Ontario Landowners Association sees common legal and political fight in Reform Party of Ontario

The Ontario Landowners Association sees a common legal and political fight in the Reform Party of Ontario, enough that its members, originally loyal to the Tory Progressive Conservatives, wonder if perhaps the elite party is not grassroots enough, thus now interested towards joing en masse with the Reformers. The article in the Ottawa Citizen and National Post speaks about how John Tory, leader of the Ontario PC Party sold out the Mike Harris Tories or Common Sense Revolutionaries, many of which had also been Rural Ontario Libertarians from the Ontario Landowners Association, this group believes in the same Ontario Reform principles of less government, more freedom and the end of excessive government interference, which is why a Belleville sitdown between the leadership of both the legal and political organizations will be held today.

The brainchild of which has been Reform Party of Ontario's Eastern Ontario organizer and cofounder of the former Lanark Landowners Association, which later on became the OLA, John Vanderspank. He watched as 131 Ontario Landowners attended the Ontario PC Leadership showdown in London, as 10 percent of the eligible voters, where they knocked John Tory's approval ratings down in late February, to a low 66.9 in opposition of his ongoing leadership issues that now actually do matter. While this almost gave John Tory his third such electoral defeat in less than a year, losing the general election, his electoral district then almost his leadership position, people across Ontario had to wonder just what this Rural Revolution could do if ever at full power, even within an elitist party like the Ontario Tories.

Vanderspank's other cofounder, Randy Hillier, was elected MPP for the riding of Lanark—Frontenac—Lennox and Addington after cutting a backroom deal last year with John Tory for support from John Tory's party for the Ontario Landowners principles of less government, more freedom and the end of excessive government interference in return for Hillier's running under their banner in that upcoming election. Hillier kept his part of the bargain, as the Ottawa born electrician gained the same kind of significant high profile support and attention he received from various confrontations with the power that be in that region, a populist network that includes Reform like politicians such as Lanark—Frontenac—Lennox and Addington MP Scott Reid, Nepean—Carleton MP Pierre Poilievre, Renfrew—Nipissing—Pembroke MP Cheryl Gallant, Leeds-Grenville MP Gord Brown and other Ontario MPs in the Harper Conservative Government, eventually winning his riding handedly. But John Tory did not keep his end of that specific bargain, creating the election platform on his own, through policy elite advisory, without any real grassroots development, which not only ended up losing the election, but also lacked any of the Ontario Landowners principles that were promised upon that deal for their support.

Now, since the open battle for his leadership defeat by the Ontario Landowners, John Tory and his handlers are calling out the controversial and impolitic tactics used to win the support they had been hoping to use politically for themselves, some openly questioning their Rural Ontario MPP's party loyalty and allegiance to its brand of politics, despite their openly autocratic sellout as the party backroom elite to his and their populist rural organization's. This has placed much pressure on Hillier and the Ontario Landowners, having been railroaded by the Ontario Tories, who now feel payback is possibly in order to show politicians, who simply waste their valuable time, just what happens when they do. But Carleton—Mississippi Mills MPP and John Tory loyalist Norm Sterling last week called the Ontario Landowners group's influence "limited", proofed by gloatingly pointing to his own comprehensive victory, while the Ontario Landowners had supported the Ontario Green candidate, as the OLA president Jack Mclaren said they "found they have more common ground with the provincal Green party than areas of disagreement" as several of the Green people were found to be good folks, while OGP leader Frank Dejong said they "see eye to eye with the provincial Landowners association on many issues." Especially in a general election, where Ontario Reform tested its formula by only running 2 candidates, the Ontario Greens satisfied the Ontario Landowners much better than those Tories, with candidates that supported their position on three issues, enshrining property rights into a provincial constitution, compensating landowners for protecting the environment at the expense of their property rights and finally allowing municipalities to deamalgamate if it was the will of the people. From Ontario Greens to Ontario Reform, the possible move by the Ontario Landowners forced one leading one John Tory Ontario PC senior aide to state "I'm not saying there's not a concern, there's always a concern about everybody in the party. But a bunch of guys who throw a party together in a basement? Good luck to you!" while University of Toronto political science professor Nelson Wiseman chimed in that "I have a feeling they will take some Conservative votes away, but more likely, and you just can't tell, if there's an appetite for change in 2011, they'll overcome the fact that some of their vote was chipped away."

