Furious about Julian Fantino: Blizzard

Oh, my. There’s a royal rumble shaping up in Vaughan.

And it’s about to get ugly.

Vaughan is in the middle of a byelection, you’ll recall.

Voters in the city above Toronto heaved a sigh of relief when highly respected MP Maurizio Bevilacqua quit his Ottawa job after 22 years to run for mayor of the scandal-plagued city.

But there’s trouble brewing.

The federal Conseratives have wooed former OPP commissioner Julian Fantino to be their star candidate in the Nov. 29 federal beyelection.

That doesn’t sit too well with provincial Liberals, some of whom feel betrayed, that the guy they found a job for — twice — has chosen to run for the other side.

Vaughan MPP Greg Sorbara is particularly piqued that his old friend has crossed the line into partisan politics.

“I have always had a great deal of respect for the work that Julian Fantino has done in the area of law enforcement,” Sorbara told me in an interview.

“I have always considered him a friend.

“In that regard, it has been my impression that throughout his years in law enforcement, he has always remained several steps above the fray of partisan politics,” he said.

“So, I was surprised indeed that so soon after completing his work for the provincial Liberal government, that he would cast his lot with a party for whom I have so little respect,” he said.

“In that sense, I felt somewhat abandoned,” Sorbara said.

After the Toronto Police Service Board failed to renew his chief of police contract in 2004, Fantino was appointed the province’s commissioner of emergency management.

In 2006, he was given the top OPP job, a role he held until this summer. He’d stayed on past the end of his contract to oversee security for the G8 and G20 summits.

There’s often been speculation he would run for public office. Some observers believed he might run for the Toronto mayor’s job against David Miller.

Other pundits suggested he might take on Sorbara in the provincial vote of 2007. In fact, it was suggested that was the reason the Liberals found the emergency management job for him.

Sorbara, naturally, is pushing Liberal candidate Tony Genco.

In a comment that clearly takes a swipe at Fantino’s age (the former chief is 68), Sorbara said he believes Genco is the best choice for Vaughan because he is “young, articulate, energetic.”

Fantino dismissed Sorbara’s criticism as an affront to democracy.

“I was a public servant for the people of Ontario for over 40 years, and my record speaks for itself,” Fantino said in an e-mail response to my request for comment.

“These comments are an affront to the democratic rights of all Canadians to exercise their intrinsic right to engage in the political process.”

Fantino went further, saying Sorbara’s words are the kind of comments that make people think twice before they throw their hat in the political ring.

“Frankly, it’s rhetoric like this that forces a chilling effect on decent people who might consider bringing their valuable experiences to elected office for the good of their community,” Fantino said.

“This has reinforced my belief that my decision is a good one — not just for me, but for all residents of Vaughan. I joined the right team at the right time, to be a strong voice for the good people of Vaughan.”

Make no mistake, the stakes are high for both the Tories and Liberals in this vote. Bevilacqua routinely won this riding with massive majorities. If the Liberals lose it now, it will be a huge slap in the face to leader Michael Ignatieff.

Having persuaded such a high-profile candidate to run for them, the Tories need to show they can deliver.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper doesn’t seem to be in any hurry to shuffle his cabinet in the wake of the departure of environment minister Jim Prentice.

Could it be he’s waiting until after the vote to shuffle Fantino in?

christina.blizzard@sunmedia.ca Twitter: @ChrizBlizz