Race to replace MP Kent as Thornhill’s Conservative on the ballot a chance to ‘bring Conservatives back into the fold,’ sign of ‘generational shift,’ say early candidates

The race to replace veteran MP and former journalist Peter Kent as the Conservative Party’s federal election candidate in Thornhill, Ont., offers an opportunity for the party to provide “Conservatives who have left the movement a reason to come back,” according to long-time Tory staffer Melissa Lantsman who recently announced her intention to run, with Thornhill’s provincial MPP Gila Martow saying one of the reasons she’s running is because the riding is “tougher to hold federally than provincially” following her announcement to run for the job earlier this month. Conservative MP Peter Kent (Thornhill, Ont.), who has represented the blue riding in the Greater Toronto Area since his first election in 2008, announced he would not be seeking re-election in the next federal election campaign in a Facebook video on Nov. 19. As of press deadline, only two names have emerged stating their intentions of running for the Conservative party’s nomination in the riding, including Ms. Lantsman as well as Ms. Martow who has represented the riding provincially following a byelection win in February 2014 that she defended in a general election win later that year in June 2014. Conservative MP for Thornhill Peter Kent pictured speaking with reporters outside of West Block on July 22, 2020. Mr. Kent will not be seeking re-election to Parliament whenever the next writ drops. The Hill Times photograph by Andrew Meade Ms. Lantsman, who is vice-president of national public affairs at Enterprise Canada, was born and raised in Thornhill and has worked with Conservatives at both the provincial and federal levels extensively throughout her career. “It’s a place that shaped who I am, and I’ve worked in and around and adjacent to politics for my entire adult life and for the Conservative cause,” said Ms. Lantsman. “And the truth is, I have fought my entire life for the things I don’t necessarily see the Conservative Party fighting for anymore.” “One of the things that is telling in the GTA is how many Conservatives we’ve lost along the way in the last couple of years, and frankly I want to build that back and grow our party and have a fresh voice for those in Thornhill and in the GTA,” said Ms. Lantsman. “I think Conservatives have left the movement and we’ve got to give them a reason to come back.” When asked what she thought the party needed to do to strengthen their hand in the politically coveted 905-region—as well as in downtown Toronto itself that has heavily favoured the Liberal Party in recent elections—Ms. Lantsman also said she thought the party needed to bring younger Conservatives into the fold. “That’s not to say that those who traditionally vote with us are not an important voice, but we’ve lost a lot of young people along the way,” said Ms. Lantsman. “It’s not because Conservative policies aren’t popular, I think there is a problem with tone and motive and the way that we communicate, and the things we stopped fighting for.” “We’ve stopped fighting for an environmental plan, we’ve stopped fighting for equality, we’ve stopped fighting for a moral voice on the world stage, and I think that under the leadership of Erin O’Toole, there is a new breath of fresh in the party, a team approach, and one that brings Conservatives back into the fold and gives us a true vision for a better Canada,” said Ms. Lantsman. “A more prosperous Canada, a more secure Canada, and a party that looks like the rest of the country.” Ms. Lantsman said although she supported Mr. O’Toole in the recent leadership race, her involvement in the party nomination depends on decisions made by the members of the Thornhill Conservative Association. “That’s who I’m speaking to right now, but I have the support of some former Harper-era cabinet ministers, our former finance minister Joe Oliver, our former foreign affairs minister John Baird, Lisa Raitt, Pierre Poilievre—some party stalwarts have backed me for this candidacy as somebody that can represent Thornhill and play a role in the caucus going forward,” said Ms. Lantsman. Working as an optometrist prior to her time in politics, Ms. Martow said she first became involved with community issues nearly 20 years ago when she spoke at a council meeting regarding traffic issues at Vaughan City Hall. “Off I went and nobody wanted to speak in the microphone and give a deputation—I didn’t even know the term deputation—and lo and behold, I kind of became the spokesperson for the community, I became president of the local ratepayers association and I helped in 2007 on Peter Shurman’s campaign,” said Ms. Martow in an interview with The Hill Times. “I had young children back then, so I was working as an optometrist and helping on his campaign and juggling all the things that come with having four kids in the house, and he asked me to be his riding association president.” Ms. Martow said she remembered Ms. Lantsman working on that campaign as well in the campaign office. “The Conservatives sort of attract a lot of different groups and a lot of different interests, and sometimes there’s conflict within that, we’re all aware of that,” said Ms. Martow. “But I think