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Private schools still Thornhill's hot button The first in a series looking at key ridings in the GTA finds tax credit a key concern
By KATHERINE HARDING
Globe and Mail Wednesday, Sep. 17, 2003 MARKHAM, ONT. — Tina Molinari is preparing for another nail-biter election night.''Every vote counts,'' said the junior cabinet minister in Premier Ernie Eves's Progressive Conservative government, as she campaigned door-to-door here recently. ''I know that all too well. I never underestimate my opponents.''
The Italian-Canadian and former chairwoman of the Catholic school board, won the provincial riding of Thornhill, an affluent, multiethnic area north of Toronto, by a mere 343 votes in 1999. It was the narrowest margin for the Tories in their prized 905 suburban region, where they held every seat. Four years ago, the main issue was funding for private schools. And four years later, not much has changed here. It's still a key concern for many people in this riding that runs between Highway 400 to the west and Highway 404 to the east and includes parts of the cities of Vaughan and Markham. Thornhill has the highest number of Jewish day schools of any riding in the province and about 33 per cent of the residents here are Jewish. Last time around, the Liberal candidate, Dan Ronen, was promising to secure funding for private schools. But Ms. Molinari could only promise to take the concerns of her constituents surrounding this issue to Queen's Park -- if elected. When this mother of two grown sons eventually won by a squeaker, she made good on her promise and was instrumental in convincing the Tories to make the private-school tax credit a budget promise in 2001. "I helped bring that issue forward to my caucus as a backbencher. . . . I helped deliver on this," Ms. Molinari said. Now her campaign organization is full of Ronen supporters, including Georganne Burke, a spokeswoman for the Jewish Political Action Committee. And Mr. Ronen even called Ms. Molinari to congratulate her after the tax credit became a reality. During this year's campaign, Ms. Molinari's new Liberal opponent, Mario Racco, has been put on the defensive around the issue of private-school funding. The Liberals have committed to repealing the private-school tax credit, also known as the Equity in Education Tax Credit, if elected. Mr. Racco, an Italian-born former separate-school board trustee and long-time Vaughan councillor who has a parkway named after him, concedes that position could "hurt" him at the ballot box, but that over all, he thinks voters there want a change in government. "When I'm out there, Eves is the biggest issue," Mr. Racco, the father of two children, said during a recent interview at his campaign office in Vaughan. "People don't trust that guy; they want to get rid of him." Mr. Racco said the Liberal positions on other hot-button issues, including education, health and transportation, are selling well in this riding where the median household income is $79,436 and 85 per cent of people own their own homes. Particularly, he said the Liberals' promise to roll back toll increases on Highway 407, a privately owned freeway that slices through the top of Thornhill, is extremely popular in this area, where most residents commute. But on the streets and in the coffee shops, grocery stores and malls, many people here aren't sure how they are going to vote -- even if they support the controversial private-school tax credit. "The private-school tax is a big deal up here. But I don't care about that; it doesn't affect me," said Brian Ewing, 77, as he chatted with friends at a Coffee Time shop. "But it feels like the Tories are trying to buy us. I'm not happy about that, so I don't know how I'm going to vote." Lots of Tory supporters are still around. "We can't let the Liberals in," said Sam Shuster, 58. "We've worked too hard to get that [private-school] tax credit." New Democratic Party candidate Laurie Orrett is a Queen's Park aide who has worked for Frances Lankin and Michael Prue. In 1999, the party garnered only about 3.5 per cent of the vote, and it isn't expected to capture much support this time around. Other candidates are Bridge Haworth for the Green Party, and Lindsay King for the Freedom Party. Thornhill riding: 2003 Candidates: PC: Tina Molinari LIB: Mario Racco NDP: Laurie Orrett Green Party: Bridget Haworth Freedom Party: Lindsay King -*** 1999 Result: PC: Tina Molinari: 19,580 votes - 48.21% LIB: Dan Ronen: 19,237 - 47.36% NDP: Nathan David Rothman: 1,438 - 3.54% Green Party: 360 - 0.89% SOURCE: G.P. MURRAY RESEARCH LTD., STATISTICS CANADA |
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