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Written by Gordon Prentice

Published: 17 February 2025

This is the first February election since 1883 and as I tap this out huge swaths of Ontario are blanketed in deep snow. Doug Ford pitched us into this unnecessary election in the depths of winter, telling us he is the man to save us from Trump’s tariffs. He is also the guy who celebrated Trump’s election last November.

The Party Leaders' election debate tonight had few surprises. Ford insisted the others would raise taxes and he wouldn’t. Bonnie Crombie was hyper throughout, over-rehearsed and slightly manic. Marit Stiles was composed with some good lines but had few memorable zingers. Mike Schreiner was cool, calm and collected and scored some points.

But in the Legislature Ford, Crombie, Stiles and Schreiner will have one vote – just the same as the person we are about to elect to represent us in Newmarket-Aurora. So who should we vote for?

Leans to the Right

The Provincial electoral district of Newmarket-Aurora is wealthier than the average Ontario riding and leans to the right. Since its creation in 2006 the area has been represented in the Provincial Parliament by Progressive Conservatives (PCs) except for the period 2014-2018 when it returned a Liberal, Chris Ballard, who is running again in this election.

In the latest census (2021) no fewer than 17% of Newmarket households and 22% of Aurora households declared incomes over $200,000.

32% of all households in Newmarket and 37% in Aurora had household incomes over $150,000. (And these figures were collected in 2020 and would now have to be revised sharply upwards.)

In 2018, when the Liberals were uniquely unpopular, the NDP nudged the Liberals into third place. But, generally speaking, Newmarket-Aurora is not fertile ground for the NDP.

The pollsters tell us the election in Newmarket Aurora is pretty much decided. But what, if anything, could upend their predictions at this late stage?

Tactical Voting

Things could change if enough people were to vote tactically – that is, not for the Party of their first choice but for the Party with the best chance of defeating the incumbent, the deeply flawed Dawn Gallagher Murphy.

She was hand-picked by Doug Ford as the PC candidate for Newmarket-Aurora - as someone who would do his bidding. Members of the local Party had no say.

Lowest voter turnout in history

Ford’s PCs won the 2022 provincial election with the lowest voter turnout in Ontario's election history. Here in Newmarket-Aurora, more people voted against Gallagher Murphy than voted for her. But she got in because the opposition was divided. 

I’ve written a lot about Gallagher Murphy’s record of bullying and harassing her employees. Lots of people who have had dealings with her have been in touch with me since August last year. I never solicited these approaches. But their stories say something about the kind of person she is. Gallagher Murphy saves her smiles for the camera. 

When the cameras are switched off we see a darker and more sinister Gallagher Murphy.

Call out bullying when you see it

She gets away with it, in large part, because of her brass neck.

In a statement to the Legislature on 22 February 2023 she told MPPs she welcomed the opportunity to stand in the Chamber to raise awareness against bullying: 

“It is important that bullying behaviour is called out when you see it. It is also important to simply offer support and connect with people being bullied.”

And yet a long line of her former employees – and over an extended period - accuse the same Gallagher Murphy of prolonged, merciless bullying which affected their health. 

Toxic work environment

Teena Bogner started working for Gallagher Murphy on 9 April 2024. She only lasted a few months. She told the Ontario Labour Relations Board:

“On May 10, 2024, Dawn Gallagher Murphy hosted the Premier for a constituency tour. During a funding announcement that morning, the Mayor of Newmarket, John Taylor, indicated he would attend the tour, which was meant to be confidential. Dawn Gallagher Murphy became agitated, incorrectly assuming I had disclosed the tour details. This led to an unpleasant and uncomfortable exchange between us.

Throughout the day, Dawn Gallagher Murphy continued to display passive aggressive behaviour towards me, culminating in a disruptive interaction at TS Tech. Dawn Gallagher Murphy was very critical of the Mayor's attendance and expressed her displeasure to the TS Tech Director of Human Resources and Premier's staff, leaving me to apologize and mitigate….

Dawn Gallagher Murphy’s erratic and hostile behaviour continued, including unnecessary interruptions during my personal time, derogatory comments about colleagues, hanging up on me, and an overall toxic work environment that affected my health.” *

Teena Bogner has settled with Gallagher Murphy and won’t say a word about the terms of the settlement. But if other former employees who accuse the MPP of bullying and harassment step forward and talk to the local press this would be a gamechanger. 

Spending taxpayers' dollars like a drunken sailor

Since her election Gallagher Murphy has spent taxpayers' money like a drunken sailor, spending tens of thousands of dollars on her "free BBQs". She parrots the usual PC line about fiscal responsibility but the record proves otherwise.

On 16 March 2023 Newmarket Today reported that in the first of her three “free” BBQs:

“Dawn Gallagher Murphy had the biggest single expense of any MPP in the last quarter, and racked up the fourth largest total expense claim in the province…”

Taking money from Developers 

In 2022 Gallagher Murphy brazenly accepted campaign donations from the developer Michael Rice who stood to make millions from the opening-up of the Greenbelt for development at Bathurst.

The Ford Government is deeply corrupt. It stifles debate, ignores rules and trashes conventions. Take just one example.

