John Blommesteyn, the wannabe councillor for Ward 7, has been parading his virtues in front of a sceptical public.

Blommesteyn, who is married to the mercurial Maddie Di Muccio, tells us it takes integrity to campaign on the issues.

Try as I might, integrity is not something I associate with him.

Over two years ago, a duplicitous Blommesteyn bought a large number of Tom Vegh domain names to squat them and game the search engines to direct traffic to his wife’s website.

He says he kept Maddie in the dark about it all:

“I purchased the domain name tomvegh.ca unbeknownst to my wife… She had no idea I had done that because she would never have approved.”

Then, as now, I thought Blommesteyn’s actions thoroughly reprehensible and unethical.

Fast forward to Newmarket Theatre on 7 October 2014. I find Blommesteyn alone at his candidate’s stall surrounded by piles of election literature. When I challenge him to explain why he had bought up a huge number of Tom Vegh domain names he laughs it off, telling me it was simply to encourage Vegh to have a more active on-line presence.

Bizarre? I think so.

Then, on 9 October, in the Newmarket Era on-line debate, he tells us:

I personally don't like the mudslinging and procedural roadblocks (such as "points of privilege" and integrity commissioners) that were showcased this last term on council. These tactics only serve to lower public engagement and encourage apathy.

On the contrary, he dishes out the dirt with relish.

His appearance before Newmarket’s Committee of the Whole last December was an absolute disgrace. Councillor Di Muccio had just been given a rap on the knuckles by the Integrity Commissioner for branding the Mayor a ‘mysogynist”. But Blommesteyn absurdly claimed his wife hadn’t been given a fair hearing. This was manifestly untrue. The Commissioner had approached Maddie Di Muccio on three separate occasions to get her side of the story and was at first rebuffed and then ignored.

As I wrote at the time, he was angry, argumentative and belligerent, demanding special treatment.

Ten months on, a re-invented Blommesteyn, listening and considerate, says that if he is elected councillor for Ward 7 he will drop everything to provide a round-the-clock service.

I own my business and I have the luxury to step away without having to get “the boss’s” permission.  So I can assure you that I will have the time (to) address residents’ concerns no matter what time of day they may occur.  

Too bad that didn’t apply during the Glenway OMB Hearing where he was conspicuously absent.

Clearly, he was busy on more important things.

7 days to go.