Posts Tagged ‘Paul Ainslie’
‘You get the politicians you deserve’ – My Appeal for Help
Beaches-East York MPP Michael Prue said this today at a Housing Forum I attended, in reference to what happens to marginalized communities that don’t vote and then get ignored by those who win.
Voter responsibility is something I believe in as a candidate and an activist because, at the end of the day, it is the electors and not the candidates that control who runs, wins and loses. Unfortunately, without the financial support of electors who believe in me, my candidacy will be forced to end soon.
In late 2008 when people began approaching me about running, I told them very simply that ‘if I run you would need to help me by donating time and money’. Since that time, I’ve done my part, but can’t wait much longer on members of the community to do theirs.
I have spent countless hours fighting on behalf of my community and pushing back against attacks and attempts to victimize residents. It has become increasingly clear that our fight lies at City Hall and stopping Toronto Hydro will be easiest from there.
Residents asked and I answered their call to enter the race. Two months later I find myself with unbelievable levels of support on the door in high and low income communities, but with a campaign running on fumes. Campaigns need money to operate, and without finances we will not be able to compete against Paul Ainslie’s abuse of tax dollars (which is well underway) and the lobbyist and developer money he will surely take this time around (as he did last time).
I remain the only candidate that lives in the Ward, the only candidate stepping up to fight for the community and sadly the only candidate who could be forced from the race over a lack of financial support.
Those who believe I would be a good Councillor need to get involved and take ownership of the fate of my campaign. Our community’s future hangs in the balance.
If you want to see me in this race, I need your help today. Please donate to my campaign now. As an example, a $300 donation will cost just $75 after the City mails you a rebate cheque. For a more detailed breakdown of the city’s rebate program and how much you can get back, click here.
Without your help, it is a matter of weeks before my campaign ends and with it my intention to devote the next four years of my life to standing up for residents who I believe currently have a failed representative. Elections are the opportunity for communities to decide who they want to represent them, and everyone should respect the outcome. If inaction causes my withdrawal and the re-election of Paul Ainslie, then, sadly, as Michael Prue said today, ‘you get the politicians you deserve’.
We have the opportunity to defeat a lying, weak, inactive member of Council and elect a strong, honest and committed representative in his place.
My pledge is simple – with your support we can win and I will do all that I can to make that happen. Together we can reclaim our voice and do the right thing. Without your support, I can’t and because I know I can’t win without the community investing in my campaign I can’t justify staying in the race.
If you believe as I do, please do something about it. Allow me to run, to be your voice and to stand up and fight for us. If you don’t then the next four years will be filled with more of the same and I will respect the community’s decision to be represented by an ineffective light-weight who does more harm than good.
Help fund the campaign and I pledge to devote myself fully to the task at hand. I will campaign until our victory is won and serve with honesty and integrity on your behalf.
I apologize to those who feel I am being too blunt, but a campaign without funds is not winnable. I believe residents and supporters have a right to know that I will not be in this race without them making it possible for me to run and win on their behalf.
For my part, I have begun making calls to community allies. A core group of volunteers are reaching out and I’ll be asking all friends and family to do their part to support me. If you’re someone who believes I should run and would like to see me elected, turn that belief into action.
Do your part today and donate now.
1 Comment »What It’s About – Why I’m Running For City Council
My campaign for Toronto City Council in Ward 43 began last week and has been building since. We’ve begun to share our message with voters, started fundraising and getting the mechanisms in place to ensure Ward 43 voters have the choice they deserve. We’re running strong, and as a team effort, because any campaign, at least any campaign worth winning is always bigger than the candidate. The video below outlines just what it’s about.
For this to be a winning effort it will take people from all over to donate their time or their money. If you would like to see this be a winning effort, consider making a donation to my campaign using the paypal button on the right. Donors receive a generous rebate cheque of 75% of the first $300 they donate back from the City of Toronto, meaning a donation of $100 actually only costs you $25, but does so much more to make this a winnable fight.
Our campaign can only be successful with the financial support of those who believe in what we’re trying to achieve.
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No Comments »Will Paul Ainslie Run for City Council in Ward 44?
Today was the first day for municipal candidates to make it official and file their intention to seek public office as a Mayoral, Council or School Trustee candidate. So far no candidates have filed to run in my home ward, Ward 43.
Councillor Ainslie currently ‘represents’ (a term I am using lightly here based on his record) Ward 43 – a community he does not live in. He was elected with an underwhelming 39% of the vote in November 2006, meaning 61% of voters had the right idea last time around.
This isn’t the first ward Paul Ainslie has represented and not lived in. You see in January 2006 Paul Ainslie was appointed to Toronto City Council in a 5-4 vote of Scarborough Community Council (that resulted in an investigation by the integrity commissioner into his former boss and one of his five votes – David Soknacki) to represent Ward 41 – another community Paul Ainslie doesn’t live in.
When his nomination went to City Hall for approval, Paul Ainslie gave a speech. After promising to be ‘fair and honest’ he went on to say:
“In the last month I’ve made a number of different commitments if appointed to this position, I will not run in Ward 41 or any other ward in the city.”
If by different he meant ‘bald faced lie’ as Eye Weekly described it he was correct.
In true Paul Ainslie tradition he went on to lie about the lie when I called him on it through the media. He claimed he promised not to run against incumbents, or that he wouldn’t run in Ward 41 – this was after saying he didn’t say anything to this effect at all.
Here is a video showing what he says. After watching him lie repeatedly for six weeks, I went to City Hall, bought the video of that day at Council and a very talented member of the campaign team put the following together for distribution to the media. His response to the video was he was nervous and didn’t mean to say it – but he’s reading.
If you’re going to run for public office, know yourself better than your opponents – and generally speaking lying never works and is wrong, so don’t do it. In fact when Councillor Ainslie wrote provable lies to me in a private email six weeks ago, I offered him this very advice. I told him that making statements that are provably untrue hurts his credibility and therefore the ability of him to represent my community as people can’t trust him if he can’t stick to the truth.
His term as Ward 41’s representative saw him fight to have the pictures of the former Scarborough Mayors placed in the former City Council chamber, trying to get a bi-law regarding aged or tattered Canadian flags. His most bizarre vote was against a pay increase that passed 23-20, then only to change his vote in favour, making the vote 24-19, which was promptly followed by his former boss David Soknacki changing his vote in favour to against, making it 23-20 again.
Currently Paul Ainslie holds the office of Ward 43 – as I previously stated a community he does not and has not lived in at all during the 2006 election or the term. He does not represent the views of residents, or their best interest and continues to lie about his involvement or lack there of – to paper over his failings.
Paul Ainslie lives in Ward 44 – where he has for years and is raising his family. Considering he is about as attached to Ward 43 as he was to Ward 41 – it only seems reasonable that the failed ‘representative’ would once again find a new community to play City Councillor in – as nominations open.
I will tell you this much – his chances are far better where he lives, than in Ward 43 or Ward 41 as I imagine with these residents and Paul Ainslie the old saying ‘fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice shame on me’ is in full play and many residents are lined up and ready to fight to ensure this so-called Councillor, elected on a lie, and publishing lies in hopes of being re-elected doesn’t get that chance again. Maybe that’s why he flipped from Ward 41 in the first place.
He already has lawn signs that say ‘return’ a phrase he chose instead of ‘elect’ like everyone else who ran and had never been elected before and he wisely did not put a ward number on them – making them fully re-useable this time around in his home Ward.
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