MPPs are cards at Christmas time
Season’s greetings personal, whimsical and show MPPs not always humourless
Queen’s Park is a house of Christmas cards.
Governments change, leaders come and go, and new MPPs replace those defeated or retired, but the tradition of politicians’ holiday greeting cards continues unabated.
Premier Doug Ford is sending out 5,000 cards this holiday season.
Ford’s first Christmas card as premier is a family affair.
“Have a very Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays,” reads the Tory-blue card.
It features black-and-white photos of him with his wife, Karla; their four daughters, Kayla, Kara, Kyla and Krista; his mother, Diane; and his son-in-law, Dave, a Toronto police officer.
His predecessor, Kathleen Wynne, who is no longer Liberal leader, also sent out a family-themed card.
It features her spouse, Jane Rounthwaite; her three children, Jessie, Maggie and Chris; her three grandchildren, Olivia, Claire, and Hugh; and her two sonsin-law, Stan and Dan.
Patrick Brown, the former Conservative leader who bounced back to win the Brampton mayoralty after his bid to become premier was derailed by a scandal last January, is sending out 10,000 cards this year.
On the front of the card, Brown is seen skating with his wife, Genevieve. Inside is a scrapbook featuring images of him with his 104-year-old grandmother, Teresa Brown, former Tory premier Bill Davis and former Mississauga mayor Hazel McCallion, as well as scenes from his recent wedding.
NDP Leader Andrea Horwath, a single mother of an adult son, is touting her growing political family this year.
Her card shows her with the expanded New Democratic caucus, which doubled in size to 40 MPPs in the spring election.
She is sending out 11,000 paper card and 30,000 digital cards.
The festive NDPers are sporting garish Christmas attire and clutching supersized candy canes.
Interim Liberal Leader John Fraser is sending out 4,000 cards to constituents, community leaders, stakeholders, volunteers and other politicians.
Fraser’s card features a fingerpainting of Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer, which was done by patients at Roger Neilson House, a palliative care home for children in Fraser’s riding of Ottawa South.
Green Leader Mike Schreiner, who became his party’s first MPP last spring, marks that historic fact with a card featuring his family — spouse Sandy Welsh and their daughters, Isabelle and Beata — in front the Ontario Legislature.
Schreiner is sending out 1,500 cards and they are, of course, made from recycled stock by a “waterless” printing company.
Finance Minister Vic Fedeli, whose yellow ties have been his trademark for years, delivered one of the more impish cards received this year at the Star’s Queen’s Park bureau.
The affable former advertising executive’s card features a beaming snow man with a yellow tie and a matching yellow toque.
Labour Minister Laurie Scott is renowned for sending whimsical Christmas cards and she did not disappoint this year.
Scott’s horse, Mini Prince Hardy, and her terrier, Phineas, who were relegated to the inside of last year’s card in favour of an award-winning cow, return to their rightful prominence this yuletide season.
“Look who’s really in charge,” declares Phineas in a speech balloon.
Inside, Scott asks: “How did I end up on the inside of the Christmas card this year?”
“Payback from last year!” says Mini Prince Hardy.
“We really call the shots,” concludes Phineas.
New Democrat MPP Percy Hatfield (Windsor-Tecumseh) is another perennial Christmas card champion.
This year’s effort is again designed by six grandchildren — all under the age of 7 — and boasts six reindeer and five Christmas trees.
“No Fletcher, now Wyatt, now Clarity and Katana, on Paisley, on Arwnen to the top of the wall,” reads the card.
“Now Dash away, Dash away, Dash away all.”
On the back, as usual, the former CBC TV reporter shows a southwestern Ontario field full of Santa hats, which is, appropriately, “a Santa Hat Field production.”