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8 - Orono Weekly Times Wednesday, April 1, 2009 Viewpoint by Eric Dowd Provincial Tories exclude outsiders Toronto Ontario's Progressive Conservatives have started a leadership race so exclusive they could miss finding a real winner. The contest to find a successor to John Tory, who resigned after failing to win a seat in the legislature, is restricted first because all those so far talking of running have connections to the party's right wing. This means the moderates who were mainly responsible for keeping the Conservatives in government for 50 of the last 66 years may have no candidate to vote for. The party's executive also has decided the race will last only three months, because it wants to name a leader by June 27, which leaves candidates only a short time to impress, helps several MPPs who are well-known and had been preparing in case Tory went, but deters others who would have to start from scratch. Conservative MPPs also informally seem to favor choosing someone who already has a seat in the legislature, because Tory's inability to win one delayed their party's preparations for the next election in 2011 by almost two years and they do not want to risk going through this again. This is understandable, but it will deprive them of candidates from outside who may have the best chance of winning an election or at least add something to the race. Bob Rae was a New Democrat MP when his Ontario party lured him to be leader and he provided intelligence and articulation that helped put it in government for the first and only time. New Democrats inevitably have lost admiration for Rae, because he deserted them for a more assured future as a federal Liberal, but it is doubtful they would have won in Ontario without him. Others from the federal parliament or who had never been elected anywhere have run in Ontario leadership races for different parties and made useful contributions. The most dramatic was by Charles Templeton, a former evangelist preacher who became prominent in secular TV, radio and print journalism, ran for Liberal leader in the 1960s and came within a prayer of defeating the winner, MPP Andrew Thompson. Thompson gave up after two years in which the party got nowhere and Liberal MPPs then pleaded with Templeton to take over, but he had had his fill of conniving politicians and refused. Some still wonder what the party might have achieved if it had chosen him. Because the federal Liberals have won more elections and attracted the lion's share of talent, making competition for top jobs there more intense, while provincial Liberals mostly have struggled, some have switched to run for leader at the provincial level. They included Walter Harris, a former federal finance minister, who failed against homegrown John Wintermeyer, and Norm Cafik, a rousing speaker who came close to snatching the leadership from Robert Nixon. Some added life to Ontario races. Mark MacGuigan, a back bench MP and former law professor, lost in the 1970s to Stuart Smith, but raised the most interesting issues, including wanting to ban strikes throughout the public service and settle disputes through a "labor peace commission," and restrict growth of costly bilingual services. After being rejected by the Ontario Liberals, MacGuigan held some of the most senior posts in Liberal federal governments, leaving some here to wonder what they had missed. No Ontario Liberal leadership race would have been complete without the rumor, mostly unfulfilled, some heavyweight savior from their federal party, including John Turner then prime-ministerin-waiting, was coming to rescue the struggling provincial party. The Ontario Conservatives, who had four unbroken decades in government up to 1985, once attracted enough talent they had no need even to consider recruiting from their federal party, but times have changed and current federal ministers Peter Van Loan and Diane Finley have been looking at joining the Ontario leadership race. They do not have records suggesting they could win, but the message from the Ontario Tories is as clear as if it was nailed on the legislature door: outsiders not wanted. Advertise your business in the NEWCASTLE EDITION OF THE ORONO WEEKLY TIMES - the first edition of each month 905-983-5301 oronotimes@rogers.com