{"id":29788,"date":"2021-08-12T13:32:08","date_gmt":"2021-08-12T17:32:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/?p=29788"},"modified":"2021-08-19T16:06:57","modified_gmt":"2021-08-19T20:06:57","slug":"conservative-candidate-kim-will-take-council-leave-during-campaign","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/conservative-candidate-kim-will-take-council-leave-during-campaign\/","title":{"rendered":"Conservative candidate Kim will take Council leave during campaign"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

As local candidates prepare for an anticipated Federal election this month, a significant change could take place around Aurora\u2019s municipal table as Councillor Harold Kim prepares to hit the campaign trail as the Conservative candidate for Newmarket-Aurora.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The two-term Councillor, who has served as Deputy Mayor since the 2018 municipal election, secured the party\u2019s nomination on Thursday night at the Newmarket branch of the Royal Canadian Legion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Once the election is called, Councillor Kim says he will seek a leave of absence from Council for the duration of the campaign as he faces off against incumbent Liberal Tony Van Bynen and candidates from across the political spectrum.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Councillor Kim came out on top over former MP Lois Brown, who twice represented the riding in Ottawa but came up short as the party\u2019s candidate in the last two Federal elections.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Until recently, the field to challenge Van Bynen was more crowded with incumbent Aurora Councillor Rachel Gilliland in the mix, along with former broadcaster Teresa Kruze. Ms. Kruze dropped out of the race earlier this year and threw her support behind Brown, while Councillor Gilliland\u2019s exit was more recent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI wish to extend my sincere congratulations to Harold on his nomination,\u201d said Councillor Gilliland. \u201cI had stepped aside from the nomination a few weeks ago. I have a lot of unfinished business in Aurora and have been encouraged by many residents to stay at a municipal level. I look forward to continuing to serve my community and collaborating with other levels of government.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Despite her long standing as Newmarket-Aurora\u2019s Conservative candidate, Brown was a more recent entry in the field receiving party approval to stand for the nomination in early July.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This decision, she said, meant she \u201conly had a week\u201d to secure support from local party faithful and sell memberships, but said she was \u201cundeterred\u201d by the challenge.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But there could only be one winner and Kim praised his predecessor while accepting the party\u2019s nomination.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI just want to thank Lois,\u201d said Kim after being introduced by Aurora-Oak Ridges-Richmond Hill MP Leona Alleslev at the August 5 meeting. \u201cIt was a hard time in the last few weeks even thinking about Lois as an opponent because I respect her and love her very much as a fellow human being and a Conservative. She leaves behind a huge legacy.\u201d
Speaking to The Auroran the afternoon following his victory, Kim said he was \u201cstill in shock\u201d and \u201cabsorbing\u201d the reality of the situation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI have a lot of work to do,\u201d he said about speculation an election could be called as early as this week. \u201cIt doesn\u2019t give our team much opportunity to prepare and get all the things done I would like in a timeframe we would like. I am conscious of the fact I am really going to have to hit the ground running. It\u2019s a daunting task, but I am excited about it and the team is excited about it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kim says be brought not only fresh ideas to the table as a candidate, but also a \u201cstrong track record\u201d with his Council service and a background in banking and finance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFiscal responsibility is very important,\u201d he said about why he sought the Conservative nomination. \u201cIn fact, everything rolls up under finance or budgeting. Everything rolls into the fiscal ledger, whether it be environmental policy, social policy, health care, economics, trade, and I have always felt in most of my life the Conservative party was more fiscally responsible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI think we get this stereotype that we\u2019re cost-cutters and we cut programs. For me, fiscal responsibility means that you run surpluses when you\u2019re in an expanding economy and you invest or spend when the economy is in recession. There\u2019s always that balance. I don\u2019t like the word \u2018spending\u2019 \u2013 for me, I feel like \u2018investing\u2019 in people, investing in the environment, investing in social policy because there is that investment down the road which will lead to a return for all Canadians on that investment.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI believe in thinking long-term and unfortunately [for] a lot of people in the public and government sphere, there is the pressure of having short-term returns at the expense of having long-term gains. I believe we can take care of our budget by investing in people because there is a return on it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Despite coming out on top in the vote count while vying for one of six seats on Aurora Council less than three years ago, Kim says he was met with a \u201cpositive response\u201d when he announced his candidacy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He says he feels like he has made \u201cpositive contributions\u201d to Council and he is ready to do the same in Ottawa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Once the election is underway he says he will send \u201cformal communication\u201d to the Town Clerk, CAO, Mayor and Council that he will be stepping down as Deputy Mayor for the duration of the campaign.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt is going to be an exciting time because the Liberals have been in power for the last six years and I think that people are ready for a fresh face and I think Canada is ready for a lot of fresh new faces, bright ideas, and have pragmatic thinking back in the mainstream again,\u201d he says. \u201cI think Newmarket-Aurorans have a lot to look forward to and we\u2019ll see how the election turns out.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As for Ms. Brown, she tells the Auroran she will continue to serve the community into the future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cCongratulations to Mr. Kim on his success and I wish him well in the coming election,\u201d she said. \u201cIt was a great honour to serve the people of Newmarket-Aurora as their Member of Parliament and I thank each one for the faith and trust they have placed in me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI will continue my involvement with the Regimental Council for the Queen\u2019s York Rangers, St. John\u2019s Ambulance Council York Region, and as Vice Chair of an international charity. I look forward to continuing to invest in my community to keep Newmarket and Aurora the best places in Ontario to live, work and play.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By Brock Weir<\/strong>
Editor
Local Journalism Initiative Reporter<\/em><\/p>\n\r\n\"Facebook\"<\/a>\"twitter\"<\/a>\"mail\"<\/a>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As local candidates prepare for an anticipated Federal election this month, a significant change could take place around Aurora\u2019s municipal table as Councillor Harold Kim prepares to hit the campaign trail as the Conservative candidate for Newmarket-Aurora. The two-term Councillor, who has served as Deputy Mayor since the 2018 municipal election, secured the party\u2019s nomination […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":29783,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[4,5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-29788","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-general_news","category-news"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/2021-08-12-03.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3D2k4-7Ks","publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-05-31 14:30:56","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29788","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=29788"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29788\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/29783"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=29788"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=29788"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=29788"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}