Near riot over FCM ouster?

The more that comes out on Ms. Kovach's removal, the more questions are raised...

The Guelph Mercury is doing a great job at exposing the truth about what went on with the FCM's ouster of their President, Gloria Kovach. They're bringing to light things that until now have been unknown... or ignored.

Did you know her ouster caused a bit of a commotion at the FCM's conference in Calgary back in June? Neither did I... because no one at the FCM has been talking about it. Take a look at some of what the Mercury has dug up... it's as if the FCM was trying to erase any record of Ms. Kovach's tenure from their history.

The dismissal occurred after an unsuccessful bid for the federal Conservative nomination in Guelph. The federation hasn't publicly stated why she was deposed. She held the position from December 2005, making her one of the longest serving presidents.

"I was certainly interested in getting some answers. The circumstances around the removal of Gloria from the FCM presidency were very opaque," [Guelph Councillor Maggie] Laidlaw said.

But at the conference, there was little evidence that Kovach had ever held the position at all. Her name was absent from the conference literature and omitted at the women's caucus, Laidlaw said.

"It was like she'd been erased from the history of the FCM," she said.

The federation declined to give Kovach the position of past president, which normally goes to president at the conclusion of a term. Instead, the federation elections committee recommended Kitchener councillor Berry Vrbanovic for the replacement position of vice-president at large.

On the same day as the board elections, councillors Laidlaw and Beard handed out flyers at the conference that questioned the circumstances around Kovach's removal.

[Guelph Councillor] Piper, who was also in attendance, said that led to a raucous with some of the 2,000 members stomping their feet and demanding answers.

"It was almost a riot situation once the president (and chair Gord Steeves) started to be asked pointed questions," she said. "The more he tried to evade the questions, the louder the room got."

Federation CEO Brock Carleton said he was in and out of the main assembly room during the events.

"I'm not going to comment on the stuff that went on in that room. There was a chair (of the federation board) and there was a vote," he said.

Kovach received a nomination from the floor to run against Vrbanovic for the vice-president at large position, reputably from a federation member from the East Coast. Piper and Laidlaw said Kovach wasn't nominated by any Guelph member.

"It was more to address the delegates," Kovach said, adding she wasn't focused on winning. "I reviewed what I'd done in 16 months as president. . . . I just thanked people."

Kovach was defeated in an undisclosed ballot vote to Vrbanovic, who previously chaired the Ontario caucus from December 2006.

"The fact is there was an election and I was duly nominated and elected by the members from across the country. Democracy unfolded," Vrbanovic said. [...]

Last week, the federation issued a press release that said the board reached its decision to depose of Kovach for reasons unrelated to her conduct or performance.

A confidentiality agreement was signed relating to the circumstances surrounding the dismissal.

When she was deposed in March, Kovach speculated it was politically motivated because of her connection to the federal Conservative party.

A couple of items of interest that need to be brough to attention...

Why did they choose to remove a Conservative to give the Presidency to a Liberal?

Why did the FCM refuse to grant the position of "Past President" to Ms. Kovach, then create a new position, Vice-President at Large, and then grant that to another known Liberal, Barry Vrbanovic? (he ran for the McGuinty Liberals in 1999, and lost)

How about this quote? ""I was certainly interested in getting some answers. The circumstances around the removal of Gloria from the FCM presidency were very opaque," [Guelph Councillor Maggie] Laidlaw said." Why was the FCM being so evasive with their answers?

The media never reported about this "near riot", where the membership were demanding answers, while Liberal FCM President Gord Steeves tried desperately to evade the questions. Why didn't they? What were they trying to hide? Who were they trying to protect?

I have one theory on that... do know who else was at the FCM conference in Calgary?

Yep, you probably guessed it... The Hounorable Stephane Dion, Leader of the Liberal Party of Canada. And from reports that I've heard, the FCM people were taking every effort to ensure that Mr. Dion and Ms. Kovach never crossed paths... now why is that, I wonder?

From Mr. Dion's speech...

"It’s great to be back in Calgary – the Liberal heartland of Canada...[HA!!! That's a laugh!!! Liberal heartland!?!?!] Calgary: the second most beautiful city in Canada!

And it’s great to be here with members of my caucus: MP Don Bell and Senators Art Eggleton, Jim Munson and Marilyn Trenholme Counsell.

It was in Calgary that I first spoke to the FCM in 1996. Your president at the time, Bryon Wilfert, today is my colleague, the Member of Parliament for Richmond Hill. [yes, Mr. Dion, we all know of Byron Wilfert's story... similar to Ms. Kovach's, in he ran in an election for your Party while still the President of the FCM... interesting enough though, he didn't get ousted for it...]

Bryon gave me, on your behalf, my knapsack. A knapsack that I always kept with me – all those years when I fought for a united Canada, and then when I fought for a greener Canada. And it is with me today as I fight for a Liberal government for Canada."

In the interest of full disclosure, I must point out that Mr. Harper was there briefly as well, on the Friday... but, as reported by the Globe & Mail, "Mr. Dion got a noticeably warmer reception from delegates than Prime Minister Harper, who addressed the conference Friday, despite Calgary being Harper's hometown." Now I wonder why that is...

Could it be, perhaps, one of the main points I've been stressing all along with this fiasco? That in the opinion of the FCM, Liberal = GOOD, Conservative = BAD.

This quote at the end of the Mercury article, based on an accusation that has been repeatedly made but never dealt with, I think says a lot... "When she was deposed in March, Kovach speculated it was politically motivated because of her connection to the federal Conservative party." According to the article, she can't talk about it anymore because of a confidentiallity agreement... but that agreement doesn't cover the other player in this scandal...

So, on that note, I ask the question again... Mr. Dion, what did you and/or your staff have to do with Ms. Kovach's ouster?