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Spending over the statutory limits means instant disqualification from office. It is in everybody's interests that the law on elections is observed meticulously. It's fair to candidates running for office. It's fair on the public. Photos on right: Lawn sign September 2018 asks voters to "elect" Tom Vegh. Lawn sign October 2022 with sticker top left asking voters to "re-elect" Tom Vegh.

I emailed this to Tom Vegh earlier today:

Good afternoon Tom

I hope you are well.
 
Your signs are all over Town. They make a very impressive showing.

You will realise, of course, that all campaign goods and materials from a previous municipal campaign used in this campaign have to be itemised in Table 4 of the Financial Statement we all have to file with the Town of Newmarket once the campaign is over.

We are required by law to (a) describe the campaign materials (b) the date they were acquired (c) the supplier (d) the quantity and (e) the current market value $.

We both have a self funding limit of $16,098. 

In your 2018 Financial Statement you declared 40 wooden stakes with a value of $70 purchased on 8 September 2014 from Upper Canada Signs.
 
Importantly, the value of the campaign materials must be recorded as a contribution from the candidate and as an expense.

I do not know if the signs you are using in this campaign are from the 2018 campaign. But we have noticed that your signs have stickers in the top left hand corner with the word “Re-elect”. This suggests that you are using old
signs but it is not proof positive. That will come when you file your 2022 Financial Statement.

Can I ask if you are using your signs from 2018 or have you had a new batch printed - with the same design and photograph? 

You told Newmarket Today on 30 September 2022 that you would be self-financing your campaign and you wouldn’t accept money from people who are doing business with the Town or may do in future.

In 2018 you spent $11,472.30 on signs.

According to the Bank of Canada’s inflation calculator this would be $13,044 in today’s money.

If we subtract $13,044 from your self-funding limit you are left with $3,054 for all other expenses.

Of course, you can fund-raise to meet any deficit but you have already foresworn donations from people who do business with the Town or may do.

You should know that, win or lose, I am putting you on notice that the expenses you submit in your Financial Statement will be analysed by me in minute detail. 

The locations of your lawn signs and their numbers are already out there in the public domain.

I expect to see this and all other details required by law to be accurately reflected in your Financial Statement 2022.

I am copying this to Joseph Quigley at Newmarket Today and Lisa Queen at the ERA.

Gordon

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My good friend Margaret Davis and I will be at Etobicoke's Historic Assembly Hall for the annual awards evening on 13 October 2022 hosted by the Architectural Conservancy of Ontario.

We have been nominated for our work to save the Town's historic Main Street from the developer, Bob Forrest.

There are three nominations in our awards category and we are keeping our fingers crossed.

Richard Longley - a Past President of the ACO - tells me it is a bit like the Oscars which leaves me feeling a tad nervous.

Margaret, 100 years old, will sail through it.

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A few days ago there were Tom Vegh signs along Gorham Street stretching as far as the eye could see. 

Take a look now.

I spent a couple of hours on Gorham this afternoon, introducing myself to the people who live there.

I tell them about myself and explain why I am running. 

I am invited into houses. A thoughtful young woman gives me a bottle of Glaceau Vitamin Water and a Chocolate Premier Protein drink. I am knocked out by this gesture. I had strolled along Gorham on a beautiful sunny afternoon. I hadn’t walked across the Gobi Desert. Still, what a terrific gesture.

I knock on the door of a house where the lawn sports a Vegh sign. After ten minutes chatting about how we can improve health provision, my sign now sits next to it.

Some people are reluctant to take my lawn sign because they don’t know enough about me. Or they say they never take lawn signs.

No worries

“That’s OK, I say. No worries. It’s water off a duck’s back. I’m interested in your views. Your opinions.”

Now I hand over my leaflet:

“Have a look at my website because I won’t be on your doorstep again in this campaign. And email me if you’ve got something you want to say or something you think I should know about.”

As I turn away from one doorstep I see a familiar looking face across the road waving his arm at me, trying to catch my attention.

