The key to his success in Elgin-St. Thomas-London South? ‘The people saw through a lot of the noise’ – Andrew Lawton

Following his victory speech Monday night at the Columbus Club, MP-elect Andrew Lawton faced his first media scrum.
An opportunity for David Menzies, the chapeau-festooned reporter with Rebel News, to trot out the victim card in characterizing Lawton’s successful campaign.
“Look at some of the mainstream media coverage, which was perhaps unfair at best, vicious at worst,” suggested Menzies.
” You had demonstrators picketing outside your campaign office. So in other words, it wasn’t just you going up against the Liberal, NDP and PPC candidates, it was the media, special vested interest groups, and yet you still won.
“What do you say, reflecting back on that?”

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Strong Mayor Powers not required for St. Thomas: ‘We have a council that gets stuff done because it agrees with the direction of the city’ – Mayor Joe Preston

The province proposes expanding strong mayor powers to the heads of councils in another 169 municipalities.
This would include St. Thomas, Aylmer, the Municipality of Central Elgin and the Township of Malahide.
The intent is to streamline local governance and help ensure municipalities have the necessary tools to reduce obstacles hindering new housing and infrastructure development.
In a media release, Rob Flack, Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing, stressed, “Heads of Council are key partners in our efforts to build homes and infrastructure across the province.

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Stand Up For Decency Rally in St. Thomas is about ‘rejecting extremism in any form’

Christine Rudman has serious concerns about the character of the Conservative Party of Canada candidate vying to represent Elgin-St. Thomas-London South in this month’s federal election.
So, the Port Stanley resident has organized a Stand Up For Decency Rally this afternoon (April 12) in front of Lawton’s campaign office.
In an interview this week, Rudman talked about what specifically moved her to go beyond casting her ballot for another of the four candidates.
“I think a lot of people in our riding have some issues with Andrew Lawton and his worldview, to be perfectly honest. We’re in precarious times as a country. Our sovereignty has been threatened. We have fascism at the door. And I think it’s really important that we have someone qualified, for one, who grew up in the area, would be two, and who has the values that represent our region.

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‘Whether you liked him or not, there was a sense of secrecy. Let’s put it another way. There sure was a lack of transparency.’ – MP Karen Vecchio

Are we surprised at the outcome of last Saturday’s nomination meeting to determine the Conservative Party of Canada candidate in Elgin-St. Thomas-London South in the next federal vote?
Not really.
Not to take away from Andrew Lawton getting the nod to represent the riding, but you can’t help but sense the fix was in the day MP Karen Vecchio announced she would not seek re-election.
From the number of individuals who had their nomination applications denied, to pushing forward the date of the nomination meeting to shutting the door on media coverage inside St. Anne’s Centre in St. Thomas, and limiting the two individuals to five-minute speeches, it will take some time for the stench to dissipate.

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So what will Conservative values look like in Elgin-St. Thomas-London South moving forward?

At the beginning of October, we observed it had been relatively quiet on the federal political front in St. Thomas and Elgin since the end of July when MP Karen Vecchio announced in the myFM studio she would not seek re-election in the next federal vote.
If you remember, the next day former London radio broadcaster Andrew Lawton quickly took advantage and announced his intention to seek the Conservative Party of Canada nomination in Elgin-St. Thomas-London South as the re-jigged riding will be known.
By the end of October, the political temperature here had risen significantly.
Normally in this riding over the past few decades, the federal and provincial election campaigns have been relatively sedate affairs conducted in an orderly fashion.

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‘People should be able to assess their own risk and make their own decisions’ – Matt Millar, New Blue Party of Ontario

city_scope_logo-cmykFounded in 2020, the New Blue Party of Ontario is led by Jim Karahalios, the husband of Belinda Karahalios, former PC MPP for Cambridge and now the party’s first MPP.
She was turfed from the PC caucus after voting against Bill 195, the Reopening Ontario Act, which she described as “an unnecessary overreach on our parliamentary democracy.”
New Blue identifies itself as “an anti-establishment centre-right political party.”
The party aims to field candidates in all ridings for the June 2 provincial election.
It has put forward Matt Millar, a life-long Lambeth resident, as its prospective candidate for Elgin-Middlesex-London.
A third-generation fruit farmer who also operates a small tech support company, Millar advises the party is all about less government involvement.
“The reason I got into this is I just want people to have more control over their own lives. I don’t want the government to be overbearing and forcing people to do things they don’t want.”

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