Philip Alves

The pressure’s on but optimism is low that a resolution to the strike at York University is forthcoming. Frustrated at the breakdown in talks between the university and its 3,400 teaching assistants, contract faculty, and research and graduate assistants, who walked off the job Nov. 6, Thornhill MPP Peter Shurman drafted a private members bill to needle the government into action.

Thornhill MPP Peter Shurman was smoked out of the provincial legislature last week for using the word “misled” during a debate on tobacco retail regulations in question period.

“Good morning, Mr. Shurman,” repeated Queen’s Park staff as the rookie Thornhill MPP wound his way through the corridors of power Tuesday. Surprised, Peter Shurman said the warm greetings made him feel particularly welcome, especially since he’d never met any of them before — this was his first time ever inside the legislature.

Rookie PC candidate Peter Shurman benefited from the fickle nature of the riding’s electorate, beating Liberal incumbent Mario Racco by 1,700 votes in Wednesday’s election — a landslide by Thornhill standards.

Four years ago, the voters of Thornhill ousted their incumbent MPP in a close race.

In 1999, four years before that, the voters of Thornhill dumped their incumbent MPP in another airtight race.

Hoping to make political hay out of a stage trick, challenger Peter Shurman conjured up images of a “magic subway” and a “magic hospital” and then tried to convince 100 students at St. Elizabeth Catholic High School that it was all a figment of Mario Racco’s imagination.

The first referendum question asked of Ontario voters in 83 years has yet to grab the attention of people in the ridings of Vaughan and Thornhill, observers say. On Oct. 10, voters across the province will not only get the chance to pick who gets into government, but also the very nature of the government they want.

Thornhill PC candidate Peter Shurman emerged victorious last week after a constitutional battle with the City of Vaughan over lawn signs.

Across the ridings of Vaughan and Thornhill, election signs are popping up like dandelions on lawns and road sides. With the Oct. 10 provincial election only weeks away and a bylaw skirmish between Thornhill Progressive Conservative Peter Shurman and the City of Vaughan settled, candidates are racing to get their party colours up.

No candidate is likely to have it easy in one of province’s tightest races, pundits say The crystal balls of political soothsayers are cloudy on the question of who will carry the crucial riding of Thornhill in the Oct. 10 provincial election. With a recent electoral history of claustrophobically tight races, both incumbent Liberal MPP [...]