THE PARK: Loud speaker
eye WEEKLY
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eye WEEKLY October 10, 1996
Toronto's arts newspaper .....free every Thursday
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THE PARK THE PARK
LOUD SPEAKER
Two weeks ago, when maverick Tory MPP Chris Stockwell said he would be
seeking the job of Speaker, very few people at Queen's Park took him
seriously.
After all, wasn't he one of the worst-behaved MPPs? Wasn't he
continually heckling other members? And didn't former speaker Al
McLean constantly warn him to shut up and sit down or he would be
thrown out of the Legislature?
In fact, at one point last June McLean was so exasperated with
Stockwell and other MPPs that he told the Windsor Star he was
considering fines for unruly MPPs. He singled out Stockwell, NDP bad-
boy Peter Kormos and rookie Liberal Dominic Agostino as the worst
offenders.
In response, the short-tempered Stockwell lost it as he mocked McLean,
who is well known for mangling the English language. Stockwell
sarcastically said: "I was pleased that you completed one paragraph
without a single 'dem' or 'dose.' "
A few minutes later, an embarrassed Stockwell was forced to apologize
for his "somewhat intemperate" remarks.
But last week Stockwell was elected to replaced McLean, defeating
seven other MPPs for the $100,000 a year job, following seven secret
ballots and five hours of voting.
Stockwell's stunning victory is even more remarkable because over the
past year he has become one of the harshest critics of the Harris
government. Yet he still managed to get enough votes from Tory MPPs to
win. Did the boisterous former Metro Councillor have a personality
transplant over the summer that made him more suitable for the
Speaker's job? Was his body taken over by a kinder, gentler life-
force?
No.
Actually, it turns out that Stockwell got a lot of votes from PC
backbenchers because of his passionate defence at a recent caucus
meeting of -- wait for it -- Al McLean.
In the days just before McLean resigned, Stockwell became the darling
of the backbench by taking on Tory house leader Dave Johnson and
Premier Harris. They wanted McLean out because he had become a
political embarrassment after allegations of sexual harassment against
him were made public.
Stockwell, along with Hamilton MPP Toni Skarica, argued strenuously
that McLean was being lynched by the media and that he should stay put
because he was innocent until proven guilty. Johnson was ready to
support a motion to force McLean out, but backed off in the face of a
caucus revolt led by Stockwell. Harris was not impressed.
Stockwell told eye that 50 PC backbenchers were ready to support
McLean in a recorded vote in the Legislature. Johnson stalled for
time, delaying a vote that was sure to split the government when it
became clear that cabinet wanted McLean out while the backbenchers
wanted him to stay. Hours before the vote, McLean saved his party from
serious embarrassment when he suddenly resigned.
Just as suddenly, Stockwell, who had recently become one of McLean's
strongest allies, announced he would run to replace him.
Using the pent-up anger among Tory backbenchers over the way McLean
was treated by party leaders, Stockwell managed to turn his maverick
image into an advantage. He told Tories he wouldn't let ministers push
them around in the Legislature they way they did at caucus. Then he
told opposition MPPs that his behavior toward his own party proved he
would be fair to them.
As one senior government official jokingly told eye, Stockwell would
be a fair Speaker because be hated all three parties equally.
By the morning of the vote, senior PCs had already conceded victory to
Stockwell, saying the good news was that he would no longer be
criticizing government programs at PC caucus meetings.
Meanwhile, up in the Press Gallery, no one was celebrating. Many
reporters had just lost one of their best sources in the PC caucus.
The Park is eye's Queen's Park insider.
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