Hillier supporters urge premier to let MPP back into caucus
Conservatives in eastern Ontario riding inundating Ford with letters, emails
Supporters of suspended Progressive Conservative MPP Randy Hillier feel Premier Doug Ford has targeted the maverick member for speaking truth to power.
Ford temporarily ejected the Lanark-Frontenac-Kingston MPP from the Tory caucus two weeks ago for allegedly heckling the parents of autistic children after question period in the legislature.
But Hillier, who could not be reached for comment Thursday, insisted he was saying “yada-yada-yada” to NDP MPP Monique Taylor (Hamilton Mountain) not the families in the public galleries.
The premier, taking heat for his reforms to the way autism treatment is funded, banished him from caucus on Feb. 20 despite the veteran MPP’s apology “to the parents present who may have felt that my comments were directed at them; they were not, and never would be.” Alan Drummond, an emergency medicine doctor who lives in Hillier’s riding, believes his MPP was drummed out of caucus for previously speaking out about the government’s handling of contract negotiations with the Ontario Medical Association in December.
The Tories initially pulled the plug on arbitration hearings aimed at resolving the contract dispute with doctors before reversing that controversial decision days later amid criticism from many quarters.
To the displeasure of some in Ford’s office, Hillier had urged the Tories to remain at the table. An arbitrated settlement was finally announced last month.
“I think he was the only MPP to actually stand up and say ‘this is wrong approach.’ Within days the government backtracked and reversed their stance. He got widespread acclaim in our county,” Drummond said Thursday.
“The physicians were extremely pleased that he was being fair and open-minded and honest about it and that he was not afraid to speak his mind … and speak truth to power,” he said. “What happens is he … gets the boot. I suspect that this was probably retribution more than anything else — not the ‘yada-yada-yada’ comment — for making the government flip-flop.” Government house leader Todd Smith said the Hillier “situation was addressed at this week’s caucus meeting and as of now he remains suspended from our caucus.”
Asked if there is a path back to the PC fold for the veteran MPP, Smith said: “Quite honestly, it’s up to the premier to decide.”
Tories in Hillier’s eastern Ontario riding are inundating Ford with letters and emails — some of which have also been sent to the Star.
“We strongly feel that expelling our elected member … will alienate all members of LFK (Lanark-Frontenac-Kingston),” Tory riding association president Mark MacDonald wrote the premier. “As members of LFK we wish to continue to work with you, however, in order to do so we require our elected PC MPP Randy Hillier to be in caucus,” MacDonald continued.
“Please know that I have a nephew with severe autism and please know that MPP Randy Hillier’s comment of ‘yada-yada-yada’ was made to MPP Monique Taylor and NOT to people who have children with autism,” wrote Nick Drakich of Amherstview.
In a “Dear Doug” letter, Edward Embury, another local supporter, implored the premier to reconsider. “I have been in contact with many residents of the riding, local coffee shops, hockey arenas, schools, shops, business, local government officials, and we are all wondering what the hell is going on here,” Embury wrote.