Will Tobacco Tim fire himself, and his Big Tobacco lobbyists?

— 09.30.2011 09:23 AM

Tobacco Tim: Prove You’re a Man of Your Word and Fire Yourself and Your Friends

Toronto – – If Tim Hudak is a man of his word, then he’s about to “fire” his campaign manager, his deputy campaign boss, at least one of his candidates, and himself.

That’s the only conclusion one can draw from Hudak’s pledge this morning that “if anyone did that on my campaign they’d be fired.”

The public record is clear and indisputable:  at every point, on every vote, Hudak has sided with Big Tobacco.  And his PCs are the only ones who opposed legislation that keeps tobacco away from children and opposed rules to stamp out tobacco advertising.

  • FACT: Tim Hudak voted against the Smoke Free Tobacco act. (Hansard)
  • FACT: Mark Spiro is Hudak’s campaign manager and his lobbying firm tried to stop tobacco warning labels. (cbc.ca, December 9, 2010)
  • FACT:  Hudak’s deputy campaign director, Chad Rogers, still lobbies for big tobacco. (Lobbyist Registry)
  • FACT:  One of Hudak’s star candidates and spokesman, Vic Gupta, has been a registered lobbyist against anti-smoking laws. (Lobbyist Registry)

So, when Tim Hudak says he’ll “fire” people for joking about cigarettes, will he start with himself and his closest aides who make their living off fighting warning labels and helping big tobacco advertise to Ontario kids?

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Comments (5)

On the record: Tim Hudak sides with Big Tobacco

— 09.30.2011 07:53 AM

Toronto Star reporter: What price do you put on someone’s health though? Is it okay for somebody to work in a casino surrounded by smoke, is that okay?

Tim Hudak: Listen, we’ll have members of our…

Reporter: I’m sorry, is that okay?

Hudak: We’ll have members of our party that support the [Smoke Free Ontario] bill and we’ll have some members like myself from border areas that don’t.

(Hudak Scrum, June 7, 2005)

 


Comments (1)

Hudak PCs: Big Tobacco Lobbyists

— 09.30.2011 06:44 AM

Quite a few of Tea Party Tim’s candidates and senior advisors (including his campaign manager) have been Big Tobacco lobbyists.  And Hudak, of course, voted against the Smoke Free Ontario Act.

Case in point: I got home late last night and found this on my door step, as it were.  It sure was an interesting read, so I thought I’d share it with y’all.

Reason 1,342 why I loathe these guys.

Open publication – Free publishing – More lobbyist


Comments (1)

Was this a scheme to get around election laws? Horwath owes voters answers

— 09.29.2011 08:56 AM

Horwath Caught Misleading Again
New revelations tie NDP directly to Cornerstone

TORONTO, Sept. 29, 2011 /CNW/ – Less than one day after it was revealed Andrea Horwath smeared her local hospital with a misleading story, new documents reveal that Andrea Horwath misled reporters and failed to disclose the true relationship between the Ontario Cornerstone Leadership Corporation and the Ontario NDP.

Asked this morning if Cornerstone plays any financial role in the NDP campaign, Horwath said “None whatsoever. None whatsoever. It’s a separate corporation, separate board of directors, no role whatsoever in our campaign, no financial, you know, no financial connection whatsoever. It’s completely separate.” (Andrea Horwath Media Scrum, September 29, 2011)

And she continues to duck questions on the whereabouts of $100,425 of taxpayer money and another $100,000 in union funds granted to Cornerstone for accessibility.

But that’s not the whole story. Horwath was in a position to know how her party raises money.

Documents obtained by the Liberals reveal that links between Cornerstone and the NDP are far greater than previously believed. Not only are all 8 members of the Cornerstone board current or former board members of the NDP, but the corporation is actually bankrolling the NDP’s campaign.

Land registry documents show:

The Cornerstone campaign’s sole goal was to purchase a property that would finance NDP election campaigns:

“The Cornerstone Campaign is a 3-year capital campaign aimed at purchasing a permanent party headquarters in order to finance future election campaigns…purchasing a building will allow the Ontario NDP to continue to qualify for election campaign loans.” (NDP Cornerstone Campaign, The Business Case, pg. 1)

It’s time Andrea Horwath told reporters and Ontarians the truth on the NDPs intricate relationship with Cornerstone. It’s time she said what the NDP did with the $100,425 they received from the federal government and provided assurances that money was not funnelled to the NDP campaign.

It’s time she returned the money.

Read the documents here: http://www.scribd.com/NDPcornerstonelinks


Comments (4)

An open letter to Andrea Horwath

— 09.29.2011 08:29 AM

Open Letter

TORONTO, Sept. 29, 2011 /CNW/ –

Ms. Andrea Horwath

Room 113, Main Legislative Building
Queen’s Park
Toronto ON M7A1A5

Dear Ms. Horwath:

In the past 48 hours you have made a series of shifting claims about the treatment a member of your family received at Hamilton Health Sciences Centre. As you are aware, the Hospital you smeared has expressed frustration and doubt about your claims.

It’s incredibly disappointing that, under the pressure of a televised debate, you chose to misrepresent the facts.

To resolve what hospital staff have called the “unfairness” of your smear, we urge you to do everything you can to allow the Hospital to look at the specific issue you have raised and talk about it freely in the media.  You chose to raise this incident. Now you can choose to be fair and allow the qualified staff who work at your local hospital to defend themselves with facts against your smear.

Yours truly,

[original signed]

Laurel Broten
Liberal Candidate, Etobicoke Lakeshore


Comments (2)