Jimbo not a cabinet kind of guy

Cornwall Standard Freeholder

31 October 2007

Posted By McIntosh, Claude

Okay, everybody who upon reading our front-page headline Tuesday morning that screamed "No Brownell in cabinet" and didn't choke on their corn flakes, raise your hand.

Nobody, eh.

Heck, not even Jim Brownell, the quintessential Mr. Nice Guy, expected a cabinet post.

And his boss, Fibber McGuinty, didn't disappoint him.

Fact is, Fibber is doing Jimbo a big favour.

Not every MPP is cabinet material.

That doesn't mean they are not good MPPs.

Putting Jimbo in cabinet might be the old tale of trying to squeeze a square peg into a round hole.

The book on Jim Brownell says that he is a hard-working, dedicated MPP who knows that at the end of the day, all politics is local.

He's grassroots all the way.

For many who didn't mark an "X" beside Brownell's name in the October election, it was not a vote against the incumbent. It was a vote against the most prolific promisebreaker in the province's history.

The strategy in Chris Savard's camp was to steer clear of personal attacks on Brownell.

The Conservative challenger's handlers knew that they were dealing with one of the most popular first-termers to serve the riding and that slinging mud at him would backfire and cost their man votes.

At the end of the day, despite a well-run campaign by Savard's team, Brownell won by several touchdowns.

It was more an embrace of Brownell than a rejection of Savard.

Will somebody please explain how Charlie Bourgeois - the Newmarket lawyer who represented Perry Dunlop in his $72-million lawsuit - got through law school.

The guy has a sieve for a memory.

If he drove back to Newmarket on Monday, after telling the inquiry at least 100 times that he couldn't recall, somebody might want to check with the OPP . . . he might not have been able to recall where he lived.

Who knows, he might just be passing Toledo, Ohio this morning.

The inquiry hasn't been without some humourous moments.

Last week, Kingston attorney Allan Manson was asked by Commissioner Normand Glaude if he was going to be much longer.

Manson indicated he would, and Glaude suggested they go (meaning break for) to lunch, to wit Manson quipped, "Is that an invitation?" And on Tuesday, Frank Horn, during a pregnant pause while he tried to come up with a question, blurted, "I may be looking for a job after this."

To steal a line from Will Shakespeare, this talk of an American Hockey League being parachuted into the LumDome in time for next season might be much ado about nothing.

There are many more reasons for the Florida Panthers not to place their AHL farm club in Cornwall than to make the move.

Cornwall's only experience with professional hockey - the Aces - was a disaster.

The pro team had trouble outdrawing the Central Junior Hockey League Colts, who were playing out of the inferior Si Miller Arena across the street. In fact, the only time the teams went head-to-head, the Colts had a bigger crowd.

That was the beginning of the end for the Aces. Unfortunately, the politicians of the day were buffaloed into believing that the team could be turned around and didn't exercise an option to bail out of the five-year contract after the second season.

It was a foolhardy decision that cost taxpayers another $1 million. Taxpayers would have lost even more if not for Pierre Lacroix.

The Colorado Avs' (nee Quebec Nordiques) general manager opened an escape hatch for the city to crawl out of after the third year.

Always thought they should have had a Pierre Lacroix Day. He saved us at least $2 million.