By Pepper Parr

January 18th, 2019

BURLINGTON, ON

When Jane McKenna won the nomination as the Progressive Conservative candidate for Burlington in the June 2018 provincial election she beat Jane Michael by a slim 41 votes.

Michael appealed the vote decision arguing that she didn’t get a copy of the voters list and she wasn’t interviewed by the PC organization until days before the nomination took place.

What the public didn’t know at the time was the Ontario Progressive Conservative party officials who were vetting the candidates and doing the background screening had learned that Jane Michael failed to inform them that she had declared bankruptcy in the past.

Things were quite chaotic within the PC bureaucracy at the time and they had to outsource some of the vetting – which took up a little longer than possible.

The Gazette was following the nomination squabble quite closely – and we wondered why the PC party officials were as quick as they were to reject the appeal the Michael’s team had filed. It got turned down in less than 36 hours.

That was because by that time the PC party officials had learned that there was more than one bankruptcy.

Jane Michael and her husband were in the restaurant business where bankruptcies are not unusual.

The Gazette did try on three occasions to talk to Ms Michael but were unsuccessful in having a conversation with her.

What brought the financial background to our attention was a part of Patrick Brown’s book – Take Down in which he mentions the problems with several of the nominations for the June 2017 provincial election. Ray Rivers, our political columnist, was interviewing Brown as part of a series of articles on just what had happened to Brown when he was dumped by the party as leader, got himself nominated as Chair of the Peel Regional Council; Premier Ford eliminated that position and at the 11th hour Brown filed nomination papers to run as Mayor of Brampton and won that race.

Michael was at one point the Chair of the Halton Separate school board where, June of 2016 other media reported that:

Chair of the Halton Catholic District School Board Jane Michael has accused some trustees of dissension, negativism and dishonourable conduct.

“The open mockery of our bishops, the Institute for Catholic Education as suspect, inadequate, false and questionable has been embarrassing and highly inappropriate, said Michael in response to a motion accusing her of not upholding the will of the board.

“The motion of accusation, filed by Burlington trustee Susan Trites at last night’s board meeting, was a response to Michael’s comments in the media after the board’s discipline and safety policy was defeated May 17, after previously being unanimously approved by the policy committee.

“Michael was quoted as saying the board was “dragging its feet” in passing policy that was mandated by the Ministry of Education, said Trites.

“The discipline and safety policy was defeated at the May 17 board meeting and returned to the policy committee after some trustees raised concerns about the words sexual orientation and gender identity within the policy when dealing with “a safe, caring and accepting school environment.” Oakville trustee Anthony Quinn who initially raised the concerns, felt that students who “recited their Catholic teaching” could be subject to discipline under the new policy.

“I felt it was essential to respond to the media because of inflammatory motions, reversals and challenges that have not been in keeping with honourable conduct,” said Michael.

“The will of the board was definitively expressed at the board meeting when the discipline policy was sent back to committee, said Trites.

“The chair of this board failed in her duty to always state and uphold the will of the board regardless of personal opinion in all appropriate venues,” alleged Trites.

On May 17th, 2018 other media reported that:

“A Halton Catholic District School Board trustee who has been disciplined for her behaviour says she wishes she could explain what happened, but is bound by confidentiality rules.

“At a private meeting on May 8, trustees determined Burlington representative Jane Michael (Wards 3 and 6) had breached the board’s code of conduct.

“At the board’s public meeting May 15, vice-chair Paul Marai read a motion announcing the sanction and stating the penalty: Michael is barred from attending two board meetings, removed from her position on the discipline committee and excluded from the search for a new director of education “from the beginning to the end of the hiring process.”

On August 14th, 2018 Jane Michael was acclaimed as the federal PC candidate for Burlington in the upcoming federal election expected to take place in October of 2019.

Related news story links:

The nomination meeting Jane Michael lost was boisterous.

Rivers on the Patrick Brown interview.