St. Catharines Conservative AGM
April 9, 2022
Takeaways from this morning’s St. Catharines CPC AGM:
1. Once again, there was much mention of what’s going on in Ukraine, yet we’ve been under siege from our own governments for the past two years and few even among this group seem willing to bat an eye.
2. Krystina Waler spoke via an Internet hookup for seven and a half minutes and said virtually nothing. Krystina in a nutshell. The official reason she wasn’t there in person was because she had tested positive for Covid, but I can’t help but wonder if she wasn’t pulling one out of Justin Trudeau’s playbook and hiding in the wake of her scandalous endorsement of Sal Sorrento, the local candidate for Doug “Closed for Business” Ford, Justin’s brother-in-arms. When she said, “I was honored to be your candidate in the last election . . .” I was hoping she’d choose that as the opportune moment to announce that she was stepping down, but sadly, no such luck. Maybe that’s coming, but not yet. The only noteworthy item she mentioned was a candid admission of flip-flopping from the central campaign office during last year’s election.
3. I had expected Sorrento to show up and work the room trolling for votes, but he was nowhere to be seen. While Krystina may have been afraid of facing the music, Sorrento does not lack for nerve.
4. Noteworthy is that Rick Dykstra, our former MP, is now back on the board.
5. Perhaps the highlight of the morning was a lengthy conversation with a young high school student seated at my table who showed maturity way beyond his years. He made many intelligent arguments and I couldn’t have been more impressed with the courage he and his like-minded classmates are showing in standing up to the “woke” political commissars masquerading as teachers. Those poor kids can’t even escape indoctrination in accounting classes. When he questions the narrative, he is told “Your privilege is showing.” While it was deeply disturbing to hear first-hand what’s going on in our schools, it is young men like him determined to make a difference who give me hope and optimism that all is not lost. If he ends up reading this, I hope he shows this to his mother, who should be incredibly proud of her son.
6. Representatives of the leadership candidates were invited, yet the only ones who showed were from Leona Alleslev and Patrick Brown. Without directly saying so, Brown’s rep characterized Pierre Poilievre as Donald Trump and said we could replace him with a human who puts people first. Having been one of those severely burned by Brown in 2015, I don’t know how I managed to restrain myself from bursting out laughing. Right after becoming leader of the Ontario PC Party, Brown turned from a hard-line conservative to an authoritarian Liberal almost overnight. His subsequent embarrassing and shameful conduct as the Supreme Leader of Brampton only made me more relieved he never became premier. I’d sooner the party have stuck with the deposed Erin O’Toole than have Brown at the helm.
6a. The rep mentioned that Brown was somewhere in NOTL today, yet I, as a long-tenured party member, knew nothing about it until the meeting. When you’re a long-shot candidate, “you’re just supposed to know” doesn’t cut it.
7. Following the meeting, it was refreshing to hear a board member candidly admit the party had sold its soul just to win an election. Thankfully, those days are now over. At least I hope they are.
8. Before leaving, Donna Daffern, the CFO for the Doug Ford Party riding association, made sure to tell me that Sorrento’s campaign office on Facer Street is now open. How kind of her, I thought. So I made sure to tell her, just like I told Sorrento on the phone, that I’d sooner rip my ballot in half than vote for that NDP premier. “Failing a New Blue candidate, I would return my ballot rather than vote for Doug Ford. I will not vote for a socialist party,” I said, very firmly. With palpable anger on her face bubbling out from underneath her mask (she was the only one in the room wearing one), she said, “You are sadly mistaken.” No, Donna, one of us is mistaken and it’s not me.
8a. After my telephone encounter with Sorrento and subsequently being blocked on social media, I’m shocked she had the gall to approach me in regard to the Doug Ford Party. Evidently Sorrento is not the only one in the local riding association with some big-time cojones.
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