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2014 Municipal Election: Toronto Mayoral Race

I was just looking up Chinese Canadian mayors and I think there have only been 2 in Canada's history, both in BC: Kamloops and Victoria.
Does anyone have any more info?
If OC got in she would be in rare company, as she would be the only female Chinese Canadian mayor!
 
waltthizzney said:
Karen Stintz has impressed me for the simple fact she actually has a personality and is not afraid to fire back at everyone.
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Stintz's performance on the campaign trail is erratic at best, chaotic at worst. Her plan to pay for the DRL is poorly thought-out, her recycling of the old co-op canard is beneath her, her messaging tone deaf, and she is positively Romney-esque in her ability to switch positions without a moment's hesitation. Oh yes, she employs at least one douchebag who thinks it's funny to make fun of people's accents.

As for the "sympathy vote", all I can say is that is the kind of comment Chow's campaign has to regularly scrub from its Facebook page. Such a remark is beneath the standards of civilized conversation.
 
Just image...if Rob Ford loses the election, there'll be no more Rob, no more Doug, no more Mammoliti (if Soknacki ran in Mammo's ward and won) at council. The world would be a better place lol.
 
I'm inclined to think an old **** registered one day before nominations close could beat Moeser this year....

I apologize given Moeser's health issues I should not used the removed above, please allow me to rectify by suggesting an glove instead...
 
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Will Toronto mayoral candidates finally play the crack card against Rob Ford?


From this link.

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By Andy Radia | Canada Politics

If you watched any of the Toronto mayoral debates last week, you would have noticed that all the front runner candidates — not named Rob Ford — seemed averse to the words 'crack' and 'alcoholism.'

During the first debate, on City TV, John Tory and Olivia Chow made some veiled comments about Ford as a 'role model' but didn't directly mention his admitted drug use or episodes with alcohol.

At the second debate at Ryerson University, on Tuesday, Tory ranted about Ford's association with 'gang types' but again didn't mention the 'c-word'.

To the average viewer that seemed strange: Why were candidates avoiding the issue — an issue that they could presumably score big points on? Why weren't candidates playing the crack card?

In an interview with the Toronto Sun, on Saturday, Tory claimed that he's not going to change his ways saying that he will not attack Ford with regard to his personal demons.

"I said repeatedly when I was on radio that I thought those were personal issues, and that they are serious personal issues that do impair the ability of anybody to do a job like mayor," Tory, the former radio talk show host, said.

"But they are personal issues, whereas I think when you hang around with criminals...these are issues that I think are fair game to be talked about in the context of his fitness to continue do the job."

An Olivia Chow supporter suggests that there is a good reason for Ford's opponents to avoid the 'crack' scandal. On his website, Sun News analyst Warren Kinsella wrote that maybe its the public who want candidates to focus on other issues.

"In addition, I also suspect the research shows that the media’s ongoing preoccupation with crack, to the exclusion of any other issue, is one of the reasons why voters still cast a sympathy vote for Rob Ford."

Political communications expert Marcel Wieder concurs.

"If one of Ford's opponents raises the issue, the Mayor has a canned response of, 'I wasn't elected to be perfect, I was elected to clean up the mess at City Hall,'" Wieder, President of Aurora Strategy Group told Yahoo Canada News.

"Then he can parry with, 'my personal problems have not cost the city one job, show me a firm that closed or picked another city over Toronto because of my personal situation,' and then the closer, 'high taxes and waste have more impact on why companies choose other cities than Toronto and I have a proven record of lowering taxes and fighting waste.'

"So for an opponent to attack him on personal issues it gets very tricky."

Whether the strategy — to avoid the crack issue — is a good one or not remains to be seen.

A Forum Research poll conducted after the first debate suggests Ford handily won the debate and has actually improved his approval rating.

"Among the three quarters of Toronto voters who recall seeing or hearing anything about the City TV debate (75%), close to 4‐in‐10 agree Rob Ford won (37%), while about 3‐in‐10 think Olivia Chow was the winner (28%)," notes a Forum press release.

Wieder has this advice for Chow and Tory.

"What we have yet seen from any of the other candidates is a clear vision and alternative to the Ford message track," Ford is masterful in staying on message and repeating his lines (which mostly consist of half truths)," he said.

"Until someone offers up a concise, relevant response Ford will continue to score points."
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Look, if the candidates did something wrong when they were kids or teens, that's understandable. They have to be forgiven. If on the other hand they continue to do the same as adults or within the last ten years or so, then it is wrong. If you have learned from your own wrongdoings, and are now a law-abiding citizen, good for you. If you continue and ignore attempts to correct that behaviour, you do not belong as Mayor.
 
So the past few weeks I've seen many members on this forum lament on Soknacki's decision to to support the Scarborough LRT as part of his platform. Many UT members here have knowledge and understanding of transit. I have no doubt that the average UT member can provide an articulate argument supporting either/both the LRT and the Subway Extension if so pleased. There are many good reasons why most UT members who frequent transit discussions would at this point support the Scarborough Subway Extension over the LRT plan. These arguments include not wanting to open up old arguments and getting on with the EA's and construction, worries we will revert to the McCowan route if Council doesn't support the extension, that the ridership especially with growth in Markham, will meet the minimum ridership levels needed for subway, the delays to the LRT plan means that at this point it will only open a year or so sooner than the subway, the need for shuttle buses along the former SRT route for a few years, and the fact that the extension makes the proposed Sheppard LRT a more attractive route. I agree with these arguments, while the LRT is still hands down the superior plan, UT members have done well in convincing me that at this point the subway extension is the way to go.

