'Independent Conservative' running against Tory-picked Sick Kids Hospital surgeon
By Sonya Bell, ipolitics.ca With Files From Postmedia News April 16, 2011 9:03 AM
Former Tory MP Helena Guergis lashed out at her former party on Friday, saying Conservative leader Stephen Harper engaged in the "worst kind of politics" when launching a "destructive campaign" against her over allegations made last year.
She was reacting to news that unsubstantiated allegations -claims which largely centre on her husband's activities -still led to her ouster from the Tory caucus last year.
Those allegations, brought to the Prime Minister's Office by a private detective in a meeting with Conservative party lawyer Arthur Hamilton, include that Guergis and her husband, former Conservative MP Rahim Jaffer, were seen on a video partying with prostitutes and doing cocaine.
The letter the office sent to the RCMP, seeking an investigation, also included allegations of fraud, extortion and obtaining benefits through false pretences.
According to a transcript of an RCMP interview with Hamilton, obtained by Guergis through Access to Information and given to the CBC, the Tory lawyer told investigators, "there's apparently video of [Guergis] snorting cocaine off the breasts of a prostitute."
Although Guergis was cleared by the RCMP of wrongdoing, Harper has refused to let her back into the Conservative fold.
"If only Mr. Harper had taken the time to be open about the allegations that were presented to him and he had given me a chance to confront them, much hardship could have been avoided," Guergis said Friday.
Harper stood his ground, saying the party would not take Guergis back into the fold.
"There were, as you know well, a range of political problems around this individual. They have been discussed among members of our caucus. There is simply no desire to see the return of this individual to our caucus," Harper told reporters.
The result is a faceoff between two conservative candidates and an increasingly dirty campaign in a staunchly blue riding.
The Simcoe-Grey showdown comes to a head on the main drag of Alliston, Ont., where two campaign offices -both boasting blue election signs -are across the street from one another.
One office belongs to Guergis, running as an Independent Conservative. The other is that of her party-approved rival, Dr. Kellie Leitch.
On a mid-week afternoon, a lone volunteer sits way at the back of Leitch's spacious campaign office. Her only company is the stacks of Conservative signs and literature.
Her voice echoes in the otherwise empty space: Leitch is a wonderful candidate, but without permission, she can't say anything more.
Across the street, Guergis' office has no party literature, and the blue Conservative signs are blazed with a qualifier: Independent. There are three volunteers in the small space, busy calling constituents to ask for support -and to explain the meaning of "Independent."
The rural Ontario showdown raises two questions about Canadian democracy.
If party brand trumps local candidate, as many observers suggest, any Conservative candidate would win the riding -and the bright, qualified Leitch would do so handily.
But, if in an age of apathy, Guergis' victim status motivates constituents the way it has motivated her small but fervent volunteer force, she could keep the seat she has held since 2004.
Guergis said voters will reject Leitch, a surgeon at Toronto's Hospital for Sick Children, for being a parachute candidate.
Guergis was exasperated by a recent Barrie Examiner editorial that warned voters that Independent candidates cannot do as much for a riding as party-approved candidates.
"My voice is stronger than it's ever been," she said.
Guergis' election experience shows in her masterful sign placement across the large riding and in her superior performance in the riding's first allcandidates debate.
But local Conservatives don't see her coming out on top.
Leitch is a "superb candidate," says longtime party member Wayne Hutchinson.
"When someone like that, with her job and credentials, is willing to give it all up -you've got to support someone like that."
Hutchinson predicted Guergis would take less than 10 per cent of the vote this time around.
Tom McKay, another longtime party member, said Guergis' victim status in the riding -"like everything in politics" -was over after six months.
But those who like her, like her a lot.
Back at Guergis' office, first-time volunteer Sharon Hutchinson answers a ringing phone and takes down a request for "the biggest, baddest campaign sign you've got."
"She's done a great job for the riding," she said. "I'll volunteer as much time as the campaign needs."
That could mean a lot of hours. A drive through the towns of Wasaga Beach, Midhurst, Alliston, and Angus reveals more Leitch signs than Guergis signs where they really count -on people's lawns.
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