In August 2023 the Integrity Commissioner, David Wake, recommended the Ontario Legislature reprimand the former Housing Minister, Steve Clark, for his role in the Greenbelt scandal. The Ford Government never brought the recommendation to the floor of the Chamber for debate and a vote. (Photo right: Steve Clark)

Clark still hasn't been reprimanded.

Lawsuit

The news last week that a lawsuit has been brought by a developer against Steve Clark’s former Chief of Staff, Ryan Amato, who was at the centre of the Greenbelt scandal is met with a shrug of the shoulders.

But the RCMP investigation – ongoing since October 2023 -  grinds on. 

At some stage, there will be a day of reckoning.

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Note: *In Teena Bogner’s Statement of Complaint to the Ontario Labour Relations Board I have substituted “Dawn Gallagher Murphy” for the words “the Member” and personal pronouns as appropriate for the words “the Applicant”.

Photo: Dawn Gallagher Murphy, all smiles at the TS Tech event in Newmarket. But she was inwardly seething that Newmarket Mayor John Taylor had been invited. Teena Bogner says Gallagher Murphy displayed "passive aggressive behaviour towards me" throughout the day. 

Details

Written by Gordon Prentice

Published: 16 February 2025

The respected Polling Aggregator site 338Canada tells us Newmarket-Aurora's sitting MPP, Dawn Gallagher Murphy, has a 97% chance of holding on to the seat she first won in June 2022. 

The polling guru, Eric Grenier, says in today's projection there is an outside chance the Liberals could win in Newmarket-Aurora. But he puts the odds at less than 5%. The NDP and the Greens are not even rated as outside possibilities.

No polls are being conducted in Newmarket-Aurora itself. Grenier projects the result:

"using a proportional swing method based on the difference between the results of the last election and current polls. For example, if a party managed 20 per cent in a given region in the last election and is now polling at 40 per cent in that same region, the party's last election results in each riding in that region are doubled. This swing is applied to every party in each riding."

The election is now only eleven days away and Dawn Gallagher Murphy, stressed-out bully and hypocrite, will be returned to Queen's Park unless something wholly unexpected happens.

Tomorrow's leaders' debate could be a make or break.

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Written by Gordon Prentice

Published: 15 February 2025

(Photo: Dawn Gallagher Murphy concentrates on breakfast)

No Excuses

When I was an MP in the UK a lifetime ago I used to participate in at least three or four election debates in every General Election campaign. 

I didn't make excuses, inventing reasons for not turning up.

It was my clear duty to be there. 

If truth be told, I enjoyed the cut and thrust.

Deplorable

So I find it totally deplorable that, once again, the shameless fraud Dawn Gallagher Murphy was a no-show at this week’s election debate hosted by Climate Action Newmarket-Aurora.

People are right to feel outraged.

Gallagher Murphy told the organisers she had other commitments and couldn’t attend. If that was indeed the case, she should have cleared her diary to give priority to the election debate.

This, of course, is all part of a well established pattern. In May 2022 she declined to attend the election debate put on by the Chamber of Commerce due to a “scheduling conflict”.

Phoney

These “scheduling conflicts” are completely bogus. 

Gallagher Murphy is petrified at the thought of a wide-ranging debate with other clued-up candidates, taking questions as they come. 

How would this cowering hypocrite deal with the serious accusation that she bullied and harassed her staff?

Appetite

It wasn’t always like this. As Christine Elliott’s Office Manager she had an appetite for election debates.

The photo shows Gallagher Murphy tucking into bacon and eggs during the Federal Election Breakfast Debate at the St Andrew’s Golf Club in Aurora on 2 October 2019.

I was there loving every minute of it. 

The then Green candidate, the excellent Walter Bauer, holds the attention of his audience while explaining the significance of the Climate Stick – a prop he regularly used to great effect. 

I recall Gallagher Murphy being completely disengaged throughout.

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Note: Back then I knew the control-freak Gallagher Murphy from her work as gate-keeper to my then MPP Christine Elliott. It took me months to get an appointment with Elliott to discuss Ford's promise to allow convenience stores to sell alcohol. Gallagher Murphy told me to submit my questions in advance, in writing.

Details

Written by Gordon Prentice

Published: 05 February 2025

In a series of posts on Reddit a week ago someone using the sobriquet “Living_Mongoose7608” accused me of victim shaming Teena Bogner after I asked her to disclose details of the settlement she had agreed with the bullying, tyrannical Progressive Conservative MPP for Newmarket-Aurora, Dawn Gallagher Murphy.  

Bogner abruptly dropped her action against Gallagher Murphy at the Ontario Labour Relations Board which was due to come up on 25 February 2025 – two days before the Provincial Election.

The syntax and tone of Mongoose’s posts suggests this is the very same person, a lawyer by trade, who wearing a different hat, has emailed me over the months to complain about Dawn Gallagher Murphy and the toll her toxic behaviour has taken on former employees. 

Standing up to Goliath

In Reddit, Mongoose writes:

“More victim shaming. Yes, let’s dump on the victim and make her the problem, not the elected official. Oh, and let’s not forget that this woman had the strength to stand up to Goliath in a very public way. I’m glad that others now feel confident to come forward. This guy is a misogynist and a dope.”

