By Pepper Parr
November 27, 2106
BURLINGTON, ON
Update: We have been advised that the Progressive Conservative nomination meeting for the Burlington association held yesterday was managed by the party offices. While Jane Michaels said she did have scrutineers in the count she was not advised as to how many votes were actually cast. Why the secret?
There were two Janes running for the provincial Progressive Conservative nomination. Jane McKenna won the nomination – this is the third time she has been the nominee. In DATE she was basically given the nomination and went on to win the seat defeating Burlington lawyer Karmel Sakran.
Jane McKenna with her new look.
In 2014 McKenna had to defend her seat against first time Liberal candidate Eleanor McMahon and was defeated.
She entered the ring for a third time Saturday and defeated that other Jane – Jane Michael, who is the chair of the Halton District Catholic school board by 41 votes.
Michael said she had a “good honest run with a stellar team that did everything possible to get out the vote.”
A person in a position to know said Michael ran into a number of obstacles getting herself recognized as a candidate claiming that she was interviewed by the PC party as a candidate just three days prior to the nomination meeting and was approved just 12 hours before the nomination meeting took place.
According to this source Michael received the membership list less than 12 hours before the voting took place and that 15 of the members she had signed up were challenged as members.
This source also claims that 25 of the McKenna voters all lived at the same address.
It appears to have been messy.
The Gazette was not able to reach anyone in the McKenna campaign team.
The next provincial election takes place on June 7, 2018 when McKenna will have to run against McMahon who has been made a member of the Wynne cabinet as Minister of Tourism, Culture and Sport and a member of the Ontario government Treasury Board.
Background links:
McKenna’s first nomination.
Interesting…….I am a member and was present on Saturday. If someone doesn’t have the list than how can that someone show up on my doorstep a week prior to the Vote? I detect sour grapes.
Congratulations, you just gave the election to the Liberals.
Pathetic.
This whole nomination process appears to have been done on the sly with no public information . Perhaps a member of the Burlington Conservative Party can explain who all these reported regularities will be investigated . I smell a rat here or cronyism politics .
This stinks. I am not a member of any Ontario political party, and I am angry with the electrical pricing mess, but there is no way that I will ever vote for Jane McKenna, and I will make sure that everyone I know is aware of this nonsense. Do the Burlington Conservatives not know that this is not the 1950’s? Ms. McKenna will finish as she did in the Aldershot School Trustee elections.