Despite Not Caring For The Tories, Tony Clement Has Been Good For The Riding As Our MP

UPCOMING FEDERAL ELECTION? WILL IT BE A BARN BURNER; ONE OF THE MOST CONTROVERSIAL SINCE THE DAYS OF JOHN A.? OR JUST ANOTHER ELECTION OF PROMISES THAT MEAN SOMETHING CLOSE TO NOTHING?

     When I worked at The Herald-Gazette, in Bracebridge, I hated election time. Our paper was a bastion of Conservative politics, except the news staff, who were all of the radical element, truth be known. We were about the worse fit possible, into an historic Tory publication, and I know we gave our publisher and management heartburn on a daily basis, especially during election campaigning.
     The news staff, of which I was top banana, made it clear, we would not write any pro-Tory editorials, even if it meant our jobs hinged on it! It never came up, in fact, but it did become a tussle each week, trying as editor, to balance candidate coverage, which was precarious, because everyone from opposing camps, knew it would be a miracle to get more ink during a campaign, than Stan Darling, the long-serving Muskoka-Parry Sound M.P. I liked Stan, as a matter of fact, but he was through and through a Tory, and he wanted the best for his party, and our paper wanted him to be re-elected. I was always trying to figure out ways, via copy distribution, to keep everyone happy with aloted editorial space. Even when we did the best we could, in terms of fair play, each campaign manager felt we owed more to their party than we apparently showed in our weekly publication.
     Eventually I just stopped worrying about it, and let my publisher take the heat for any alleged (perceived) shortfall of space aloted to each party. My boss was pretty good about this, and didn't want to show favourtism for a party, of which he belonged, until days before the election, when the editorial page became the beacon of Tory agenda. The reporters looked the other way, and sat out as editorialists, from our usual role on the opinion page. I did very much dislike, being considered a Tory myself, and referenced as a Conservative pawn for the publisher to manipulate; it was especially annoying while relaxing at the local watering hole, where these kind of things inevitably came up. At the former Bracebridge Albion Hotel, on Main Street, I hung out in the raging midst of blue collar types, and when they got drunk, they headed to our table to complain about all things political; boozey, cuss-laced, angry overviews of a soon to be Prime Minister, and the damning policies that were crippling them financially and hurting their families. We couldn't even go to the washroom, without having to listen to a political debate at the urinals. Especially if it was being conducted for our benefit. A sort of man-on-the-street piece, that our paper used to run each week, except this political rant was happening at the hotel urinals. So for this period, we did shy away from our usual press club location, and hit a small friendly-to-reporters pub instead, at the Holiday House, owned by a friend of ours, who never judged us, or attached a political stripe to our shoulders; knowing full well that we didn't carry the Tory torch like our administrators.
     I think about those days, and all the running around we had to do, following the local campaigns of candidates, who travelled a wildly crazy number of miles, throughout this region, to meet with constituents and speak at party fundraisers. I used to follow Stan Darling around, and the guy had a fantastic amount of energy, and he would go house to house if that was the means of getting extra votes. He never missed visiting a neighborhood, crossroads, hamlet, village or town in his Riding, and he never relied on the upper echelon of party ranks to tell him how to read the constituents he represented. When I was covering Stan's stops along the way, the folks he met loved him, and he had an exceptional relationship with them; and yet, from a reporter's perspective, he always seemed starched and very formal, as if he felt it impossible to relax, and drop his guard for even a second of time. When he spoke, it was always as if he was standing up in the House of Commons, and making a presentation to Members of Parliament. But they didn't care about the formality side, because they knew he was working hard for them in Ottawa, and representing the district with the utmost respect for its historical integrity. I like the way he treated constituents, but it still didn't influence my politics, or move me to cheat for the Tories, editorially, to give them more editorial space during the campaign, than was shared between the parties.
     The upcoming election? I'm not looking forward to it, and I have no intention of turning this blog into anything more political than usual. I'm not happy with the Tories whatsoever, but I do like Tony Clement, for the same reason I liked Stan Darling, and MPP Frank Miller, as our Provincial representative during his years as our Conservative tower of strength; and he was, no doubt about it! Tony Clement has been as visible as Stan and Frank were in the region, and is interested in the welfare of his constituents, and I've seen it up close, just the way I did with past government officials. I don't care for the Conservatives as our federal leadership, but Tony has been visiting those same rural neighborhoods, crossroads, hamlets, villages and towns, and hundreds of community events which shows we have a hands-on member of parliament, who has embedded himself, versus standing on the outside looking in!
     It's going to get pretty crazy this time around, and the constituents of Muskoka have a lot of questions to ask, about issues such as the "one hospital" proposal for Muskoka, which I think is absolute nonsense, especially the part about locating in the Village of Port Sydney. It may not be the federal government's jurisdiction, but it still needs input from all levels of government and soon. The economy of Muskoka isn't doing as well as it should, and tourism so far this summer, has been, according to some in the retail community, a little on the lack lustre side, and for some others, totally miserable. Having two months to pad the rest of the year is tough enough, not to lose days of commerce in the middle of what is supposed to be the best time of the year fiscally speaking. I think we need a solid performer locally. I like Tony, and so does our family, but there is no way you would call us Conservatives, by philosophy, or as card carrying members. We know his level of involvement in our communities, is solid, and caring, and he's approachable when constituents are having issues, or confounded by something at the federal level, that happens to be impacting regionally.
     We won't be pounding a Tony Clement election sign into our front yard sod, or taping one of this signs in the window of our Gravenhurst shop, because we respect the opinions of our customers, who may be offended at our choice of candidates this coming election. Should we be confronted by a Tory-hating customer, who we believe is unfairly critiquing our current Member of Parliament, we will defend him, as far as we can, with evidence we possess, of a down-to-earth guy, who genuinely cares about the welfare of his constituency; and isn't shy about putting himself out there, to face the music. And yes, Tony was part of our Church Concert Series last autumn season, here in Gravenhurst, and by golly, it was a lot of fun for everybody in attendance, watching our Member of Parliament let it all hang out; performing a small guitar and drum set for an appreciative audience; thrilled to know he was just one of the gang, and having fun himself. And you know what? He was pretty good, and brave, doing covers for an astute music-loving audience.
     You know, a few days later, as we all heard in the breaking news of the day, that Tony and other Members of Parliament, were in great danger, on Parliament Hill, when a gunman entered the Parliament Buildings, with the intent of inflicting as many casualties as possible. We sat in the studio, listening to the latest news releases, on the radio, in the same room where Tony had been sitting a few days earlier, and wondered out loud, and with considerable regret, how dangerous it can be to represent us, and preserve this democracy we often take for granted; represent the interests of constituents in a huge riding, and occasionally, have few minutes of recreation, and respite in the place he seems to like very much.