Mongoose continues (in reply to another post on the same subject):

“… The author is throwing a fit because he didn’t get his own way. It’s none of our damn business what (or if) her settlement was, especially this guy. Is he going to pay her legal fees when the MPP et al sue her for breach of contract? Why is it up to her to hold the MPP accountable??? That’s our job. Why didn’t the author contact the MPP, PC Party, the Premier, Queen’s Park??? I am seriously appalled that someone would victim shame like this, and you would agree. Shame on you and the author. What’s next? We blame people who settle out of court for car accidents, human rights violations, wrongful dismissal. Grow up. None of our business. It isn’t her fault her boss is a tyrant.”

Not in a million years

In the unlikely event of finding myself in the same situation I would not have settled. Not in a million years. When an enraged Conrad Black threatened to sue me for defamation I challenged him to go ahead. 

I told him truth is an absolute defence. I never heard any more about it.

And am I victim shaming Teena Bogner? 

The very idea is preposterous.

But I still want to know the terms of the settlement. Was there an apology? Did money change hands? If so, did this buy Bogner's silence? Where does this deafening silence leave the others who suffered at the hands of Gallagher Murphy?

If Bogner broke the terms of any non-disclosure agreement does anyone seriously believe Gallagher Murphy would sue? It would be the end of her political career.

Quivering wallflower

Teena Bogner is not a quivering wallflower. She has had many leadership positions and knows her way around the system. In fact, she boasts about it. Bogner made her name as a champion of openness and transparency as President of the Newmarket Taxpayers’ Advocacy Group. She regularly excoriated the Town for keeping facts under wraps. But now that she has settled with the hypocrite Gallagher Murphy she bites her lip and refuses to comment further, bluntly and confidently telling me to leave her alone.

Instead, Bogner’s case is being advanced by proxies. On 31 January 2025 Rob Kurtz bizarrely launched a petition on “Change.org” calling on Doug Ford to replace PC candidate Dawn Gallagher Murphy by February 13, 2025.

 As if!

Let’s get real. The last time I looked the petition had 58 signatures. 

That’s not going to dent Gallagher Murphy’s majority.

"Look like the innocent flower but be the serpent under’t"

Most people out there have never heard of the tyrannical, highly stressed Gallagher Murphy. Since her election in June 2022 she has never stopped campaigning, tweeting endlessly about her good works and blanketing the local press in self-promoting ads. People don’t recognise the picture of Gallagher Murphy painted by her former employees, a snarling, shouting, blaspheming fraud, pretending to be someone she isn’t. 

Teena Bogner should never have settled with this despotic, high-handed MPP. Bogner tells us DGM’s hostility affected her (Bogner’s) health. We know from the latest revelations published in the Newmarket Era yesterday that a second former worker:

“quit working for the MPP to preserve her mental health after three months of escalating “bullying”.”

This young woman consulted a therapist to talk about the emotional toll working for Gallagher Murphy had on her. And these revelations go back to 2022 when Gallagher Murphy was first elected.

No fewer than seven former employees have allegedly expressed concerns about the MPP’s toxic workplace. 

Overwhelmed with stress

The reporting, by the respected veteran journalist, Lisa Queen, quotes the exit interview letter the employee sent to Doug Ford in 2022 complaining about the treatment that was meted out to her by the tempestuous and unstable MPP:

“During periods of stress, Dawn Gallagher Murphy cannot stay calm. She becomes overwhelmed with the stress, which then leads her to verbally lash out at a target. The lashing often looks like outwardly swearing and blaming me for the stress.”

All the polls currently point to Ford’s Progressive Conservatives being re-elected. And, if these polls are accurate, Newmarket-Aurora is not going to buck the trend unless the other candidates in the election make Gallagher Murphy’s bullying and harassment an election issue.

They must speak out. They've got nothing to lose and everything to gain.

It they do they will be reported in the local press and, very probably, the broadcast media too. All across the Province. 

Candidates' Debate

And they should call on the Chamber of Commerce and Newmarket Today (if they haven’t already done so) to organise a candidates’ debate – as they used to do.

Dawn Gallagher Murphy would most likely be a no-show.

In my mind’s eye I see her yelling at an employee to tell the press there is a family emergency and, as much as she’d like to be there, she can’t attend.

But she’s used that excuse before.

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Note: I have not been able to get a copy of the Progressive Conservative Caucus Policy on Harassment. In her response to Teena Bogner's original complaint to the Ontario Labour Relations Board, Dawn Gallagher Murphy relied on this document. The Ontario Legislative Assembly does not have a copy and referred me to the PC Caucus contact. I did so close to one month ago but have received no response. I also asked Teena Bogner to send a copy on if she had one in her possession. I have not received anything from her.

Click "READ MORE" below to read the Newmarket Era story: Second former worker of Newmarket-Aurora MPP complains of "bullying"

Update 7 February 2025 from the Newmarket Era: Re Aurora resident's petition

Read more: Victim shaming? Teena Bogner and Dawn Gallagher Murphy MPP