there’s always a generational shift.” “I’m 59 years old, Peter Kent is 77 years old, so there’s a generation between myself and Peter Kent, and then you can say there’s another generation between Melissa.” Ms. Martow noted that prior to Mr. Shurman’s election in 2007, Thornhill was a swing riding. “Before Peter Kent, it was Liberal, so this has only been a Conservative riding the last decade or so, and it could go Liberal again very easily,” said Ms. Martow. “The last election federally, we did not win in a landslide, we got a comfortable win with Peter Kent, a celebrity with multiple terms in office and very well-liked in the community, and it still wasn’t as strong a showing in previous years and you can see the Liberals get a lot of votes in the riding.” “I think the community understands that we need somebody to take us into the next election—it’s not just about winning the nomination, it’s who is going to hold the riding federally, it’s been tougher to hold federally than provincially, so that’s one of the reasons I’m running,” said Ms. Martow. In the 2018 Ontario election, Ms. Martow won handily with more than 60 per cent of the vote over NDP candidate Ezra Tanen and Liberal candidate Sabi Ahsan following a much closer race in 2014 when she took the riding by a margin of just under 100 votes. ‘Canada’s democracy is only good when you have two competitive parties’ Sara MacIntyre, who worked as former prime minister Stephen Harper’s press secretary from August 2009 to February 2012, told The Hill Times that she believes the upcoming nomination race “is what the party needs.” Sara MacIntyre, who worked as former prime minister Stephen Harper’s press secretary, said she thought she thought Conservative Leader Erin O’Toole’s acceptance speech was the 'harbinger' of this shift to reach out past the base and demonstrate that the Conservatives 'are not just a tolerant party, but a welcoming party of all Canadians.' Photograph courtesy of Sara MacIntyre “Canada’s democracy is only good when you have two competitive parties on the federal scene, and for a while, say what you will about Andrew , he did perform well, but I think he attracted the wrong candidates, he approved the wrong candidates and set us back a lot,” said Ms. MacIntyre. “I haven’t worked with Erin O’Toole so I don’t know him personally, but I think he’s been doing a pretty spot on job most of the time.” Ms. MacIntyre said she thought Mr. O’Toole’s acceptance speech was the “harbinger” of this shift to reach out past the base and demonstrate that the Conservatives “are not just a tolerant party, but a welcoming party of all Canadians.” “We’re in a spot where Canadians are looking for an alternative to Justin Trudeau,” said Ms. MacIntyre. “And it’s not the global pandemic—they’ve been in power for a long time, they’ve had a long of entitlement scandals, typical Liberal stuff.” Ms. MacIntyre said she thought Thornhill would be well represented by either candidate, but also that the COVID-19 pandemic “has brought us a moment of pause on some of these issues and a moment of reflection around what kind of government we want, and what kind of supports do we want for the people who are the most vulnerable.” Geoff Norquay, principal at Earnscliffe and former senior adviser to both former prime ministers Brian Mulroney and Stephen Harper, said that when parties choose constituency candidates, the big question is usually whether or not he or she can win. “However, when you are replacing an experienced, sitting member who’s choosing not to run again, that presents a tremendous opportunity for new blood, for renewal, time for the next generation, etc.,” said Mr. Norquay. “In this case, so far, we have two potentially tremendously effective candidates.” “I know Melissa Lantsman a bit, and she’s highly qualified for success in electoral politics—she is a skilled and proven communicator with major organizational experience throughout the party, provincial and federal,” said Mr. Norquay. “At the same time, Gila Martow is a sitting member of the Ontario legislature so she’s already successfully contested and won. I’ve never met her, but on paper she looks to be a real comer and a great prospect for Cabinet in Ontario if she stays. “Either way, I think the party is poised to a really excellent candidate in the next election,” said Mr. Norquay. mlapointe@hilltimes.com The Hill Times

Race to replace MP Kent as Thornhill’s Conservative on the ballot a chance to ‘bring Conservatives back into the fold,’ sign of ‘generational shift,’ say early candidates

Only two names have emerged stating their intentions of running for the Conservative party’s nomination in the riding so far, including long-time Tory staffer Melissa Lantsman as well as Progressive Conservative MPP Gila Martow.

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Race to replace MP Kent as Thornhill’s Conservative on the ballot a chance to ‘bring Conservatives back into the fold,’ sign of ‘generational shift,’ say early candidates

Only two names have emerged stating their intentions of running for the Conservative party’s nomination in the riding so far, including long-time Tory staffer Melissa Lantsman as well as Progressive Conservative MPP Gila Martow.

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