HomeMy WebLinkAboutClinton News Record, 2014-04-23, Page 1010 News Record • Wednesday, April 23, 2014
Varna resident Wilhelmina Laurie seeking Huron -Bruce NDP domination
Has managed campaigns for
several NDP candidates over
the years
Dave Flaherty
Goderich Signal Star
Former School Principal Wilhelmina Laurie is seek-
ing the NDP nomination in the riding of Huron -Bruce
New Democratic Party approval for Laurie was
granted Tuesday after completion of the party's vetting
process.
According to a press release, Laurie has lived in
Huron -Bruce for 40 years, raising a family of five chil-
dren with her husband Joe, on a country property near
Varna. The couple has five young grandchildren, with
a fifth expected in August.
Laurie was born and raised in St. Marys, the eldest
of ten children of Dutch immigrants.
After high school at St. Marys DCVI she earned a
Bachelor of Arts degree in French, with bilingual certi-
fication at Laurentian University in Sudbury.
The press release indicated this while there she cast
her first vote for the NDP.
Laurie graduated from Western University with a
Bachelor of Education before teaching French as a
second language at Brucefield.
Laurie also eamed her Master's degree and Princi-
pal's Qualifications while teaching and raising her
family.
Laurie led the teachers' federation as president of
the former Huron Women Teachers Association dur-
ing the Mike Harris years.
According the press release, as a vice-principal, and
FW political action rep for the Southwest Region, Lau-
rie lost her federation status when Harris took school
administrators out of the union, a move which NDP
officials said in the press release saddened many prin-
cipals and vice -principals.
Laurie went on to work as a school administrator
and teacher in six other schools across Huron County,
and explored even more schools as a supply teacher
after retirement.
When a trustee left in mid-term, Laurie served out
the remaining two years as trustee for the Avon Mait-
land District School Board.
She was approached shortly after retirement to act
as county co-chair for the CT Scanner for Huron
Campaign.
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This campaign raised $5 million dollars
in three years, and not only purchased a
CT Scanner, but also revamped the entire
digital mammography and x-ray suite at
Alexandra and Marine General Hospital in
Goderich.
Laurie has also been active with Varna
United Church for many years and acted
as its treasurer for the past 15 years.
She enjoys singing with a number of dif-
ferent choirs in the area and has served on
the executive of the Blyth Festival Singers
for over 10 years.
Willi has been secretary of District 9
Retired Teachers since 2006.
According to the press release, The
Huron Bruce NDP has been part of Lau-
rie's life for over 30 years, and the executive
for 22. She served 14 years as secretary, six
as President and is now a provincial coun-
cillor and social media point for the riding
association.
Willi has worked on campaigns since
1990.
She has managed campaigns for Tony
McQuail, Paul Klopp and Grant Robertson
and now feels the call to step up to the
plate herself.
"The Liberals under McGuinty and
Wynne are prepared to write off rural
ridings like Huron Bruce." Laurie said in
the press release. "They cancelled the suc-
cessful revenue-sharing Slots at Racetracks
program. They closed Walkerton Jail and
our youth detention centre and school at
Bluewater. And now the keystone to the
Liberal platform is urban transit. What
does that say about Huron -Bruce? We are
a write off."
Laurie pointed to other Liberal deci-
sions that she believes has cost Ontario
taxpayers.
She said more than $1 billion in taxpay-
ers' money was squandered by eHealth in
a failed attempt to create electronic health
Contributed photo
Varna resident Wilhelmina Laurie is
seeking the NDP nomination for the
riding of Huron -Bruce.
records for Ontarians.
"Doctors in our area were already using
that technology before the program even
began," she said.
Ornge, the province's not-for-profit air
ambulance provider, lost more than
$200 million of taxpayers' money
through mismanagement.
Laurie said "the Liberals turned on the
province's teachers, forced them to take
what amounted to a pay cut, and stole
their retirement gratuities. The Liberals'
actions upset the school system and extra-
curricular activities for the better part of a
year."
"And in the final hypocrisy, the
McGuinty government rejected NIMBY -
ism with respect to wind turbines and
landfill site locations - only to pander to
Liberal -held ridings when it came to the
location of two gas plants at election time.
That jaded move to win seats cost taxpay-
ers $1.2 million dollars," the press release
stated.
CONTINUED > PAGE 11
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