hey her something up your alley.
can you pin the tail to the donkey?
Who else involved with this guy on ybm magnex?
curshen and carter? LOL
David Peterson back in provincial politics
PATRICK MALONEY, Free Press Reporter 2003-07-21 04:08:45
Thirteen years after Ontario voters dumped his Liberal government and turfed him from his London seat, former premier David Peterson is back in provincial politics. But this time, he's a caring relative -- not a candidate.
Peterson is helping his sister-in-law, Liberal Deb Matthews, as she prepares to take on Progressive Conservative cabinet minister Dianne Cunningham in London-North-Centre riding, in what could be one of the hottest races in the looming election.
"I've knocked on a few doors and I'm delighted to do that," Peterson said yesterday from his Toronto home. "I do whatever I'm asked -- I'll sweep the floor, get the doughnuts, give advice, whatever they want."
Peterson also has been doing legwork for his brother, Tim, who's running as a Grit in Tory-held Mississauga South.
Matthews said there's nothing unusual about having relatives canvass for her -- even one who swept to Ontario's highest office.
"I know other people think of it as a much bigger deal than I do," said Matthews, whose sister, Shelley, is married to the former premier. "David wants to help me and I want him to help me. We're a political family."
A London MPP for 15 years, Peterson broke a nearly half-century Tory grip on power in Ontario when his Liberals -- propped up by Bob Rae's New Democrats -- formed a minority government in 1985.
Two years later, when the accord with the NDP expired, Peterson called an election and won a huge majority.
But an early election call in 1990, as recession dawned, backfired on the Liberals, when the NDP ousted them and took Peterson's own seat.
One Queen's Park watcher says enough time has passed that Peterson can campaign for family without the baggage of his political past.
"People will have forgotten how (angry) they were with David Peterson in 1990," said Graham Murray, a Toronto political consultant who publishes a regular Queen's Park newsletter.
"A name is a name and name recognition is very important in politics. He could usefully campaign for her."
Matthews is a veteran backroom Liberal, who helped run the party's 1987 and 1995 Ontario campaigns and was its organization chairperson in the ill-fated 1990 campaign.
While she may not be well-known to voters, Matthews is definitely among the Liberals' star candidates, Murray said.
"Deb Matthews is the most substantial candidate running for the Liberals in London," he said. "She certainly draws a lot of water within the party."
Running for office is Matthews' answer to what she sees as poor direction provided by the Tories since 1995.
And since the race against Cunningham should be hotly contested, Matthews is sure Peterson will be back on London voters' doorsteps once the election is called.
"I wouldn't be a bit surprised if he was here," she said. "As many people in my family as I can conscript to help, I will." |
