With less than eight months to go before the 2010 municipal election marathon begins, a rumour has started to circulate that Councillor Karen Stintz, a front runner to be the right-wing standard bearer against Mayor David Miller in the 2010 election, has retained former chief of staff to Premier Dalton McGuinty and Liberal Party pollster Don Guy to advise her.
Councillor Stintz denied the rumour, which came to Spacing’s attention through a person connected with the Tories, saying that “I have not retained Don (Guy)…I have not retained anybody.”
Guy also flatly denied the rumour, telling Spacing that he has been working for federal Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff since Ignatieff assumed the leadership. “Karen (Stintz) is great but my focus is on the Liberal Party of Canada. I have not been retained by anybody.”
Guy added that it’s too early to say whether he will get involved in Toronto’s next municipal election.
Legally speaking, no money can be expended by a candidate before January 1 of an election year. Were Councillor Stintz to have already acquired Guy’s services she would be contravening the Municipal Elections Act. However, it is widely accepted that a credible challenger campaign needs to begin forming as much as 18 to 24 months before Election Day if it has any chance of knocking off an incumbent.
Photograph of Toronto City Hall by Reza Vaziri
