{"id":5549,"date":"2014-02-13T00:43:03","date_gmt":"2014-02-13T05:43:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/?p=5549"},"modified":"2014-02-26T14:32:02","modified_gmt":"2014-02-26T19:32:02","slug":"di-muccio-wants-answers-after-campaign-is-deep-sixed-by-party","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/di-muccio-wants-answers-after-campaign-is-deep-sixed-by-party\/","title":{"rendered":"Di Muccio wants answers after campaign is \u201cdeep-sixed\u201d by party"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Brock Weir<\/strong><\/p>\n

Newmarket Councillor Maddie di Muccio is calling foul after her campaign to replace Frank Klees as the next Progressive Conservative candidate for Newmarket-Aurora was scuttled by the party. <\/p>\n

Councillor di Muccio says she was \u201cstunned\u201d to receive word on Tuesday evening that the local nominating committee had rejected her application \u201cacting on advice\u201d of PC leader Tim Hudak. <\/p>\n

The Councillor, and columnist for Sun Media, cites criticism over Mr. Hudak\u2019s leadership through her columns as a reason for being \u201cdeep-sixed\u201d, but says she was told that would not be an issue before entering the race.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was stunned because not only did I not think it was going to be an issue, but I thought the party would love that I am running because I had a conversation with Tim\u2019s Chief of Staff earlier when I found out Frank Klees was retiring and he said, \u2018absolutely, we\u2019ll put your name on here\u2019 and that there were no issues whatsoever,\u201d Councillor di Muccio says. <\/p>\n

\u201cI know some people\u2026are alluding to an earlier column I wrote which had mild criticisms of Tim Hudak\u2019s leadership at that time. I was reflecting what the grassroots members were saying, which is my job as a media person. I think that criticism in our jobs makes us better people; it makes us fix the things that other people are saying are wrong, so that was my intention with the column. To hold that as a reason to not have me as a candidate is absolutely ridiculous.\u201d<\/p>\n

Looking over the entire PC picture Ontario-wide, Councillor di Muccio claims there is a \u201cdouble standard\u201d when it comes to potential candidates who have been critical of Mr. Hudak\u2019s leadership, including those in the National Capital Region. She adds she has called on the party to \u201caddress the double standard\u201d but does not expect to receive a response. <\/p>\n

Since the party\u2019s decision was made public, social media was quick to jump in, with some, including those who have followed the controversial Councillor, agreeing with the party\u2019s decision, and others, who are vehement supporters of di Muccio and her style of politics, taking their concerns directly to the leader himself. <\/p>\n

\u201cI am getting calls from people in the riding here in Newmarket-Aurora who are requesting their money back and they will not be voting in the next election,\u201d says Councillor di Muccio. \u201cThey are very upset. I think it is an outrage for them because they wanted an opportunity [to vote for their] candidate and not have the party leader intervene.\u201d<\/p>\n

As to her future \u2013 whether she will turn her attentions to seeking re-election as Councillor for Newmarket\u2019s Ward 6 or perhaps exploring other provincial opportunities \u2013 she says she will take the next few days to weigh her options. At the end of the day, however, she remains a member of good standing in the Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario \u201cand that is never going to change.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI believe in the party and the grassroots, I believe in the Progressive Conservative movement in Ontario and that is never going to change,\u201d she says. \u201cI think what I have addressed here is questionable leadership. We can\u2019t have a leader who intervenes in the grassroots. That is a disaster for the party. I don\u2019t know what the future holds and I don\u2019t know what the future holds for Tim Hudak, either.\u201d<\/p>\n

While the Party has yet to respond to The Auroran\u2019s request for comment, the two remaining candidates in the race, fellow Newmarket Councillor Jane Twinney, and Aurora resident Stephen Somerville were reluctant to weigh in on the issue. <\/p>\n

\u201cI have been concentrating on my campaign and trying to move our party forward,\u201d said Mr. Somerville. \u201cThis is a decision taken by the central party headquarters, so I have no comment.\u201d<\/p>\n

Added Councillor Twinney: \u201cI am busy running my campaign, and focused on running a positive campaign. I have been a positive, professional person on Council for the last three-plus years and that is all I am thinking about right now. Whatever their decision is, is their decision.\u201d<\/p>\n\"Facebook\"<\/a>\"twitter\"<\/a>\"mail\"<\/a>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Newmarket Councillor Maddie di Muccio is calling foul after her campaign to replace Frank Klees as the next Progressive Conservative candidate for Newmarket-Aurora was scuttled by the party. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"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":[26],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5549","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-archive"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3D2k4-1rv","publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-06-07 21:09:32","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\/5549","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=5549"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5549\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5549"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5549"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5549"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}