Candidate supporters think they have the write stuff

By MORGAN IAN ADAMS Collingwood Enterprise Bulletin February 4 2011
What is it about Simcoe-Grey politicians and the folks who write letters supporting them?
Is there a school somewhere, churning out graduates ready and willing to put pen to paper and churn out sycophantic missives extolling their particular candidate’s virtues?

Last year, of course, local papers, and even the national newsmagazine, Macleans, were regular recipients of Helena Guergis fan mail. Oddly enough, the letters praising the Independent Conservative Member of Parliament seem to have dropped off in direct relation to her new-found role in the dimly-lit corners of the House of Commons.
It may also be that the local media types have caught on…
Regardless…
At first glance, it appeared as though the front-running nominee to replace Guergis as the Conservative candidate, Kellie Leitch, had been running her own letter-writing boilershop. In Leitch’s defense, the letter that arrived in the mailbox of local Conservatives two week’s ago from county warden and Wasaga Beach mayor Cal Patterson was scribbled out by some over-enthusiastic volunteer, rather than a paid minion.
And further to that, rather than deflect the blame onto a campaign drone, Leitch quite willingly stepped forward to face the ensuing, uh, storm, and took full responsibility.
That, it seems, takes some guts–and is often the route less taken by politicians and political hopefuls.
How it plays with the grassroots remains to be seen. Patterson’s comments on 97.7 The Beach last Monday morning were pretty damning of the candidate, as he told people who received the letter to “just throw it in the garbage.”
Ouch. Not only did he publicly disown the Leitch campaign, but he also abdicated his mandate as county warden to encourage county residents to recycle fine paper products.
But wait a minute. Patterson probably should have stopped at the “I’m angry, but Kellie apologized and I consider the matter closed.” Rather, he alling on her to retract the letter, “or I would.” The business of tossing the endorsement into the garbage was just gravy.
And Patterson talk, to us, to A-Channel, to other newspapers in the region. His comments to A-Channel, “It’s my signature, but I didn’t sign that letter,” sparked the coffee shop crowd to consider the possibility of, gasp!, forgery.
If only. Patterson painted Leitch into a corner, and forced her hand. On Wednesday night, Leitch provided us with the emails to show Patterson wasn’t totally blindsided by all this endorsement business–and was in fact a willing participant.
Leitch’s only crime was one of miscommunication, and not sending the letter to Patterson to review before it went out the door.
If anything, the whole episode points to the wisdom of local municipal politicians publicly lining up behind candidates for higher office. Patterson is, after all, not the only politician on Leitch’s website; Collingwood’s Deputy-mayor Rick Lloyd is there, along with councillors Ian Chadwick and Joe Gardhouse, Beach councillor Nina Bilfolchi and Blue Mountains councillor Gail Ardiel.
Once you’re a town councillor, you represent the entire community– whether blue, red, orange, or green. Any demonstration of bias or favoritism to one sends a message that you may not be as sympathetic to one’s cause if they happen to be of a different political stripe.
There’s more than a few people– granted, supporters of the other two candidates–who are of the opinion that Patterson’s endorsement (now withdrawn) implied support of both Simcoe County and Wasaga Beach councils.
There’s also a perception that favoring one political candidate over another could have financial repercussions down the road for a municipality– especially if the person you support isn’t on the winning side of government.
What if Patterson had seen the letter, and given it the thumb’s up? How would he explain it to residents? It’s quite clear, based on the emails I received, that he was fine with the ‘quote’ that was being used that identified him as the warden and mayor. I suspect he, like a few other Conservative movers and shakers–especially in the north end of the riding–have been caught up in ‘Kellie-Mania’ and dutifully lined up behind the surgeon.
Of course, Leitch is not the only candidate in this race to be producing letters of dubious quality. Chris Carrier’s website carries an letter to ‘open-minded Conservatives’ in the riding, written by John Hanlon, that trumpets a “local media” claim that the former Collingwood mayor was “Simcoe-Grey’s favourite son.” However, as it turned out, the only reference to Carrier being Simcoe-Grey’s “favourite son” is an article on a local lifestyle website–and written by Hanlon.
The funny thing was Hanlon’s name mysteriously disappeared off the ‘letter’ on Friday, the same day our story on Leitch’s letter of endorsement hit the treeware edition–and made mention of his letter.
Then again, that wasn’t the only online shenanigan for the former mayor. I tried to ‘follow’ his Twitter account (which is only a mere convenience as I use an application to keep track of 30-odd Twitter users, including local residents, local councillors, and some of QMI’s Parliamentary Bureau folks such as our chief, David Akin, whose been in Egypt this week), only to be greeted with a message that I had been ‘blocked’ by the user.
Of course, that doesn’t stop me from reading his Twitter posts–it just means I have to actively search for his page.
Grade 8, anyone?
Morgan Ian Adams is managing editor of the Enterprise-Bulletin. He blogs at eastendunderground.wordpress.com, and ‘twitters’ at twitter.com/Scoop_68.