Supporters of the Ontario Progressive Conservative Party had a chance to meet local nominees and get a general sense of their views Wednesday during a meet and greet at the Evergreen Centre on Woolwich Street.
“We don’t have any official candidates, but with the election so close we thought we would hold a night with two candidates we approved,” said Bob Coole, president of the Guelph PC Riding Association. “Most likely, Toronto will approve the candidates because they are quality individuals. I thought it would be a good idea to have people meet them so when we do have a nomination convention people will know who they are.”
A date for the nomination convention has yet to be confirmed.
“They were supposed to call it this week but who knows,” said Coole. “Big wheels turn slowly. As far as I am concerned once we have the nomination convention and select a candidate that will be the kick off to the election campaign because we won’t have much time.”
The unofficial nominees, Ray Ferraro and Patrick Meyers were cautioned not to discuss party policy given that the progressive Conservative Party of Canada led by new leader Doug Ford has not released an official party platform.
“They can probably talk about local issues but they can’t talk about the official platform at the moment,” said Coole. “I understand it is coming within 10 days. When it does come, it is going to be full bore.”
The candidates shared their personal stories and what motivated them to seek the nomination in Guelph.
“I was approached by a couple of local Conservative members,” said former city councilor Ray Ferraro. “I went to bed saying ‘no way’. I woke up and said, ‘let me think about this’. I really like dealing with people and I have a way of trying to get people to work with me.”
Ferraro is a development consultant who served with Guelph City Council from 2003 – 2006. He was also a board member with the Ontario College of Podiatrists & Chiropodists from 2006 - 2016.
He believes his life-long connection to the city and his experience working with bureaucracies at all levels of government make him a strong candidate.
“It is quite a complex organism the provincial government,” said Ferraro. “They have 30 ministries and over 200 different councils and all of them affect you at one time or another. The Liberals have had Guelph for 15 years. The Italian community for example pretty well all voted Liberal over those years but we are starting to change now. They are switching. I’ve had a lot of people come up to me and wish me luck.”
Both candidates raised concerns about the mounting provincial debt and candidate Patrick Meyers worries about how it will impact future generations.
“The debt is huge and Liberal policies want to increase debt,” said Meyers. “The interest on the debt is enough to pay for a whole bunch of programs we could use to build hospitals and things like that. The mismanagement of funds for the last 15 years and the lying that has been going on by the Liberal government, I’ve just had enough and that’s why I am going to put my hat into the ring.”
Meyers graduated from OVC at the University of Guelph in 1984. He has 34 years experience as a veterinarian and more than 27 years as a business owner.
“I operated my own veterinarian practice as well as a farming business with my wife for 27 years,” said Meyers. “I have been a professor at the university for a year. I have some university administration and teaching experience and leadership roles in several different professional organizations.”
Meyers was careful not to discuss specific platform issues but affirmed his support for Doug Ford and his views on government spending.
“Mr. Ford, without mentioning any specific platform has identified several areas where we could cut back on spending,” said Meyers. “We can find areas of inefficiencies within several different levels of government. We can try to put money back into taxpayers pockets so they have more to spend and drive the economy forward.”
With the election coming up on June 7 pressure is high to set a date for the local nomination convention and for the PC Party to announce an official party platform, but Coole is taking it all in stride.
“I train horses for a living,” he said. “I stand behind thousand-pound animals and at any moment they could say to heck with you and kick both hind boots at me. That’s pressure. This is fun. I enjoy this.”
