Inside the mind of Crombie's campaign director
Another MPP may be out of the running
Presented by Vertex Pharmaceuticals (Canada) Incorporated
ABOVE THE FOLD
Q+A — GENEVIEVE TOMNEY knows everybody “loves a comeback story.”
Like many Liberals in Ontario, she understands first hand how difficult it can be when voters stick you in the penalty box, twice.
“Losing in 2018 was really hard. Like, it sucked. I came out of that campaign saying that I never wanted to work in politics again because it was really, really hard and awful,” Tomney tells me.
Back then, Tomney was former premier KATHLEEN WYNNE’s director of strategic messaging. The comms pro cut her teeth in the LCBO’s media relations department and before that, worked as a CBC reporter. She’s currently a principal at GT & Co., DON GUY and BRIAN TOPP’s public affairs firm. (Regular readers will recall: the former is also on Team Crombie while the latter is helping NDP captain MARIT STILES’s campaign.)
Now, Tomney finds herself returning to the electoral arena, steering BONNIE CROMBIE’s efforts to bring the Grits back from political oblivion alongside fellow co-campaign director CHAD WALSH. (Get up to speed on Crombie’s campaign crew)
So, what roped her back in?
“This experience over the last year and a half has been so energizing. The people who have come together to form this amazing team around Bonnie are really focused on having a little fun along the way, because what do we have to lose right now? We have so much space in front of us to be able to do awesome things.”
One of those things — Crombie’s hotly-anticipated ad spot — just dropped. It’s a counter-punch to the multi-million-dollar ad campaign from the PCs that paints Crombie as a tax-and-spend, Trudeau-carbon-tax-loving elitist. Crombie’s first meaningful spot blames DOUG FORD for doctor shortages and overcrowded classrooms while making a thinly-veiled jab about the Greenbelt scandal.
“Every day, you hear about another one of Doug Ford’s friends getting richer while you fall behind. Enough is enough,” Crombie says in the commercial. Clip.
Tomney’s take: Better late than never. I asked if Tomney if she’s worried about the impact of the ads — the PCs are blowing their rivals out of the water when it comes to fundraising, which means more cash to spend on advertising. The Liberals are also late in the game as the PCs and NDP have been running ads for months.
“As somebody who thinks about communications and audience and breaking through — timing is really important. You don’t want to be competing against, like, the U.S. election. So, we’re just being really strategic about when we want to reach audiences with our message because we want to make sure it’s a time when they’re prepared to receive it and actually do something about it. Yes, awareness is a huge thing for any new political leader who’s fresh on the market and needs to build up their brand. But at the end of the day, you want people to see your message and then want to do something with that, so you’ve got to make sure that you’re hitting people when they’re ready and feeling driven to do something about what they’re seeing.”
The message the Liberals are hoping to convey with the new promo: “It’s about confronting what life looks like right now after six years under Doug Ford and about helping people understand that there is an alternative out there. When you think about what motivates people to to choose change or to choose the status quo, uncertainty is a real factor in that. People are paralyzed by uncertainty, and so this is about showing people who has the experience and could step into those shoes and make things better right away. There aren’t any extra steps along the way. She’s ready.”
On how the Liberals will frame their attacks on Ford on the campaign trail: “He’s had six years to do better for the people of Ontario, and instead, things have just gotten worse. The core of the contrast with Doug Ford has the benefit of being true. He’s not in it for real people. He loves meeting with CEOs. He loves being at the big table. And as a result of that, he loves doing favours for those people, because he loves to make them happy, and that has been the legacy of his six years — those people have done really really well, and real people in Ontario are doing shitty.”
On the challenges of fundraising, polling and being the third-place unrecognized party in the House: “I think our fundraising is stronger than it has been since the Ontario Liberals were in government, so that should be an indication of how people feel about the direction that we’re taking. But we don’t have the same kind of resources in terms of the staff capacity that the Official Opposition has, or obviously that the government has, so that’s the challenge for us, is that a lot of those resources either have to be volunteer or we have to pay them.”
On the current vibe in the war room: “We don’t have a ton of resources and I say to people every day, ‘This isn’t a campaign, it’s an insurgency.’ We are scrappy and we are smart, and we are almost entirely volunteer driven, and so what all of this [early election] speculation does is it gives us energy, and it means we’re moving faster and we’re moving smarter, and people are are digging in that much harder than I think they would be if we didn’t have that sort of looming on the horizon.”
