I will admit that it is with some degree of hesitation that I have chosen write about Newmarket Aurora MPP Frank Klees. I have been asked on various occasions to give an opinion on current events affecting the Province or national issues. I have always avoided wading in on these items because I want to keep this blog 'pure' Newmarket Town Hall.
I am foregoing my 'purity' policy because Frank Klees' Private Member's Bill was brought into Newmarket Town Hall which makes him fair game for a blog like mine. I don't plan to stand idly by while Klees parades around pretending to care about Newmarket's growth plans.
Full Disclosure - Although my own politics lean more towards the conservative side of the spectrum, I am definitely not a fan of Frank Klees. I don't like him as my representative at Queens Park because Frank Klees' values and principles don't reflect my own. Mr. Klees is extremely socially conservative and he chums around with the likes of Reverend Dr. Charles McVety. Klees went so far as to making his official announcement to seek the leadership of the Ontario PC Party on McVety's television show.
(For readers who are unfamiliar with McVety, he is the President of the Canada Christian College and he holds some outrageous anti-same-sex-marriage, anti-sex-education, and anti-environmentalism views. In addition, McVety has xenophobic opinions on Islam too; accusing the religion of plotting a hostile take over of western culture. I think most Newmarket residents would find his views disagreeable).
Although Klees denies being responsible for the "Faith Based Funding" plank in John Tory's disastrous campaign, Klees has publicly supported using tax credits to subsidize tuition for students of private, faith based schools. (Hardly a difference in my opinion because his tax credit scheme will ultimately divert money away from the public school system).
I mention these items only to inform my readers that I have a noted bias against Klees and his representation of Newmarket at Queens Park. I could mention that he is disturbingly ambitious as evidenced by the three times he has run for leader of a political party (and lost) or how he abandoned the opposition parties in 2011 to take a shot at the Speaker's Chair (and lost), but it might make me seem petty.
Mr. Klees has introduced a private member's bill in Queens Park. That in itself raises eyebrows because one of the dominant stories in Ontario, and certainly for any upcoming election, are new taxes being proposed by the Liberal government to fund the Big Move construction of public transit. After all, Mr. Klees is actually the PC Critic for Transportation and the PC Party is supposed to be against tax hikes. Yet for some strange reason Mr. Klees is preoccupieded on his private member's bill and says nary a word on his transportation file. I am sure that his friends in caucus are thrilled to pick up his slack.
Make no mistake, Klees' private member's bill has one purpose - to garner votes from a handful of Glenway residents.
So while Glenway gets the MPP's attention, Newmarket residents can ignore how Davis Drive is being turned into an ill planned construction site that will make the street impassable for cars for years to come. (Never mind the fact that when the construction is finally complete, it will be impossible to make a left hand turn from Davis into a plaza which is sure to push a number of local businesses into bankruptcy).
Newmarket residents can also ignore the fact that the cost to fill up a tank of gas will skyrocket to pay for multi million projects like these bus lanes on Davis Drive.
Never mind, Newmarket residents, that the Senior Centre facility was structurally damaged by this bus lane construction leaving our seniors without a place to meet socially.
Newmarket residents can ignore these issues because your MPP, Frank Klees, has already decided to ignore them too. As the Opposition Critic for Transportation, Klees remains silent while the majority of our community are inconvenienced and, (to add insult to injury), are grievously taxed for the inconvenience too.
Also, Newmarket residents should pay no mind that the Glenway development is probably a whole lot better for the community than the ones being planned along Yonge and Davis, or the ones that will destroy the character of our community like the Clock Tower development. I think a survey of residents asking whether they preferred to be neighbours with a development that comprised of single family homes vs a high rise condominium development like Slessor Square, would be overwhelmingly be in favour of the former. We are a community of single family homes today. Glenway continues that tradition but Slessor Square and the Clock Tower do not.
If Mr. Klees is so concerned about the impact of the Places to Grow Act on Newmarket, why was he silent when Slessor Square was being debated? Where is Klees while a certain developer is planning on destroying our Main Street and one of our historic buildings with the Clock Tower condominiums?
This private member's bill is a cynical campaign ploy for the upcoming provincial election campaign. I, for one, am not fooled, and neither should you be fooled by his unsubtle stumping.
In the next election, I am going to vote strategically by voting for whichever candidate has the best shot at defeating long-in-the-tooth Frank Klees. Not because I have abandoned conservative principles, but because I refuse to endorse his cynical politicking. More than ever, we need Newmarket politicians to fight for our community. Mr. Klees can't be allowed to walk on the Glenway scene after being silent on Slessor Square. His johnny-come-lately act not only shows that he lacks the moral fortitude to do the right thing for the community but also that he loves to grandstand. I won't support him during the next election and I don't think you should either.
(For Glenway residents who continue to hope that Mr. Klees is legit. Remember the only other time Klees spoke about the Glenway development? The last time he spoke about Glenway was during the 2011 election campaign. He remains mum on the subject all other times).
I hope that Mr. Klees picks up every single vote from Glenway - and not a single vote from the rest of Newmarket. He is letting us down by not speaking up for us on the issues that affect the entire community.
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