The Ottawa Citizen from Ottawa, Ontario, Canada • 6

BREAKING NEWS AT OnAWACITIZEN.COM THURSDAY, JUNE 11,2009 A6 THE OTTAWA CITIZEN NEWS The comfort you want. Savings you'll love. nS 1 can develop inflammatory bowel disease, regardless of age, race or gender. 'Watered-down' conservatism will fail, Hillier tells Tories 5 7 tca lTk I nP 7um to ti Experts '7 A Support our mission to find the cure. For more $1,200 'UDto 1 rTzz, I Labour Party members meet for final debate before leadership vote information, "''ect Carney tect'n Plan I WIN Vrw, visit our website at www.ccfc.ca or call 1-800-387-1479 BY TIM SHUFELT Hurry! Offer ends June 30, 2009.

Details on carrierpromo.com ft 40AH9 it has mo NATIONAL ARTS CENTRE CENTRE NATIONAL DES ARTS boundarigs at mtomm visits every school day! Tea. much on the same page on this one," Hillier said at one point last night. The candidate was referring to unanimous condemnation of the GM bailout, and the fact that most of the province's contribution will go toward the troubled auto maker's pension fund. But he could have been referring to almost every issue canvassed of the prospective leaders. On issues ranging from the province's flagging economy to the shortage of family doctors to business tax rates, few major rifts have emerged between the candidates.

The temperature of the debate rose a bit last month when Elliott accused Hudak and Hillier of handing the Liberals a "gift" with a plan to abolish the province's Human Rights Tribunal. Elliott equated the move with the party's doomed plan to fund religious schools during the last provincial election. That criticism was adopted last night by Klees, who agreed the policy would be "polarizing." But he paid as much attention to Flaherty, who was in attendance last night, as his rivals. "Will the minister before he leaves today sign on the dotted line and bail us all out?" he asked while blasting the government's contribution to GM's pension fund. Klees singled out Flaherty again while criticizing tax structure.

Hillier, often written off as a libertarian activist, has been a surprising contender in the campaign. The rookie MPP from is best known for leading protests over property ownership and for his confrontations with authorities. Hudak, an early favourite in the race and the choice of former premier Mike Harris, said he will follow Ronald Reagan's "11th commandment though shalt not speak ill of another conservative," as he has done in previous debates. NATIONAL ARTS CENTRE No child should be denied a performing arts education and ArtsAlive.ca guarantees Canadian children free access to a virtual classroom. Students, parents, and teachers from Whitehorse to St.

John's can explore a rich storehouse of performing arts learning materials, games and activities, how-to guides, performance videos, and artist interviews. By supporting the NAC Gala, you're supporting the National Youth and In a dig aimed at the front-runner for the provincial Conservative leadership, Randy Hillier said that "watered-down conservatism" will not restore the party at the helm of the province. "When we stand for nothing, we lose everything," said Hillier. He cited the poor showing in the last provincial election of former leader and moderate conservative John Tory-Christine Elliott has tagged herself as a "compassionate" Conservative, calling Wednesday night for a doubling of the provincial charitable tax benefit to encourage giving. She said her brand of politics is needed to defeat the Dalton McGuinty Liberals in the 2011 provincial election, a contest that is certain to hit political lows, she said.

"It will be negative and it will be dirty," she said. More than 400 party members packed a University of Ottawa auditorium for the final of four debates before the party votes for a new leader later this month. The winner will be announced at a convention in Markham on June 27. The latest poll, released a week ago, pegged Elliot, wife of federal Finance Minister Jim Flaherty, as the clear front runner with 35 per cent among Conservative voters. Pollsters, however, say the race is still wide open.

Elliott's three challengers Hillier, Tim Hudak and Frank Klees are all virtually tied, according to the poll. Almost half of voters remain undecided and apparently unswayed by the campaign that has been remarkably free of personal attacks or even heated debate. "I think you'll find us all pretty J' (1 Education Trust, which helps the National Arts Centre fund this award-winning educational .1 and outreach website and dozens of performance and education activities across Canada. i 4 Jill lkuG-J, -( p. Nw nn a- Hillier: Populist policies incompatible with 'real life: NATIONAL A I i CENTRE October 3, 2009 A Magical Evening with Yo-Yo Ma, Pinchas Zukerman and the NAC Orchestra.