On her most memorable moment with Crombie (so far): “I only met Bonnie a year and a half ago. I knew who she was, obviously, but, we hadn’t met, and so our relationship kind of started from scratch. I was over at her house one day, and we were prepping for a speech or an interview or something like that, and I said, ‘I don’t even really know you.’ And so we just got talking about our lives and she told me some stories about how she grew up — her dad had addictions issues, so her mom moved them back with her parents who ran a rooming house. We were talking about this, and I said, ‘Bonnie, do you remember what it was like? Did other people live in the house?’ She said yeah. So I said, ‘Sometimes, when you would eat your dinner at the kitchen table, would there be other people around who you didn’t know?’ She said yeah. So I said, ‘Bonnie, you grew up in a rooming house.’ And it kind of dawned on her in that moment. It’s the same as all of our experiences — it’s just our normal, you don’t think about it as something exceptional or something that really shaped or framed your life. It was kind of this just really human moment with this woman who has obviously had an amazing career and accomplished really great things. That was one of the things that really moved me to want to be involved because I could see somebody who actually knows what people have been through, because she’s been through it herself.”
On what it’s like having two young kids this time around: “I have two little kids and I’m working full time as a consultant and I do communications and corporate reputation work and then I do this political work as well. So for me, it’s a big soup of all these things that are separate but connected. I take my kids to school on the subway every morning, so that’s a real slice of life for what it’s like for people in Ontario right now. We have conversations about the guy who’s sleeping on a row of seats and why people are riding the subway and why it’s stopped and we have to sit on it for an extra 10 minutes. So, my day is a mix of being mom, of being a trusted advisor to my clients, and really strategizing about how we can make some real change.”
HAPPENING TODAY
DOUG FORD’S MONDAY — 10 a.m.: The Premier is in Burlington. Also on hand: Health Minister SYLVIA JONES and Associate Mental Health Minister MICHAEL TIBOLLO…At 12 p.m.: Ford will address the Oakville Chamber of Commerce. Livestream.
9:30 a.m.: The Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act Alliance is in the Media Studio to mark the 30th anniversary of its campaign to make Ontario fully accessible to the 2.9 million folks with disabilities.
10 a.m.: Intimate partner violence survivors and advocates are up next alongside NDPers to call on the Ford government to declare the matter an epidemic. It’s topical: Today is the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women.
1:30 p.m.: Trade Minister VIC FEDELI is in Toronto.
FUNDRAISING WATCH — Back-back-fundraisers for the PCs…5:30 p.m.: A $1,000-a-plate event in Toronto (there’s no ministerial lineup, so you know what that means — DOUG FORD could show)…7 p.m.: Solicitor General MICHAEL KERZNER is also hosting in Toronto for $1,500 apiece. RSVP.
7 p.m.: Liberals JOHN FRASER and candidate JILL PROMOLI are hosting a pub night for $125 a pop at Cuchulainn’s in Mississauga. Invite.
ON THE ORDER PAPER
Headed for the Clerk’s table: House Leader STEVE CLARK teased another mystery government bill that will be introduced this afternoon. Wild guess: A labour-related package (more on that momentarily).
Later on, it’s another round of second-reading debate for Bill 227, Minister MIKE HARRIS’s red-tape reduction package.
MPPs could also kick off third and final reading for Bill 212 and Bill 194, the government’s anti-bike-lane and AI bills, which have been fast-tracked so there’s only 55 minutes of debate before a vote instead of six-and-a-half hours.
ON THE COMMITTEE CIRCUIT
12:30 p.m.: Public Accounts meets behind closed doors to draft its report on the Auditor General’s special report re: the Greenbelt.
COCKTAIL CHATTER
The Ontario Association of Interval and Transition Houses is holding a breakfast reception in the Dining Room. Aurora Strategy Global and LGI Healthcare Solutions are each putting on lunch receptions in Room 228 and Room 230, respectively. Later on, the Ontario Greenhouse Alliance and Progressive Contractors Association are hosting.
CLIPPINGS
— FIGHTING FOR FIREFIGHTERS: “The Ontario government is looking to expand presumptive coverage for kidney and colorectal cancers for firefighters, whose occupation puts them at a higher risk for the diseases. Speaking at the Hamilton Fire Department's Indoor Training Facility Friday, Premier DOUG FORD told reporters that his government plans to introduce legislation [this] week that would make it easier and faster for firefighters to access Workplace Safety and Insurance Board benefits for those diseases.” CBC reports.
