Guergis family loses in 3 election races

UPDATED
By Phinjo Gombu Toronto Star October 27
The well-connected Guergis clan of Simcoe County has fallen on politically hard times.
Three members of the family, which Simcoe Life magazine once described “comparable at the local level to the Kennedy dynasty” in the county, were shown the door in Monday’s municipal elections.

They include Tony Guergis, who was defeated in his run for re-election as mayor of Springwater. His brother, David Guergis, the controversial mayor of Essa, fared no better in his bid for another term. Christine Brayford, the sister of the independent MP Helena Guergis, also lost her bid to become deputy mayor of New Tecumseth.
Their defeats are being attributed to their support for the dump known as Site 41. That proposal to create a landfill site was ultimately withdrawn after strong countywide community opposition.
“Voters rejected the Guergis family in a big way because they had come to symbolize behind-closed-doors politicking,” said Kate Harries, a board member of AWARE Simcoe, a grassroots group that grew out of the Site 41 struggle.
“We’re very excited to see new leaders like Robert Keffer in Bradford West Gwillimbury and Barb Baguley in Innisfil,” Harries added.
Brayford, however, told the Star that her defeat could not be linked to Site 41 because she has never sat on county council and voted on the issue.
In fact, Brayford, said when the matter came up at the Town of New Tecumseth council, she seconded a motion brought forward by the way to reverse the Site 41 decision.
Keffer, who is now deputy mayor of Bradford West Gwillimbury, campaigned on an anti-sprawl platform. Baguley, who is now the mayor in Innisfil, promised to throw open the doors of town hall and increase communication with residents.
“It shows that people expect their elected officials to listen to the concerns of the people,” said Keffer. “They were thinking that they could push forward items such as Site 41 that residents were against.”
The decision to kill the dump located on top of what scientists considered some of the purest water in the world was seen as a major environmental victory.
Both Guergis brothers were also involved in controversy beyond the Site 41 debate.
Tony Guergis received a letter from Helena Guergis, his cousin, touting a green technology company to Simcoe County officials while her husband, Rahim Jaffer, and businessman Nazim Gillani were involved in a plan to take the firm public in a $1 billion deal.
Meanwhile, David Guergis became famous for wanting to dissolve the Nottawasaga Conservation Authority. He drew criticism when it emerged that his wife owned potential development property on a local flood plain.
Helena’s grandfather, George Guergis, the first member of the family to enter politics. He lived in a refugee camp in the Iraq-Turkey region as a child during and after World War I. In Canada, George started a grocery store, a furniture store and other businesses in the Simcoe region.
George Guergis was elected reeve of Essa in the early 1970s.
The Guergis defeats come not long after Helena Guergis was thrown out of the federal Conservative caucus. Prime Minister Stephen Harper expelled her after allegations Jaffer was using her and other contacts for his lobbying efforts.

Earlier version on Star.com website
By Phinjo Gombu Toronto Star October 26 2010
The fight to kill a controversial dump site in Simcoe County continued to reverberate in Simcoe County Monday as three members of the Guergis clan were defeated in municipal elections.
Tony Guergis was defeated in his run for re-election as mayor of Springwater, and his brother David Geurgis — the controversial mayor of Essa, who tried to limit the power of the local conservation authority — had no better luck in his bid for another term.
Christine Brayford, the sister of the independent federal MP Helena Guergis, lost her bid to become deputy mayor of New Tecumseth.
The defeats of prominent members of the Guergis clan, especially Tony and David Guregis, who have extensive political connections in Simcoe County, is being attributed to their support for the dump known as Site 41. That proposal to create a landfill site was ultimately withdrawn after strong countywide community opposition.
“Voters rejected the Guergis family in a big way because they had come to symbolize behind-closed-doors politicking,” said Kate Harries, a board member of AWARE Simcoe, a grassroots group that grew out of the Site 41 struggle and campaigned across the county to elect people who would be protective of the environment.
“We’re very excited to see new leaders like Robert Keffer in Bradford West Gwillimbury and Barb Baguley in Innisfil,” said Harries.
Keffer, who is now deputy mayor of Bradford West Gwillimbury, campaigned on an anti-sprawl platform. Baguley, who is now the mayor in Innisfil, promised to throw open the doors of town hall and increase communication with residents.
The Guergis defeats come not long after Helena Guergis was thrown out of the federal Conservative caucus. Prime Minister Stephen Harper expelled Guergis after allegations that her husband, former Conservative MP Rahim Jaffer, was using her and other contacts for his lobbying efforts.