Liberal Van Bynen wins support of Newmarket-Aurora voters

October 25, 2019 · 0 Comments

As a community builder and Mayor of Newmarket for over 10 years, Tony Van Bynen looked to the Federal Government as a partner and now, thanks to the voters of Newmarket-Aurora, he is on the other side of that partnership.

Mr. Van Bynen, who served as Newmarket’s mayor from 2006 to 2018, secured victory over former Conservative MP Lois Brown on Monday night.

Before Mr. Van Bynen took to the podium at Newmarket’s Cachet Restaurant, supporters heard from the outgoing MP, Liberal Kyle Peterson, who worked hard to get Mr. Van Bynen elected as his successor.

Praising Mr. Van Bynen as a “community builder” who looked to the Federal Government as a partner while wearing the mayoral chain of office, Mr. Peterson said serving as MP was an “honour” and he was thankful the voters bestowed that very same honour on Mr. Van Bynen.

“Tomorrow is going to be a weird day for me because I am going to wake up [not as an MP, but] I am going to feel a hell of a lot better knowing that Tony Van Bynen will be having the key to the constituency office and to the Ottawa office now that I am gone.”

Taking the stage about 30 minutes later, Mr. Van Bynen said being elected Newmarket-Aurora’s next MP “will be the singular honour of my life to serve this community.”

Thanking his wife Roxanne, his “rock for the 50 years I have known her as a partner, as an advisor, as a mother, a grandmother, community supporter and volunteer,” he went on to thank his rookie campaign manager Samir Kassam and the team he built for helping secure his win.

“He has done an exceptional job in building a team that was energized, positive, talented and genuinely committed to working together,” said Mr. Van Bynen. “There have been many nights where all of us had to reach out for that last bit of energy to get things done and he found a way to help us find that.

“Here in our community, tonight has been the affirmation of everything we have been climbing and striving towards in the past few months. We have spoken to people in 10 languages [and] delivered over 10,000 pieces of literature. This election was won on the backs of your ideas and your spirit and I promise that I will carry them up the 401, the 416, the 417, and all the way to Parliament Hill.”

In thanking his supporters, he harkened back to his roots, which were planted in The Netherlands before he moved with his family to Canada in the aftermath of the Second World War and experiencing further hardships, including their family home burning to the ground when he was a youngster.

“Through hard work and the kindness of my neighbours, I have had the chance to realize the promise of this country,” he said. “Your hard work and your kindness has provided me with the opportunity that I will never take for granted. It will be the singular honour of my life to serve this community as your Member of Parliament and I will be forever grateful for everything that you have done on my behalf. This campaign was just the beginning and the hard work begins tomorrow.”

By Brock Weir