— LUNCH TIME: Also from CBC: “Ontario has reached an agreement with the federal government that will see $108.5 million roll out over the next three years to help fund a school food program in the province.”
Speaking of the feds, Finance Minister PETER BETHLENFALVY is taking credit for Ottawa’s $250 cheques: “Obviously that was our idea.” Via the Star.
— FORD GETS ACTION? “Afraid of losing the U.S.-Canada trade pact, Mexico alters its laws and removes Chinese parts.” More from the Associated Press.
— BIKE LANE LATEST: “Ontario’s premier and transportation minister are suggesting cyclists avoid Toronto’s major roads as the province forges ahead with a plan to remove bike lanes from some streets.” Be careful out there, Ford says.
Presented by Vertex Pharmaceuticals (Canada) Incorporated
Beta Thalassemia in Ontario: A Doctor's Perspective on Challenges and Care
People living with beta thalassemia require frequent, specialized care and often face several health challenges. Dr. Ziad Solh, a hematologist at London Health Sciences Centre and Associate Professor at Western University, focuses on beta thalassemia. He spoke to us about this blood disease and his plea to policymakers.
What are beta thalassemia and transfusion-dependent beta thalassemia? Hemoglobin is a protein in red blood cells that carries oxygen throughout the body. Beta thalassemia is a rare inherited blood disorder that affects hemoglobin causing mild to severe anemia (deficiency of hemoglobin inside red blood cells).
Transfusion-dependent beta thalassemia is when patients rely on blood transfusions as a treatment to survive. They may be candidates for cures like transplants or gene therapies, but the main approach is early detection and starting blood transfusion as early as possible. If transfusion-dependent beta thalassemia is not identified and treated, patients can die by five years of age.
How does the disease affect people living with the condition? It starts with a phone call from a doctor giving their patient the terrible news that they have a lifelong illness. This is devastating, and of course affects their mental health.
They begin a long series of mentally and physically draining tests. Sometimes, transfusions can have complications. There are also risks of developing diseases like liver cancer, diabetes, or heart disease.
Beta thalassemia can affect an entire family, since it’s an inherited disorder passed through the parents. Sometimes entire families are diagnosed with it, and they get transfusions together.
We recommend they live close to a big hospital because they need transfusions every two to four weeks to increase their hemoglobin. Sometimes, patients need a 12-hour medicine infusion. So, they walk around with a tube at home as they work, cook, etc.
People who rely on part-time work or minimum wage jobs cannot afford out of pocket costs — so they may choose not to take the medication or treatment required.
How many people in Ontario/Canada live with beta thalassemia? Not enough resources are going into research to find out the exact number. In London, Ontario, there are about 100 patients. There are approximately 1200-1500 patients in Canada, but there are also a lot of people who don’t know they have it.
What is the burden for the healthcare system due to existing barriers? Beta thalassemia medications are very expensive. Our healthcare system covers some of these costs. One transfusion bag may cost $450. Multiply that by three bags per transfusion episode, every two weeks for the rest of a patient’s life. That’s about $35,000 a year for blood that the health system pays for.
We know that patient numbers are growing quickly, and we cannot keep up with the resources we have. Blood transfusions are very costly to the healthcare system which must pay for nurses, technologists, and lab workers to process all the blood donations. Canadian Blood Services provides these services under Ministry of Health funding, but if you look at all the resources a patient needs for one year, it costs thousands of dollars to the system.
What is your message to health policymakers looking to better understand and improve beta thalassemia care in Ontario? We don’t have to commit patients living with BT to a lifetime of transfusions. Studies are happening and a cure might be out there. We must pay attention to inherited blood disorders research and registries because these rare diseases have large impacts on our healthcare services and population. I am very interested in conserving our blood supply and finding a way for these patients to be treated and potentially cured without needing transfusions at all one day.
My message is to start funding registries and healthcare efforts to count the number of patients, find out where they live, and determine where resources should be allocated. We should also find more ways to support our patients. Increasing resources and opportunities will eventually reduce the strain on our blood donors, the patient population, and their healthcare teams.
CANDIDATE TRACKER
Another MPP may be sitting out the next election: Rumour has it veteran PC JOHN YAKABUSKI won’t be seeking another term in Renfrew-Nipissing-Pembroke.
Update: Turns out it’s more than a rumour — Yakabuski already made it official. Thanks to eagle-eyed readers for pointing that out.