I had chatted to him earlier. He didn’t want a lawn sign but took one of my leaflets.

Now he starts telling me the 15-minute GO train service is just what the Town needs. His work frequently takes him down to Toronto and he is frustrated by the hours stuck in traffic. I am sympathetic:

“Yeah, I know. I pretty much always take the train to the city.”

He wishes me good luck and takes a lawn sign.

Gordon Prentice 2 October 2022

If you spot an empty or derelict house there will be a Vegh sign outside. Guaranteed. This one is on Gorham near the junction with Prospect.

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I want to see more affordable housing in Newmarket - and across York Region. 

We are in the middle of a housing crisis. Too many people can't afford to put a roof over their head. 

House prices here in Newmarket are soaring.

One in five homes is bought as an investment property.

Vacant homes

Scandalously, too many houses are left vacant for extended periods. I strongly favour a Vacant Homes Tax to discourage people from leaving properties empty for a long period of time.

And, as rents soar, people are paying an ever increasing percentage of their income on housing.

I've just completed a "Candidate's Pledge" which has been put together by the Affordable Housing Coalition of York Region (below).

It is full of specifics, and that's good.

Everyone is in favour of more affordable housing until you get into the policy detail, then people begin peel away. 

Slippery slope

The Mayor of Markham, Frank "slippery slope" Scarpitti, told his colleagues at York Regional Council he was against a Vacant Homes Tax because of what would happen next. He predicted the authorities would soon be deciding if you are selfishly occupying property that is too large for your needs.

"If someone's an empty nester, a single widow in a single family home, are we going to start saying that's way too much space for someone and they should be taxed because they're not fully (occupying it)."

Preposterous.

Scarpitti sees an Orwellian future here in Canada where property taxes morph into some kind of Poll Tax. It's not the property that's taxed it's the number of people living in the house.

And he got away with this absurdity with no-one challenging him.

Gordon Prentice 2 October 2022

Click "read more" below to read the backgrounder from the Affordable Housing Coalition

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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This morning we are off to the Town's splendid Farmers' Market to meet the voters. 

I have a little band of helpers eight strong whose job is to offer leaflets to those willing to take them and to point people in my direction if they want to talk to me.

To help identification I have my striking red and black lawn sign on my back, secured with string.

I gather my team together and go into a huddle. Just two simple reminders: don't hassle people and keep the vendors happy by staying well clear of their market stalls.

We get a terrific reception.

People raise all sorts of issues with me. One woman who lives close to the rail tracks wants me to stop the train whistles. 

"I wish I could but I am not sure I can. I'm about a mile away from the rail tracks and I hear the trumpet blasts too."

She considers this a limp and inadequate answer.

"But in Barrie they stopped the train whistles."

I hear myself saying:

"It's all about safety. Maybe in Barrie there aren't so many crossings of the track. I don't know. But, yeah, train whistles at the crack of dawn are a real pain in the neck."

She thanks me and continues with her shopping. 

I tell myself to check out what happens in Barrie. I think I lost that vote.

Important Person

As people stream by I quip:

"Please take my leaflet. I could be a very important person in three weeks time." 

Many laugh. Some look bemused.

Now a man in an orange T-shirt asks me how well I get on with the Mayor.

"I think we get on OK. I saw him here earlier why don't you just ask him?"

Man laughs uncontrollably.

"Where can I find a stepladder?"

I join in the laughter.

"Very good! Very good!"

Now the Market Supervisor appears in her dark green outfit.

"I'm afraid you'll have to move. This isn't allowed."

"Fair enough. But I thought it would be OK in the middle of an election."

"No."

As we make our way to the Market entrances to catch people as they arrive and leave, we pass the Town of Newmarket's magnificent stand advising people how they can exercise their right to vote. It is laden with leaflets with two staff on hand to offer advice. On-line voting is the big thing.

These days who needs to meet candidates in the flesh when they can get all they need on-line?

Gordon Prentice 1 October 2022

 

 

 

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