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The Canadian Jewish News, Thursday, November 21, 1985-Page 5
First Jewish leader of (Dn Tories
ssuGcess
By,,
RON CSILLAO & JEFF ROSEN
TORONTO -
After. .10 years in public office and two leadership campaigns, Larry Gross-iiiah enicrgcd \ ictorioiis to hec.onie the first Jewish leader of.the Ontario Progress i ve Co.nservati\ c par-ty . and the third Jewish leader ofthc Opposition in Ontario's history.
Grossniah squeaked into the leader's chair by a mere : 19 Acnes last weekend at the PC leadership convention at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre after beating out riv;il Dennis Timbrell on the second ballot.
..Grossman was jtibilant following his close win, promising to work closely
with Timbrell and Alan Pope — who di'pppedDut after receiving 271 votes on the first ballot — and to Unite the party.
'■Welcome to the party of tomorrow/- Grossman told over 2,000 cheering delegates and supporters from all three camps in his victory speech. "Despite the hectic year, vvUl beal and come together now. What unites us is the simple desire to win and to serve the people of Ontario.
"Our job is to reach out to friends of quality education and fair taxation...and ask them to work with us," he added. "Let us begin the prwess
of reaching out to where we have never reached before."
The new Tory .leader took time put from his vie-tor>' speech to ihtrcxlucc his wife Carole, children Melissa. Jamie and Robbie and parents Allan and Ethel to the cheering masses.
(Allan Grossman was the .first Ontario Jewish Con-servatis'C cabinet minister.)
. During the campaign, Carole Grossman told The CJN. .she did not think her husband's victory vvould drastically, affect their ■lives.
Praises Miller
"l don't think our life will, change much if he ' wins." said Grossman, who was at her husband's side a gcxxl part of the campaign. ''He's busy now, he will be a little busier."
The new' Tory boss praised outgoing leader Frank Miller for his "contribution of part of the heal; ing process."
(n last January's leader-, ship convention Grossman lost out to .Miller on the. third ballot by 77 votes after forcing Timbrell out on the second ballot by 6 votes.
The margin was not as narrow on the first ballot
this time around as Grossman tok>k 752 votes to Timbrell's 66 L and Pope's 271, thereby forcing Pope out of the race.
Norm Atkins,, the driv- . ing force behind the Tory Big - Blue Machine and Grossman supporter, .said prior to the results of the first ballot that it would be in the party's best interests if Pope would remain n e u t r a 1 a ft e r d rop p i n g o u t.
When the results were finally -out. Pope did jiist. that and released his delegates who were snatched up b\' the Grossnian and Titiibreli cahips.
While Timbrell's people had no problems capturing a. fair share of Pope's delegates, it appeared that . the ethriic vote went to Grossman. As one ethnic delegate .said, "Larry's the one who understands ethnic groups.'-
Grossman's Tories at least now have the appearance of being more open. There were eight Black delegates at the convention, all Grossman supporters, and almost all Oriental delegates also backed Grossman from the start.
However, results.showed francophone delegates ■ were evenly split betw'een, Grcissman and Timbrell. (Grossnian was ihe only Tory on the platform who did not speak French.)
Susan Fish. MPPforSL-Gcorge, told The CJN prior to the final results that
Ontario Tory leader Larry Grossman with sons Jamie and Robbie. (Ron Csillag photo) ■■. ■ ■
a.Gro.s.sman victory would show the public that so-. niieohe not from the "mainstream" of the par-^ ly could reach.the top.
Mike Cohen, president, of PC Metro,, said that with . Grossnian as leader he expected more work would be done at the riding level and. that the party's base would be broadened.' He also said Grossman would improve, the financial . managemenf.of the party..
But observers say Gross-ma n' s b i gg es f chal I c n gc i n the short term is to unite a badly .fractured party. . There was talk on the con-\enlion fioor that if a \ote cahie dbun to .between Grossman and Timbrell, many delegates W()uld not
crimes s
vote for fear, of further splitting the party.
But that didn't happen. On the crucial second ballot, all ..but seven delegates ca.st votes.
Nevertheless, there was a great deal of disunity on the convention floor. After Grossman had won, many Timbrell supporters refused to piit on their "Unity Now" buttons, even after Grossman'.s urging. Some Timbrell supporters, visibly angry and shaken, just walked out prior to Grossman's victory speech. :..