That John Tory spurned Rural Ontario by telling Dufferin—Peel—Wellington—Grey that Urban Ontario is where he belonged, when he left to run in Toronto's Don Valley West, he killed any shot of getting back in through such a route again. The best he could do is follow Parry Sound—Muskoka MP Tony Clement up the 400, past Muskoka and north on the 69 because any Rural Ontario run will be complicated by the Ontario Landowners now. This is especially true if such a John Tory loyalist as Leeds—Grenville MPP Bob Runciman even tried his best to sneak him in the backdoor by resigning, such a byelection would likely produce an Ontario Landowner victory under the Ontario Reform banner, who like Don Valley West MPP Kathleen Wynne would slaughter John Tory back to a Bay Street condo retreat over the Lakeshore. The backroom pals of John Tory, such as former Premier of Ontario Bill Davis, right now are likely trying hard to use their longtime connections and contacts to find a friendly Liberal or New Democrat in 416 Toronto who could give him their seat, pleading that having a friendly ally like John Tory in the Park to the Big Three's collective cause is to all their benefits communally, making this a most likely and probable scenerio indeed, especially as Northern Ontario is becoming just as strong as Rural Ontario with their revolution.

With such odds stacked against them by Toronto city politicos, a question of why on earth would the Ontario Landowners bank their power on the Rural and Northern Ontario Reformers can be answered, with this sitdown meeting of 23 Ontario Landowners and 3 Ontario Reformers bringing all of them under the same big tent, one must go back to their original principles of less government, more freedom and the end of excessive government interference, these keys to a chance for change through choice is why the Ontario Landowners got involved on the political side in the first place, not for power but for principle. If Hillier doesn't see any of these three principles, or even one of the three, being practised by the Progressive Conservatives, or other two types of political parties provincially at Queen's Park, in the Liberals and New Democrats, then why would he not be considering a change of allegiance to Ontario Reform, which is where he originally began his political calling as a Reformer in the first place with best of buds in people like Reid.

Vanderspank and Ontario Reform along with Hillier and Ontario Landowners have a real job ahead of them, to make the principles they had originally cofounded their Ontario Landowners organization upon into a political force, they must unite to ally once again within the Ontario Reform movement that made their cause célèbre against authorities of the elite the cat's meow, if they are to gain the steam it had legally into one of the same politically. But they have lots of help, as the Reform Party of Ontario grows, the potential as witnessed by the June 1991 Mississauga rally of 7,730 members and the membership of Ontario Reformers being more than the rest of the Reform Party of Canada's combined in the other provinces, so for the idea Vanderspank puts out there, the validity of it remains in Hillier becoming Ontario's version of Deborah Grey and Harness becoming Ontario's version of Preston Manning, allowing one to automatically become Reform Ontario's House Leader inside and other to automatically become its Party Leader outside, with a grand provincial assembly in 2009 to make it all so, to solidify the electoral base with a brand new choice just before the next general election in 2011 and do so for the most optimum chance at victory so the Park will once more be home to change like 1919.

Populism trumps autocracy, the United Farmers of Ontario proved it almost about a century ago, people in Northern and Rural Ontario already on board the Ontario Landowners idea legally were already with Ontario Reform politically in the past, all that needs to happen is bringing it back into the future, bringing each organization a lot more visibility, immediate capability to make change now and automatic opportunity to ask questions at the Park, all in all such a democratically made decision to work together would strengthen the grassroots populist choice for citizens wanting a chance to vote for a more people first political alternative provincially over the Big Three in the Ontario Legislative Assembly right now, especially if one argues there is not much difference between the elite triad of power that maintains the status quo there current and such a boost for choice really could reform Ontario in ways one could not believe.