>Santa Claus ready to greet Smithville parade-goers, Pg 14 > Ombudsman wrong: Grimsby council Pg. 3 > GBF, firefighters kick off food drive Pg. 5 > GAMRU auction tops last year Pg. 18 Thursday, November 24, 2016 Vol. 5 Issue 29
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Sam Oosterhoff, now the youngest elected MPP in Queen’s Park history, was the center of a media storm last Thursday night as he
Circ: 26,111
handily took the Niagara West Glanbrook byelection. Now “the real work starts,” he said. Williscraft - Photo
Mr. Oosterhoff goes to Queen’s Park By Mike Williscraft NewsNow Win PC nomination: check! Win byelection: check! Topple Kathleen Wynne’s Liberals: TBD. Sam Oosterhoff’s byelection checklist is now two-thirds complete after he easily won last Thursday’s Niagara West Glanbrook byelection. There really were no surprises as early posted poll results had Oosterhoff with a decisive lead which held true all night as onlookers at his Casablanca Winery Inn reception watched them roll in. When the dust settled, Oosterhoff’s 17,651
votes gave him 54 per cent of the vote and a winning margin over NDP candidate Mike Thomas of 9,528 votes. Liberal candidate Vicky Ringuette finished third, more than 3,000 votes behind Thomas’s 8,123. She earned 4,997. Other candidates in the race were: Donna Cridland, Green Party, 892; Stefanos Karatopis, Libertarian, 355; Greg Vezina, None of the Above Party, 342; Martin Poos, Independent, 206; Queenie Yu, Stop the New Sex-Ed Agenda, 76, and; Arthur Smitherman, Canadian Constituents’ Party, 44. The turnout at the polls was just under 32 per cent.
PC leader Patrick Brown introduced the newest addition to his Queen’s Park caucus. Tonight, we have made history,” said Brown in introducing Oosterhoff. “We have elected the youngest serving MPP in Ontario history.” This past Tuesday Oosterhoff made his first visit to Queen’s Park as MPP-elect. “It’s been tying up a lot of loose ends,” said Oosterhoff of his work since the victory. “We’ve been looking to get an office set up, hire staff and lots of thank-yous. I had more than 200 volunteers helping me out and a great deal of support.” See SAM, Page 2