BONOKOSKI: The often grandiloquent accusations of MPP Randy Hillier
Author of the article:Mark Bonokoski
Publishing date:Oct 25, 2021 • 13 hours ago • 3 minute read • 14 Comments
MPP Randy Hillier.
MPP Randy Hillier. PHOTO BY DAVE ABEL /Toronto Sun
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Ah, the euphemisms. Pick one; any one.
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“ The cheese slipped off his cracker. The elevator doesn’t go to the top floor. One taco shy of a combo plate. The wheel is turning, but the hamster is dead. One brick short of a load.”
Some more?
“Not the sharpest knife in the drawer. Playing Crazy 8s with a euchre deck. His brain needs the white coats. The starting gate is open, but he’s still asking directions. Somewhere a village is missing its idiot. If brains were dynamite, he couldn’t blow his nose.”
The first in this longish collective of sad-sack sayings used or implied over time to describe Independent MPP Randy Hiller belongs to Ontario Premier Doug Ford. It’s a good one.
Rabblerouser would be another. Hillier, seemingly beloved by his constituents, would like that one.
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It’s simple, with simple language.
In February 2018, for example, Hillier filed a formal complaint against former Ontario PC Patrick Brown during the leadership race.
“I’ve known Patrick Brown to lie just about every time he opens his mouth,” Hillier told reporters. He’s “engaged in dirty and crooked politics. He purposely and willfully lied to the people of Ontario.”
An investigation found no evidence to support Hillier’s spurious allegations against Patrick Brown, now the mayor of Brampton.
But that would be par for the course.
Brown publicly responded by calling Hillier’s allegations “garbage,” and “fabricated.”
All apt descriptions.
When the Ontario legislature reopened after the federal election, Hillier told supporters on social media to make ready by bringing a “pot of boiling tar and a case of feathers.”
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That tweet, however, was deleted by Twitter management for encouraging violence and violating its terms of service.
But surely Randy Hillier, MPP for Lanark-Frontenac-Kingston since 2007, should be no stranger by now to any Ontarian.
He’s by far the loosest cannon at Queen’s Park.
The most recent example.
Last week, Global News spoke to friends and family of two women whose images were used in recent posts published across Hillier’s various social streams claiming wrongly — across the board — that they died from the adverse effects of the COVID-19 vaccine.
The posts show 11 people, all deceased, and their alleged causes of death or serious illness, with the following caption:
“Each person here lost their lives or is suffering from a permanent adverse reaction shortly after receiving their first or second dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. Were these perfectly healthy and active individuals harmed by a drug they were told was completely safe and would protect them from a disease they are at no serious risk from?”
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Nothing to it, of course. But rabblerousing.
When the loved ones of those whose deaths were wrongly described complained to Hillier, they were either ignored by him or, unbelievably, Hillier blocked them from his social media accounts.
He then threw shade on the situation by calling on the OPP to investigate the deaths.
It’s little wonder, therefore, that Ford had Hillier permanently expelled from his Progressive Conservative caucus over internal tensions with senior advisors.
With Hillier, you increasingly never know what to expect but, if you expect facts, seek out someone else. Start with Pinocchio and then work your way back.
When I was director of communications in 2015 for Ontario PC leader Tim Hudak, Hillier rarely went through the proper channels when pushing out his bizarre and often libellous allegations.
But what the hell? He is who he is.
Apply whatever euphemism you want.
It’ll likely stick.
markbonokoski@gmail.com
torontosun.com
Author of the article:Mark Bonokoski
Publishing date:Oct 25, 2021 • 13 hours ago • 3 minute read • 14 Comments
MPP Randy Hillier.
MPP Randy Hillier. PHOTO BY DAVE ABEL /Toronto Sun
Article content
Ah, the euphemisms. Pick one; any one.
Advertisement
STORY CONTINUES BELOW
Article content
“ The cheese slipped off his cracker. The elevator doesn’t go to the top floor. One taco shy of a combo plate. The wheel is turning, but the hamster is dead. One brick short of a load.”
Some more?
“Not the sharpest knife in the drawer. Playing Crazy 8s with a euchre deck. His brain needs the white coats. The starting gate is open, but he’s still asking directions. Somewhere a village is missing its idiot. If brains were dynamite, he couldn’t blow his nose.”
The first in this longish collective of sad-sack sayings used or implied over time to describe Independent MPP Randy Hiller belongs to Ontario Premier Doug Ford. It’s a good one.
Rabblerouser would be another. Hillier, seemingly beloved by his constituents, would like that one.
Advertisement
STORY CONTINUES BELOW
Article content
It’s simple, with simple language.
In February 2018, for example, Hillier filed a formal complaint against former Ontario PC Patrick Brown during the leadership race.
“I’ve known Patrick Brown to lie just about every time he opens his mouth,” Hillier told reporters. He’s “engaged in dirty and crooked politics. He purposely and willfully lied to the people of Ontario.”
An investigation found no evidence to support Hillier’s spurious allegations against Patrick Brown, now the mayor of Brampton.
But that would be par for the course.
Brown publicly responded by calling Hillier’s allegations “garbage,” and “fabricated.”
All apt descriptions.
When the Ontario legislature reopened after the federal election, Hillier told supporters on social media to make ready by bringing a “pot of boiling tar and a case of feathers.”
Advertisement
STORY CONTINUES BELOW
Article content
That tweet, however, was deleted by Twitter management for encouraging violence and violating its terms of service.
But surely Randy Hillier, MPP for Lanark-Frontenac-Kingston since 2007, should be no stranger by now to any Ontarian.
He’s by far the loosest cannon at Queen’s Park.
The most recent example.
Last week, Global News spoke to friends and family of two women whose images were used in recent posts published across Hillier’s various social streams claiming wrongly — across the board — that they died from the adverse effects of the COVID-19 vaccine.
The posts show 11 people, all deceased, and their alleged causes of death or serious illness, with the following caption:
“Each person here lost their lives or is suffering from a permanent adverse reaction shortly after receiving their first or second dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. Were these perfectly healthy and active individuals harmed by a drug they were told was completely safe and would protect them from a disease they are at no serious risk from?”
Advertisement
STORY CONTINUES BELOW
Article content
Nothing to it, of course. But rabblerousing.
When the loved ones of those whose deaths were wrongly described complained to Hillier, they were either ignored by him or, unbelievably, Hillier blocked them from his social media accounts.
He then threw shade on the situation by calling on the OPP to investigate the deaths.
It’s little wonder, therefore, that Ford had Hillier permanently expelled from his Progressive Conservative caucus over internal tensions with senior advisors.
With Hillier, you increasingly never know what to expect but, if you expect facts, seek out someone else. Start with Pinocchio and then work your way back.
When I was director of communications in 2015 for Ontario PC leader Tim Hudak, Hillier rarely went through the proper channels when pushing out his bizarre and often libellous allegations.
But what the hell? He is who he is.
Apply whatever euphemism you want.
It’ll likely stick.
markbonokoski@gmail.com
BONOKOSKI: The often grandiloquent accusations of MPP Randy Hillier
Ah, the euphemisms. Pick one; any one.
