He was sworn in for a second consecutive term on Monday night, along with other members of the 2010-2014 Barrie city council.
Nuttall has said he would raise the money for a city byelection if he wins the PC party’s nomination for the Barrie riding, and if he wins the provincial election on Oct. 6 — an estimated $17,000 to $20,000.
If Nuttall wins the PC nomination, and if he becomes Barrie’s MPP, there would almost certainly be a Ward 10 byelection.
The controversies about Nuttall are just the latest blow to the local PC riding association. It was dissolved last year following criminal charges against two of its board members. The charges were later stayed (put on hold for a year and will be withdrawn unless more evidence is found) by the Crown attorney.

Nuttall stays silent
By BOB BRUTON BARRIE EXAMINER December 9 2010
Alex Nuttall’s answer is no answer.
He won’t respond to the nomination committee of Barrie’s Progressive Conservative riding association ultimatum that he either step down as a candidate for the Dec. 17 nomination meeting, or the Ontario party’s executive will be asked to disqualify him.
The committee gave him until 6 p.m. Wednesday to respond.
The Barrie Ward 10 councillor is being accused of membership recruitment irregularities in the local PC nomination process, accusations Nuttall denies.
He says the local Tory nomination committee — Jack Garner, Lance Triskle and Michael McCarthy — that was appointed by Barrie riding association president Fred Hamelink, has no authority in this matter.
The association’s executive is meeting Friday to discuss this “serious violation of procedure,” Nuttall said.
“Just like membership validation, there are very specific ways to go about all these things, as spelled out in the rules, and Mr. Hamelink and Mr. Garner have not followed those procedures,” he said.
“I do understand why these sorts of tricks are being played. Being the frontrunner is not easy,” Nuttall said. “To respond at all to Mr. Garner’s (ultimatum) letter would only validate the procedural tomfoolery and I will not do that.”
Rod Jackson, Greer Hermiston- Campbell and Wayne McCallum are the other nominees for the Barrie PC riding, which is choosing a candidate for the Oct. 6, 2011 provincial election.
Hamelink said, if there is a meeting Friday about this issue, he hasn’t authorized it and it is therefore unsanctioned.
The next scheduled meeting is Dec. 14.
He did not comment directly on Nuttall’s statement about the local nomination committee.
“Everybody is going to put their own spin on the authority of the committee,” Hamelink said. “I’m going to wait until we have some news from Toronto (the PC party executive).”
Garner, the chairman of the nomination committee, said he didn’t hear from Nuttall.
“We are now considering our options for the next step,” he said. “There will be something forthcoming very soon.”
According to documents obtained by The Barrie Examiner, an investigation by an Ontario PC party official concludes that of 641 membership forms submitted by Nuttall’s campaign team on Nov. 26, only 268, or 41%, appear to be legitimate.
This report found that 199 of the memberships were paid in new, crisp $10 bills which were in serial sequence, 111 memberships appear to have falsified signatures and another 63 signatures were suspect.
It concludes the vast majority of these memberships were paid by the Nuttall campaign and that there was an organized effort to fabricate signatures.
Ontario PC party membership applications can only be paid for by the person applying for the membership, or by a member of his or her immediate family. The cost is $10 a year.
But Nuttall says his recruitment team did nothing wrong.
“I do not at all dispute the assertion that many of the $10 bills were in sequential order. I am told that on the 26th (of November), my volunteers exchanged in excess of $3,000 in large bills for smaller bills at a local bank,” he said.
“Making change for larger bills while collecting membership fees is commonplace, and in no way a violation of any rule or procedure.”
Nuttall also disputes any inference that there are false signatures.
“I am told by my volunteers that every member signed their form accordingly, but I did not witness each of the almost 700 people who signed,” he said.Ken Zeise, president of the Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario, has said the report is preliminary at best, was intended for internal party use only and the PCs are doing a more detailed investigation.

Controversy in Nuttall nomination bid
By Janis Ramsay Simcoe.com Dec 09, 2010
BARRIE – Barrie’s Ward 10 Coun. Alex Nuttall wants to represent Barrie for the PC party of Ontario, but he’s been under fire since putting his name in the ring.
Jack Garner, a PC riding member, has asked for Nuttall’s withdrawal from the race. He said he’s making the request as chair of the nomination committee.
But Nuttall isn’t budging. “The validity of that nomination committee is being questioned as we speak,” he said.
An executive meeting is happening Friday night to discuss the matter.
The first attack was aimed at Nuttall’s timing – joining the provincial bid so soon after a municipal election. If he’s elected as the PC party’s candidate Dec. 17, it means a costly municipal bi-election in his ward within a month of him being named to the seat.
The second issue is that crisp, new, sequenced bills were used to sign up PC party members, and the finger was pointed at Nuttall for improprieties.
Nuttall said more than 600 membership forms were submitted by his team on the deadline day, Nov. 26.
“We were selling memberships and people paid with $20s, $50s and $100s,” said Nuttall.
A membership is $10, but if paid in cash it must be sent to party headquarters as a $10 payment. “I can’t hand in 10 forms and a $100 bill.”
So on deadline day – when, Nuttall said, he was a patient at RVH after collapsing during a speech at Tollendale Village – a large sum of $10 bills was withdrawn to pay for each of the recent memberships, and change was made accordingly.
Nuttall said he didn’t pay for the memberships himself. “I work hard at my job, but don’t have the money to pay for 500 memberships.”
The Ontario PC party has investigated the situation, but Nuttall said it always does, saying, “In all nominations, every membership from the candidates is confirmed by the party.”
More than 400 of his memberships are being called into question, but Nuttall said they are legitimate.
“We’re trying to rebuild the party right now. I don’t want people to be members who aren’t real members. We need to spread the word about the PC party and we need active supporters,” he said.
This isn’t the first time the PC party membership has come into question, however.
In 2004, when Patrick Brown wanted to be the federal candidate, there was confusion after the merging of the Canadian Alliance and the Conservative parties.
Members had a credit card slip to show they paid for a membership, but their name wasn’t included on the party list for the nomination vote, so their legitimacy was contested.
At that time, Brown was also a Barrie city councillor. Current Liberal MPP Aileen Carroll and Joe Tascona were councillors as well when they ran for their political party nominations.
“Unfortunately, combative forms of democracy are taking place. There have been similar accusations in the past of federal and provincial parties,” said Nuttall.
He added those accusations were found to be false in the past.
Rod Jackson, also in the running for the candidacy and a former member of Barrie council, said he just wants an honest nomination race.
“We’re trying to build the public’s trust and I’m trying to do everything right. If other candidates aren’t, I can’t control their actions,” said Jackson. “I have no comment on Alex and his troubles.”
While the nomination committee set a 6 p.m. Wednesday deadline for Nuttall to withdraw before they’d take the matter to the party, a senior official said no candidates are in the crosshairs.
A senior party official from the Ontario Progressive Conservative Party, who asked to be kept anonymous, said no candidate would be removed from this nomination race.
He said all memberships paid by cash are being investigated, and it’s not the first time party mudslinging has happened.
After next Friday’s vote, all members will be expected to support the local candidate, he added.