Statement by Martin Gladstone

Candidate for Council, Ward 32 Beaches-East York

Today, I have made a very difficult decision, one which I believe is in the best interests of our community and the residents of Ward 32.

I have come to the really hard decision that the best way to serve the community of Beaches-East York is to withdraw from the race, and request that my supporters vote for Mary- Margaret McMahon for Councillor Ward 32.

Since August 12th, our team has worked very very hard to mount an effective campaign to defeat Sandra Bussin as Councillor Ward 32. The number of concerned community members who came forward to help has been one of the most positive experiences of my life, and I am truly grateful for the support I received.

As a community, we share the strong belief that our ward desperately needs change. Every day on this campaign residents have called me, written me, and at virtually every doorstep have expressed their anger, frustration, and lost confidence with our current councillor. They have also expressed their deep concern that the vote will split between the candidates and that Bussin will be re-elected.

After reviewing current poll results, Mary-Margaret McMahon is in a slight lead in this race. The reality is if I continue to campaign it will probably be at the expense of Mary-Margaret McMahon’s support which in turn will erode her lead and allow Sandra Bussin to squeak past and be re-elected by a small margin. I care too much about our community and our city to allow that to happen.

Mary-Margaret McMahon is a hard worker. She brings fresh energy and vision to the job. She has been a proven community leader and is ready to serve us with integrity and enthusiasm. She is the change we all want.

I hope my supporters will share my conviction that by making this decision our team is doing everything possible to achieve our original shared goal, which is to unseat Sandra Bussin and bring the real change we all desire to our ward and our city.

I wish to thank all my volunteers and donors for the support and enthusiasm they have brought to this election and I hope Ward 32 will support Mary-Margaret on October 25th .

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Media contact Des Brown at 416 568 1214 or des@desmondbrown.ca

Mary Margaret McMahon’s campaign: 416-690-5006

Comments (21)

Karma’s a bitch, eh Petey? Get used to it.

Comments (3)

Not the game.

It’s a song.

Here it is.

video hockey too fake
Uploaded by vinzandco. – Explore more music videos.

Comments (1)

The source of his inspiration.

One year from today, Ontario will go back to the polls.  We Ontario Liberals are already at work, and in fact have been at work for months.  We intend to continue to work very hard, to once again earn the confidence of the people.  And we intend to take our opponents very, very seriously.  We don’t, and will not, take anything for granted.

That’s because the choices are starkly different, and the consequences of making  the wrong choice are pretty significant.  So I think Ontario voters need to start pondering what would be the consequence of a win by our principal (but by no means only) opponent, Conservative leader Tim Hudak.

Here’s a very short summary of Hudak’s views and positions, mostly derived from his tenure as a Mike Harris disciple.  In the year ahead, you will be hearing a lot more about these.  Consider them carefully.  If you feel as I and many others do, we need to once again cast a vote of confidence in Dalton McGuinty [full disclosure: whose caucus I’ve given comms advice].

• Education: Hudak and his caucus call full-day kindergarten ” a frill.”  He has supported funding private religious schools in the past, and he still does.
• Health: When he was the right-hand to the Conservative Minister of Health, Hudak worked to close 28 hospitals and 7,110 hospital beds.  He also favoured firing 6,200 nurses.  His current plan is to cut $3 billion from front-line health care in Ontario. And he opposed cutting the cost of prescription drugs for Ontario seniors and families.
• Economy: Many times, Hudak and his caucus have voted against tax cuts for Ontario families and businesses.  He also opposed the partnership with the auto sector, which saved hundreds of thousands of Ontario families – just as he opposed investment in Ontario infrastructure when the recession hit.  And, though he once opposed the HST, he now admits that it should be maintained.
• Energy/Environment: When Hudak and his party were last in power, we had failed energy de-regulation, a “price cap” fiasco, and his Conservative friends getting rich off Hydro One with untendered contracts.  When he had a say, dirty coal generation increased 127 per cent.  And, of course, Hudak, and his party, created a system where people in Walkerton died, and where hundreds more became sick for life.

In the year ahead, you’ll be hearing more and more about these and other concerns.

And in the year ahead, you will hopefully come to know – as I do – that Dalton McGuinty is a builder.

Tim Hudak and his cabal, meanwhile, are the wrecking crew.

Comments (38)

Best news I’ve heard in ages. Woot!

Comments (7)

Just, sigh.

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Reformatory Monte Solberg, who has grown to Godzilla-size, takes on me and the NDP’s Peggy Nash.

Go to “Featured Video” here, at 1:43 mark.

Comments (3)

Sarah on George, in her own words (these are verbatim quotes):

• Smitherman is “completely irresponsible, corrupt, boondoggle of a career politician…”
• Smitherman will “manipulate, trick and pull the wool over” voters’ eyes.
• …and she says something completely homophobic about him that, on reflection, I’m not going to even quote.  It’s disgraceful.

As Rocco said: “They belong together.”

[Thomson – who perhaps was “just pretending” again – has deleted the blog post containing the above words.  Any readers who can find it?]

UPDATE: And intrepid reader Heather finds it, here!

Comments (11)

David Chen is my hero. He should be yours, too.

Last year, David – a 35-year-old Toronto restaurant employee – spotted a creep on a bike stealing a box of plants. The same character had been stealing stuff from people and businesses in the Chinatown area for a while. Everyone knew who he was and what he was doing.

David spotted the guy later that same Saturday, and he confronted him. The guy dropped his bike and took off. David chased after him with two other restaurant employees. When they got him, they tied him up by his hands and feet, put him in a delivery truck and immediately contacted police. They made a citizen’s arrest.

But when the cops arrived at the Lucky Moose Food Mart, everyone – including David and the two other guys, along with the thief – was arrested and charged. The three grocers were charged with assault and kidnapping; the man on the bike was charged with theft. David was kept in jail overnight. The crook, however, was promptly released on bail.

Lots of shopkeepers and customers in Chinatown have been pretty upset with what has happened to David, and they should be. They’ve told the media the area is plagued with petty theft, but that the police often don’t get there fast enough, or at all. The police and the Crown’s office (one of the worst in the country, in my view) have been dancing on the head of a legal pin, saying what David Chen did wasn’t really a citizen’s arrest because, um, er, it wasn’t a “continuous event,” your Honour. That’s B.S.

Section 494 of the Criminal Code allows “anyone” to make an arrest “without warrant” if they believe someone has committed a criminal offence. Sounds like what David did, doesn’t it? Check.

The section further provides that the citizen “shall forthwith deliver the person to a peace officer.” David did that, too. Check.

The whole thing seems to turn on the fact that the bad guy was not being “freshly pursued” by the good guys. What does “freshly pursued” mean? Beats me. “Fresh” is a word you can apply to any edible product, in any circumstance, without being arrested. But in David Miller’s Toronto, “fresh” has to mean “continuous,” or someone is going to charge you with kidnapping and a bunch of other stuff, too.

As you guys know, I’m not a law-and-order maniac. As a past member of the executive of various provincial and federal law associations, I actually love the genius of the law. But, in this case, I would have to admit that the law is, indeed, an ass.  And politicians from all parries – Liberal Joe Volpe, Conservative Jason Kenney, NDPer Olivia Chow – apparently agree, and have shown their strong support for David.  Everyone should.

David Chen, meanwhile, is my hero.  He’s in court again today for his trial.  Please drop by to show him support.

And sign the petition supporting him here!

Comments (29)

Floating Vibes: there’s Dinosaur Jr. in there, some Pavement, the Shins, the Beach Boys if they’d done more acid, Tromple le Monde-era Pixies, and a not a few lo-fi others.  But what a tune!

Comments (2)