A little-known fact that goes to the small world of Canadian politics: Tony Genco and John Baird were once roommates.
For those of you who haven’t been paying attention to the three by-elections taking place Monday, Mr. Genco is the Liberal candidate in Vaughan, Ont. Of the three federal by-elections, this suburban Toronto riding is the most hotly contested. The competition is between the Harper Conservatives and the Ignatieff Liberals.
Vaughan has been held by the Liberals for the past 22 years, but Julian Fantino is running for the Conservatives – and the former Toronto police chief and former Ontario Provincial Police commissioner is considered a Harper star and a shoo-in for cabinet if he wins.
Mr. Baird, meanwhile, is the Government House leader who spends most of the daily 45-minute Question Period defending his government and throwing in a few barbs at the opposition. Lately he has found himself having to defend Mr. Fantino, who is proving a formidable force against his old roommate.
Mr. Genco and Mr. Baird shared a place in Bells Corners (a neighbourhood on Ottawa’s west side) in the early 1990s. Mr. Genco was an assistant to Toronto Liberal MP Art Eggleton, who is now a senator.
Mr. Baird had been an assistant on the Hill to Conservative Minister Perrin Beatty during part of the Mulroney years; he worked briefly as a lobbyist after the Tories were nearly wiped out in the 1993 election. He went into provincial politics in 1995.
It was during that brief period in the early ’90s when the two shared a place. That’s when young Liberals and Tories hung out together – it was a little more collegial back then.
Not so much today.
Mr. Baird would not comment – not even quip – about his relationship with Mr. Genco. In the House of Commons last week, there was much said about Mr. Genco but most of the criticism came from Public Safety Minister Vic Toews, who was raising questions about an expense issue.
And Mr. Toews repeatedly mispronounced his name - putting a hard “G” on this surname so that he sounded like some kind of reptile.
At one point, however, Mr. Baird defended Mr. Fantino, saying that he is an “outstanding public servant, someone who has made great contributions to Canada ... and someone who was so good that Premier Dalton McGuinty appointed him to be commissioner of the OPP. Can anyone get any better than that for validation?”
As for Mr. Genco, his campaign spokesperson says the candidate is busy getting out the vote. And “after a peek-a-boo Conservative campaign in the riding [the Grits have accused Mr. Fantino of avoiding debates and interviews], he hopes to send a Liberal to Ottawa to keep Mr. Baird and his Conservative colleagues accountable to the people of Vaughan.”