Presented by MA The NAC Gala benefiting the National Youth and Education Trust. Investing in young Canadians through the performing arts. TELUS DU CENTRE NATIONAL DES ARTS Ca73Grte jst 1 'ySC0f30 Continued from PAGE Al Both Hudak and Klees have also backed Hillier's call to implement senate elections. "They're all working on him," said one long-time party member, who asked not to be named. Hillier acknowledges other campaigns have reached out to his or- ganization.

"Nobody's asking anything from me in a direct way," he said in an interview. "These things are all done very subtly." The attention is understandable, given the close race that has developed. A recent Canwest News Ser-viceIpsos Reid poll put the four candidates all within spitting range of each other, with a large swathe of voters All four camps acknowledge a first-ballot victory is unlikely. Instead, the fourth-place finisher will likely be eliminated after the first round and his or her second-place votes distributed to the other candidates. The new leader will need strong second-place support.

And Hillier, whom many believe is running third or a strong fourth place, is the man whose support they're chasing. The issue is most pressing for Elliott who has painted herself as a centrist alternative to her three right-wing opponents. That has also led some to wonder how far she can go in a second ballot. Elliott won't admit to this dilemma. "I'm getting support across the board," she said in an interview.

"I'm trying to build a coalition." But plain-spoken MPP Bill Murdoch, one of five caucus members supporting her, acknowledges Hillier's popularity in his own rural riding of Bruce-Grey-Owen Sound. "Randy's saying a lot of things people like to hear," says Murdoch. "A lot of first place votes will go to him. And that's OK, I always tell people they should vote the way they want, but if I could have their second place vote (for Elliott), that'd be good." His argument: Hillier's populist policies, which include raising the speed limits on provincial highways, allowing alcohol sales in corner stores, allowing municipalities to de-amalgamate, scrapping the province's unpopular property assessment agency MPAC and cracking down on native land occupations, are often incompatible with "real life." "You have to look at who can win the election (in 2011)," says A more likely scenario will see Hillier supporters in Murdoch's riding and elsewhere choose Tim Hudak second. Hillier acknowledges the ties between the two camps.

"Clearly, Tim and I are probably the closest philosophically," Hillier said. "So there would be a natural tendency there without saying anything that probably a number of my supporters would go to Tim. I don't have to go out and tell people that. We've seen it developing." Hillier, who lives in Perth, acknowledges he has a chance to help push another candidate into first place. "It's certainly a possibility," he says, adding his team will consider their options more carefully as they near the first voting day June 21 (the second day is June 25).

The format of the leadership adds another interesting dynamic. Party members will cast their votes with all four candidates listed in order of preference long before the June 27 convention, meaning contenders must announce their second-place allegiances beforehand. Past conventions have seen dramas unfold in real time, as failed candidates literally crossed the convention floor to throw their support behind an erstwhile rival. "I would think you'd see candidates coming out and suggesting to their supporters who might be their second choice shortly before (June) 20th," says Hillier. As leader of the Landowners, Hillier was involved in several high-profile tractor protests and once faced down provincial inspectors with a front-end loader.

He com-; plained on the organization's website that taxpayer dollars are used by government to "support and promote Quebec, Native, Arts, Homosexual, Urban and Multi cultures (sic). However when it comes to the independent, peaceful rural culture in Canada, government support is stifling, suffocating and controlling." He was widely denounced for sending a picture of a dead deer to a Liberal cabinet minister. His past has one prominent Liberal gleeful at the thought of Hillier's newfound influence. Warren Kinsella, a lobbyist who has played key roles in past provincial elections, said Hillier would keep Dalton McGuinty in power "for, say, the next 100 years." "In all seriousness, the fact that the likes of Randy Hillier is a force to be reckoned with in Ontario's Conservative party tells voters they don't have a serious political party anymore. They have become a rural rump." lCKES Cff XyEUTGr.Y UEEU CCILECTEG Fnom ACROSS QIJTAUBO C.

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