As a voter this fall, the biggest issue I will be voting for this fall is transit. I'm younger than most of you so I will be seeing the transit proposed today be built in my lifetime. So the biggest puzzle is my support for a candidate that wants to go back on council decisions, rehash old arguments and seemingly cause further delay in construction with the risk of us reverting to the McCowan route. I want to explain why I support Soknacki on transit.

Firstly, while many of us UT members if so pressed, could probably provide an articulate argument in favor of the Subway Extension detailing the points mentioned above, the same doesn't hold true for the general population nor for the other candidates. The other candidates are supporting the Subway Extension for the wrong reasons, not for the reasons us UT members could so articulately provide. In short, their support for the Subway Extension is blatant pandering to voters in Scarborough, it has been since Stintz flip-flopped on the issue and RoFo claimed it as his own, and it still is now that those two, along with Tory, are running for mayor. Moreover, the support for the Scarborough Subway Extension shows a stark lack of vision or will to getting projects done. Their support for the extension tells me as a voter that these individuals do not have the will to change Council's mind or get the Provincial or Federal government in line with Toronto's wishes. How can I trust these candidates with other transit projects like the DRL? I realize it is still early in the campaign but Stintz' ridiculous idea to sell Toronto Hydro and Tory&Chow's lack of plan for the DRL at the onset tell me they don't have the vision to build transit.

Now here comes Soknacki, very much a numbers guy, policy nerd, what you will. To him, when the facts are laid down in front of him, the LRT plan for Scarborough just adds up. With this in mind, he declares his support for the LRT despite him being very much in the minority opinion and with the LRT plan having large hurdles ahead of it at this point. By doing so, he unlike the other candidates, tells me as a voter that he has the confidence and creativity to change Council's mind and direction on the topic as well as the will to lobby the Provincial and Federal governments to go with Toronto's decision. More importantly, it shows that he has the vision to propose and support ambitious projects like this based on their merit and what is best for this city.

Even Chow who has joined with Soknacki in his support towards the LRT, is also supporting the LRT for the wrong reasons. Same as the other candidates. To Chow, supporting the LRT is both pandering (LRT is not without support within Scarborough and throughout the city and so far she very much has tried to paint that picture) and a political move to distance herself from the NDP label by not supporting the tax increase that comes with the extension. This is a calculated move, make no mistake, and it tells us nothing about what she actually believes is a better plan and tells us nothing about her vision for this city.

As for Chow joining up with Soknacki in support of the LRT, as Soknacki said recently in regards to the small businesses tax reduction extension, “Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. But if they have to borrow all of their ideas from me during the campaign, what will they do if they actually get elected?”. This is the very question I ask. What will these other candidates do after Scarborough? After election, when they are done pandering to Scarborough voters and begrudgingly support the revenue tools they said in campaign they wouldn't support in order to raise Toronto's portion of the DRL funding, where does that leave us on transit? We still have many other transit plans to discuss: additional phases of the DRL, Eglinton West, Finch West, Sheppard East and Waterfront West. How can I trust these candidates with these projects? Do I need Soknacki to run in 2018 again to make them election topics?

On the other hand, I expect Soknacki as mayor to take his analysis of the facts, his creativity and vision when dealing with council and other levels of government, and the proactive rather than reactive approach to other transit projects. Moreover, I expect he to do the same with every other task the mayoral job demands. Look at Soknacki's progressive views on last hour, food trucks and BIAs, electoral and administrative reform, or the island airport for examples. It might be too late to reopen Scarborough come October, but it is about more than just that. Soknacki's support for the LRT and the vision it represents, is what to me as a voter makes him such an attractive candidate compared to the other lackluster candidates.

Do we want transit to remain a politicized issue and at the mercy of politicians who do not understand transit and pander? Or do you want transit planning to be planned by city planners and passed through council by a mayor who appreciates the facts? Calgary chose the latter years ago and I want us to do the same here.

(Apologies for the long post)
 
WislaHD said:
So the past few weeks I've seen many members on this forum lament on Soknacki's decision to to support the Scarborough LRT as part of his platform. Many UT members here have knowledge and understanding of transit. I have no doubt that the average UT member can provide an articulate argument supporting either/both the LRT and the Subway Extension if so pleased. .....................
Do we want transit to remain a politicized issue and at the mercy of politicians who do not understand transit and pander? Or do you want transit planning to be planned by city planners and passed through council by a mayor who appreciates the facts? Calgary chose the latter years ago and I want us to do the same here.

(Apologies for the long post)
Click to expand...

Thank you for the thoughtful post. No apologies necessary. I totally agree with you but I fear the average voter would not have the in depth knowledge of the issues and are either too busy with life or too lazy to look further into them. At the end of the day, it will unfortunately boil down to soundbites. It is very tempting to go for simple solutions to complex problems. But that is democracy as we know it now. Too bad.
 
Greg Banks said:
I'm inclined to think an old **** registered one day before nominations close could beat Moeser this year....

I apologize given Moeser's health issues I should not used the removed above, please allow me to rectify by suggesting an glove instead...
Click to expand...

Actually, I was thinking that Moeser's health issues could well lead him to retire instead on behalf of Soknacki.
 
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