December 2, 2010 York Region.com
Mere days after federal Liberal candidate Tony Genco lost a tough race to Conservative MP-elect Julian Fantino, the local businessman has not ruled out another run at the federal seat.
"The Conservatives manipulated this in such a way as to have obviously taken advantage of the fact that they could call the byelection when they were ready and their candidate was in order. We were closing the gap, their vote was collapsing," Mr. Genco said while at home Tuesday suffering from pneumonia.
Given how tight the race actually was - the high-profile former OPP boss won by a margin of 964 votes - Mr. Genco said the result could be seen as hopeful for Liberal prospects in the future.
But during the campaign, speculation mounted that former longtime Liberal MP Maurizio Bevilacqua, whose federal seat became available this fall when he stepped down to make a successful bid for Vaughan mayor, had a split allegiance to the two front-running candidates.
Both Mr. Fantino and Mr. Genco posted photographs on their respective websites of themselves posing with Mr. Bevilacqua at various unnamed events.
A member of Mr. Fantino's campaign team told The Citizen recently that Mr. Bevilacqua was "very helpful" to them, but would not provide specific examples.
Meanwhile, the new mayor was conspicuous in his absence on the recent byelection campaign trail.
Mr. Bevilacqua is a political force in Vaughan, having handily won the riding by large margins since he was first elected more than two decades ago. He won the Vaughan mayor's race by a whopping 35,000 votes over his nearest challenger, incumbent mayor Linda Jackson, whom he ousted.
Mr. Genco admits that while Mr. Bevilacqua was helpful to him, had Mr. Genco, himself, been in the former MP's position, he would have handled things differently.
"From my perspective, I didn't expect much from Maurizio. I understand the guy's personality, what motivates him and it's different than what motivates me. I always feel the greatest legacy a politician can leave is a successor in the name of the party. In order for you to succeed to have a truly successful career and defend your legacy is if your successor takes on the legacy and continues the tradition," Mr. Genco said.
"For example, if I don't run in the next election, I will make damn sure I will be working with this person, whomever it's going to be, we'll make them succeed. There won't be any behaviour that would be misinterpreted."
But Mr. Bevilacqua said he is a Liberal and has been for 22 years, adding that while he did not help Mr. Fantino's campaign, he will work with the new Conservative MP-elect.
Sources told The Citizen that Mr. Bevilacqua wasn't as helpful in bringing out the Liberal vote as he could have been.
"Not at all, are you kidding? Absolutely not," Mr. Bevilacqua said when asked if he had helped in any way the Conservatives to win Monday's federal byelection in Vaughan.
He pointed as proof to a Liberal Party of Canada ad that ran in The Citizen during the last week of the campaign that featured prominently a photograph of Mr. Genco and himself.
"I'm the mayor of the city and everybody knows I'm a Liberal. When you are the mayor of the city, you are the mayor of the entire city, obviously, that embraces everybody," said Mr. Bevilacqua, who took office yesterday at Vaughan city hall.
"I think people know that I'm a Liberal. There's clarity that I'm a Liberal. Today, as the mayor, the reality is you need to work in a bi-partisan way with everybody," Mr. Bevilacqua said, adding he just came out of a municipal campaign. "My name has been on a Liberal sign for 22 years, that hasn't changed.
"I've always been a promoter of democratic participation in elections. I'm perhaps the most vocal individual on democratic participation in our city. To me, it's clear that my record speaks for itself," Mr. Bevilacqua said.
Mr. Genco said that Mr. Bevilacqua being the new mayor makes him different than an average person, but said had he been in Mr. Bevilacqua's place, he would have been more visible.
"I think Maurizio did what he thought was best for him becoming the new mayor. I follow his logic. I understand he's got a new job and he's getting himself ready. It wouldn't have been the way I played it," Mr. Genco said, adding he understood from his conversations with the mayor that he was still a Liberal.
"You don't throw away 22 years having run for a party because you are no longer a member of the team," Mr. Genco said.