I was extremely disappointed to see that the local Conservative candidate in the Oct. 10 provincial election resorted to what appears to be a deliberate misrepresentation in her Aug. 2 letter. Sylvia Jones quotes the Auditor General as having "confirmed" that taxpayers' dollars, in what she calls "slushgate", were "politically directed." But that is exactly the opposite of what Auditor General Jim McCarter wrote in his report when he stated unequivocally:

"We found no evidence that any organization received a grant because it had political ties."

Earlier, knowing that the Auditor General might well find this to be the case, Ms. Jones rushed out an election pamphlet that had one clearly false claim: that the only qualifications for getting grants were "Connections to the Ontario Liberal Party".

The Auditor General, after two months of scrutinizing how the Ministry of Citizenship and Immigration distributed year-end grants, said clearly that there was no evidence that political connections played any role in providing grants for projects, including those directed at preventing children in high-risk neighbourhoods from resorting to gangs and gun violence.

Keep this in mind about the Auditor General. He has no ties to the government. He is appointed by the legislative assembly as a whole and is answerable to it, not to the party in power. He is supposed to act as a watchdog on government spending and his reports are often critical of the party in power.

There is no question that the ways in which the grants were given out did not have the high standards of accountability set by the McGuinty Government. That's why the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration lost his job and that is why the government accepted and is implementing every one of the Auditor General's recommendations.

There is no question that the grants did not go through all the proper channels. There is no question in my mind that a more accountable process should have been followed, in order to avoid even the appearance of favouritism.

There is no question that the Auditor General was critical of the process. Mistakes were made but they are being corrected. The Liberal Government is taking full responsibility not trying to misrepresent the facts - that is what accountability means.

In her brochure, Ms. Jones asks you to "vote for accountability. Vote for Sylvia Jones."

This was already suspect on one count; now it is definitely wrong on two. First, Jones's claim of accountability came from the candidate of the Tory party that concealed from Ontarians its shocking $5.6 billion deficit, discovered only after they were swept out of office four years ago.

It is aimed, in contrast, at a Liberal government that has achieved that fiscal rarity - a balanced budget. And how do we know no deficit has been concealed this time? The McGuinty Government invited the independent Auditor General to confirm its election year financial figures and he has - the books are balanced.

Secondly, it is now definitely up to her to be accountable for the blatant misrepresentation in her brochure, as established by the provincial auditor himself, and for distorting what his report says about political motivations in her letter to the Citizen.

She should know by this time that writing down the latest rumours in your brochure does not constitute proper research and is about as far away as you can get from honest electioneering. Assuming you will accept political spin and not read the report for yourselves is another way that the Tories take your votes for granted.

One is left wondering how such tactics have crept into Ms. Jones's repertoire. Certainly, she didn't pick them up after moving to Dufferin. I could have told her from growing up here that being straightforward is still highly regarded in these parts.

And I would hope that such tactics are not being directed by the Tories' central campaign. Conservative leader and fleeing MPP for Dufferin-Caledon, John Tory, should have learned his lesson after the rightful backlash over his use of what even many Conservatives regard as the sleaziest tactic in the history of Canadian politics as campaign director for Kim Campbell.

Betsy Hall Liberal Candidate for the October 10th Provincial Election