There.was discord, in the Pope camp too. It was rumored.that earlier in the day. Grossman had tried to contact Pope about the possibility ofstriking a deal and Pope refused to take the call.
Indeed, even Grossman's campaign manager, John Laschinger. admitted that two leadership campaigns, in one year have cau.sed rifts in'the party and :ihat healing them will be Grcissman's tiiost ini-riiediate challenge. ■
The' narrowness of Gro.ssman's win over Timbrell also ca.st doubt on.the party's health. One downtown riding association president was overheard as sa\ing his riding is "split in half." while Mississauga North riding association' president Harry Gregg, a ' T i 111bre 11 su ppo rte r, sa id Grossman's" victory was not in the party's best long-lertu ihterest.s. Promoting party unity, he added, will be more difficult, under Gro.s.sman than, it ;Would have been under Timbrell. because'TimbrellWas bet-
ter-equipped to out-flank Premier David Peterson in an election.
But Grdssman played down suggestions of division in the party.
"When w:ew'ent into this leadership campaign, we were very worried that this would be a divided party, given the results of May 2, (when the PCs lost the provincial election). But it really wasn't," Grossman said in his victory address.
Many observers claim that Grossman's wrrr was a needed shot in the arm for a party lopg regarded as small-town, establishment ■ anddominated by wealthy White Anglo-Saxon Protestants.
The other tvvo pnnincial; parties have, both had Jewish leaders, — Stuart. Smith having led the Liberals and Stephen Lewis,, the . New Democrats. Neither was able to bring his party to power.
Gro.ssman emerged on the political scene in 1975 after capturing his father's seat of St. Andrew-St. Patrick. Two years later he; entered cabinet as minister of cp^ nsumer and commercial relations and went on to oversee the portfolios of industry and tourism, health, economics and the provincial treastiry. .
After losing to Frank .Miller last . January. Grossnian was appointed . ■ minister of education and -later served as Oppositioii • House; Leader after the change -of government in , June. ■
NEW YORK (jTA) -
Three' leading Jewish organizations have praised, the apprehensi()n in Argentina of 7 byear-old Walter kutschmann, 'a former Nazi- SS officer and
Gestapo official, arrested near Buen'o.s Aires On a special extradition reqiiest from West Germany.
Kutschmann, who has been hiding in Argentina under the alias of Pedro
Israeli medical supplies are sent to Colombia
TEL AVIV (JTA) -
Israel sent 2Vi tons of medical supplies to the victims of the volcano eruption in Colombia and will send more supplies and a medical team if the Colombian authorities request it.
The first shipment of medical supplies from Irael was flown by El Al to New York. The consignment was coordinated by the Magen David Adorn, the ministry of health and the foreign ministry.
It consisted of 100 large packages of bandages, ointments and medication requested by the Colom-. bian Red Gross after inquiries were made by the Israel embassy in Bogota. El Al carried the shipment free of charge. It was flown from New York to the disaster area in Colombia.
The foreign ministry has allocated funds to purchase additional medidne and blankets for the survivors of the volcanic eruption.
Ricardo Olmo since 1947, is rep()rted to have told arresting officers, "The chase is over. I will not run."
Arrested by four police agents v>orking with Interpol, the international police identification network, he is the highest ranking former Nazi official alive today.
Among the charges facing Kutschmann in West Germany are that as an SS officer and Gestapo official in 1941; anxi 1942 he ordered The execution of .1,500.Jews in Berezhany and Pddgaisty and the kill-
' ing of 20 university professors and their families in Lvov, an area of. then Gernian-occupied Poland
; and now part.of the Soviet Ukraine,
: Rc^ports from Argentina-.said Kutschmann continued . after his arrest to- maintain that he was not Kutschmann;: but that he was Pedro Olmo. Officials in Argentina failed to say .how long it would take the . judge toband down a decision on the extradition request from West Germany. There is no foi'mal extradition treaty between West Geriliany and Argentina.
The Officers and Staff of Canadian Friends of Tel Aviv University
mourn with deep regret the untimely passing of
Dr. Leon Kronitz^r
Albert J. Latner National President
■ Moshe Zafmi, National Executive Director
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