Originally published in the Toronto Sun on January 6th, 2010. To go to the Toronto Sun website please click here
I share the view of Rob Silver and some others that Julian Fantino’s election as a Conservative MP in the riding of Vaughan, Ont. and his subsequent appointment as Minister of State (Seniors) should not be read as some grand pre-election opening gambit by the Conservative as they prepare to assault the Liberal Fortress Toronto.
I do, however, think that Fantino – love him or hate him — is a very big personality and will not want to leave his new job without getting something — anything – done. And, as I column-ize today, that could be a good thing. Long ago, Susan Eng got tangled up with Fantino’s ambition while she was chair of the Toronto Police Services Board, so much so that, based on contemporary press accounts, it seems clear that it would be unlikely if they were on each others Christmas card lists. Eng is now the executive director of the Canadian Association of Retired Persons (CARP) and that makes the Eng-Fantino relationship an important one for Canada’s seniors. Eng and her boss at CARP, Moses Znaimer, think highly of Fantino’s appointment and, as they say in the letter below that they sent to him, they are looking forward to seeing if he can bring some political juice to the senior’s file.
Keywords: seniors
