Ontario election: Holding candidates accountable for past actions, comments

There are times I honestly wonder why anyone would run for politics. Who wants to put themselves through the inevitable scrutiny? First they go through a gruelling vetting process. Sometimes a candidate doesn’t pass, what is far worse though is if they do but the vetting process misses something that can and will be used against them.

Every election campaign season, war rooms put their teams to work trying to dig up dirt on their opponent’s candidates. Skeletons are inevitably found.

This week the Liberals tossed three candidates in three days. One in Sault Ste. Marie for reasons that were not officially disclosed; another in Parry Sound-Muskoka after it was revealed he self-published a book stating an absurd theory that homosexuality occurs when infants rebreathe their own air; and the latest, a candidate for Chatham-Kent-Leamington who wrote homophobic slurs on social media almost 10 years ago when he was 15. The NDP uncovered his posts and sent out their press release just as Liberal Leader Steven Del Duca was making an announcement, unaware of what was to come. Without knowing the details he promised “irresponsible” and “reckless” comments from candidates would not be tolerated. A short time later the Liberals released a statement that he was “terminated.”

Contrast that to revelations uncovered by Press Progress this week that PC Education Minister Steven Lecce took part in a fraternity “slave auction” when he was a student at Western University. Doug Ford defended him, pointing out he was 19 at the time, and had his “full support.”

Both Lecce and the now ousted Liberal candidate apologized, with the latter adding, “we are holding a child to the same standards as the adult writing this today.”

It does raise the question, should a person be held accountable years later for stupid actions or comments as a teenager IF they have matured and their life as an adult has proven that is not who they are or what they stand for?

I am not suggesting candidates shouldn’t be held to account for their values. If elected they will be in power and make decisions that will have an impact.

“There is no innocence here,” says Beverly Bain, an Assistant Professor at the University of Toronto who specializes in Black Diasporic Studies. She believes there needs to be greater accountability for those who run for office.

“We cannot continue to allow for this kind of behaviour to go without people being held accountable if we are to change society,” Bain says. “That means having to lose particular kinds of positions and be removed from certain places.” Bain goes on to say, “these people are harmful and have done harmful things and should not be in positions of power.”

Bain is calling out Steven Lecce in particular, saying as Minister of Education (at dissolution) “if he had any principals he would step down and say what I did is unforgiveable.” She adds Lecce cannot expect Black families to see him as someone they can trust because of what he did as a youth.

Is this whole ugly display of people’s pasts stopping good candidates from even considering politics?

Yes, according to Laryssa Waler who once ran communications for Doug Ford in the early days of his government and is currently Principal at gt&co.

“The level of scrutiny in politics is unforgiving,” she says.

“I think the invasion into the past and private life turns a lot of good people off of running. You’re not just thinking about yourself but your family and friends and then getting dragged into the gutter.”

Waler advises potential candidates to be forthcoming with the party they hope to run for.

“If you’re putting your name forward in politics, you know what you’ve said in the past,” adding it is to their benefit to inform the party. “They will work with you either to put up a defense or to suggest you shouldn’t run. It’s not just for the party’s sake, it’s for your sake as well.”

As one insider who asked to speak only on background said to me Friday, a candidate can get ahead of potential past controversy as long as they apologize if necessary, adding, “the public can be forgiving, as long as the person owns it.”

Trying to expose a candidate doesn’t always prove to be career killing. On Friday the Liberal war room released a video of Milton PC candidate Parm Gill, where he says he entered politics because he did not agree with same sex marriage. The Liberals released the same video during the 2018 election campaign, Gill won with more than 41 percent of the vote.

Doug Ford today said it was the first time he heard of it, adding “I look forward to working with him.”

Another insider believes the PCs and the NDP are more likely to allow candidates who have made mistakes in the past, as long as they have apologized, but the Liberals “have set the bar too high” and will “get rid” of anyone who has done something wrong. They add every party should look at the big picture, not just one mistake.

On Friday Del Duca said he will stand by his latest candidate to come under fire, Noel Semple, who is running for Etobicoke Centre. The law professor apologized for a column he wrote in a UofT student newspaper in 2004 where he stated LGBTQ people “are not a needy or victimized subset of society” and compared harassment of the community to bullying he received as a “fat kid.” Thursday was the deadline for registering to be on a ballot for the June 2 election.

The real motivation though I’m told for these “gotcha” outings is because it distracts war rooms, and leaders, from focusing on the message they want to deliver on the campaign trail. That’s why opponents do it, to push other parties off their game.

There will likely be more bad behaviour revelations in the coming days, in reality though, insiders say few actually move votes. As one observer noted, this election week has been about nothing, just gotcha moments with stupid things people have done in the past. Now it’s time to focus on the issues.