Hopefuls have eyes on MPP MacLaren’s seat
Retired police sergeant and doctor making plans in Kanata-Carleton
Troubled west-end Tory Jack MacLaren is facing challenges for his party’s nomination in the 2018 election: retired police officer Richard Keindel and activist doctor Merrilee Fullerton want to be the Progressive Conservative candidate in Kanata-Carleton.
“I’ve met Jack one or two times. I voted for Jack. Anybody that takes public office, I tip my hat to them,” Keindel said. But he’s been unhappy with MacLaren’s gaffes — his dirty jokes, his phoney constituent testimonials — and what he believes is a weak record as a constituency representative.
“I’m a resident of Kanata and I don’t think Jack represents me. That’s one of my motivational factors — I don’t think Jack represents me and my values, and I don’t want him to be the name for Kanata-Carleton. He’s had a couple of bad episodes in the past months, and I don’t want that to be a reflection on my community.”
So Keindel’s declared that he wants MacLaren’s job. MacLaren himself became an MPP after a nomination coup against longtime legislator Norm Sterling before the 2011 election, and before his recent trouble he had been widely rumoured to be helping prospective challengers to fellow Ottawa MPP Lisa MacLeod.
(MacLaren returned to work at Queen’s Park on Tuesday to debate a bill on snowmobile trails, having satisfied party leader Patrick Brown that he’s made amends for his assorted bad judgments.)
Ontario’s ridings will be tweaked in the next election. MacLaren currently represents Carleton-Mississippi Mills, which will be renamed Kanata-Carleton and have a significant part of its rural component carved off and attached to other neighbouring ridings. Kanata, where support hasn’t been nearly as strong for the former rural-landowners’ rights activist, will be a more important part of the constituency than it has been.
Keindel retired from the Ottawa police force in March after a 31-year career that began in Gloucester. He did stints as a patrol officer and supervisor, a collision investigator, a trainer and instructor (including in the use of force), and criminal investigator. He was a breathalyzer expert, part of planning teams for major foreign visits to Ottawa, and a contributor to the department’s creation of a new aggressive policy on “active shooter” situations. He retired as a staff sergeant.
Also saying she’ll be in the race, with a proper campaign launch next month, is Fullerton, a Kanata family physician and former member of Ottawa’s board of health. She’s spoken up as an activist in the Ontario Medical Association and as president of the Academy of Medicine of Ottawa, a voluntary group aiming to represent the city’s doctors. She’s also written for the Citizen’s opinion pages.
According to her website, Fullerton’s top priorities are improving health care, fixing the electricity system, and restoring “responsible budgets.”
The Tories aren’t planning to open nomination campaigns for the 2018 election until next year at the earliest, so for now potential candidates are just jockeying for position; Keindel’s campaign largely consists of a Facebook page and an unfinished website so far, though he said he’ll have everything together in a few days.
Keindel said he’s a lifelong Progressive Conservative who decided to leave the police while he’s still young enough, at 53, to try to improve his community in other ways. Like Fullerton, he’s particularly concerned about Ontario’s debt, the long-term sustainability of the health system, and electricity prices, he said.
Keindel said his experience as a police officer has taught him the value of listening and keeping communication open with people from diverse backgrounds and with different points of view.
“I want to bring that same line of communication and transparency up to the next level as an MPP . ... We need to work together to make our community better.”