Ontario has gone from one extreme to the other in the handling of its CSA presidential vote – but the overall effect hasn’t really changed.
Just after an interview with Canadian Soccer News back in mid-March, just as the phone call was winding down, OSA president Ron Smale let slip that Ontario was going to publicly announce its choice for president publicly a week before the May 5 vote.
Smale described this to me as a bid to get the selection process out of the backrooms.
This idea carried some real weight, because Canada’s largest province holds 25% of the overall vote. Whomever Ontario backs is halfway home.
But as last weekend’s OSA AGM wound down, it became very clear that no public announcement was coming.
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So off we go, scurrying about, picking up crumbs and clues. Turns out, the OSA board did not share its president’s desire for complete transparency. Another quite different approach was ultimately adopted.
Here’s Smale himself, in an e-mail to me yesterday:
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Ben:
At our Board meeting this past weekend during discussions it was the board’s decision to keep our choice as a "secret ballot". As such each board member completed a secret ballot of their choice. The ballots were collected and sealed in an envelope. The envelope will be opened at the CSA-AGM next weekend by the Executive Committee and the candidate with the most votes will be announced as our endorsement going forward.
Ron Smale
President - The Ontario Soccer Association
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In other words, nobody – not even Ron Smale – knows for certain who’s getting Ontario’s votes in the first round of presidential balloting.
If so, that should – indeed – keep matters out of the back room.
Even though the final vote counts for each province won’t even be determined until after the CSA convenes this weekend, we know for mathematical certainly both Ontario and Quebec will hold 25% shares of the vote. That’s the maximum, and both provinces would hold more than that if their true percentages of player registration fees were used.
Quebec fully intends to back sitting CSA president Dominique Maestracci in the opening round. Ontario is expected to vote for either Rob Newman (widely believed to be Smale’s personal preference) or Victor Montagliani.
Quebec’s second choice (should Maestracci not survive to a second ballot) is less clear. As noted previously, QSF president Martial Prud’homme seems to be leaning Newman, while his board is thought to prefer Montagliani.
To have Ontario arrive at this crucial election with a literally sealed ballot, and the real possibility that no one in their delegation actually knows for certain what’s in there?
Well, it’s a novel approach, to be certain. If they actually pull it off, it will be very hard for any potential deal makers to know what deals they need to make.
What’s less clear, though, is how Ontario will vote in the balloting for the six elected regional board seats. Certainly, they will back Nick Bontis, their own chosen candidate for the Ontario slot. But Smale has yet to answer my queries about whether the OSA board has expressed preferences in the other races.
If so, how does it work? This is a complex balloting process, with multiple elections and fluid voting scenarios.
If not, is Smale making the choices? A small group of advisors?
I’ll let you know as soon as I get clarification.
What makes this all the more intriguing is that Smale, himself, is a noted back-room operator – a huge driving force behind the compromise reform package passed a year ago, when it seemed likely the original plan was doomed to defeat.
To have Ontario’s vote handled this way – with total secrecy not only replacing Smale’s promised openness, but apparently trumping it in the stated goal of eliminating backroom deals – is quite the intriguing development.
Onward!