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2014 Municipal Election: Toronto Mayoral Race

RC8 said:
Good god, these people...

I don't think Stintz is malicious, but she is very obviously new to all this 'urban stuff' and has lived a very shielded life thus far.
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I don't think John Tory is malicious either - just really out of touch, living in the silver spoon, business class bubble all his life and his employment tips to women reflect that. There's nothing wrong with being rich, especially being born into it. But going into politics, especially in a city like Toronto, means having an good understanding of the issues outside your bubble.
 
WislaHD said:
Pretty much. I am certain she will drop out at some point and throw her support for the candidate that will give her deputy mayor.
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The trouble is that her former aide at the TTC, JP Boutros, has registered for councillor in Ward 16, her old seat. It does make it a little more awkward for her to abort. It was not like a buddy or staffer of Mammo registered to replace him when he ran for mayor and went back to his ward.
 
ShonTron said:
The trouble is that her former aide at the TTC, JP Boutros, has registered for councillor in Ward 16, her old seat. It does make it a little more awkward for her to abort. It was not like a buddy or staffer of Mammo registered to replace him when he ran for mayor and went back to his ward.
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If only Mammo had even one buddy.

As for JP Boutros being registered in Ward 16: well, he may well have ambitions of his own, but who's to say he isn't holding a spot for Karen? All he'd need would be a sudden "private matter" to come up, and he could pull out of the race and throw his support behind Stintz, who still has plenty of time to register in Ward 16 once her mayoral dreams turn to dust.

So yep, I agree that Stintz is effectively running for deputy mayor, but don't discount how big her dreams are; why else would she have flip-flopped on LRT/Stubway? I don't see her having a cat's chance in hell of winning this thing. Who knows? Perhaps she even gets behind Soknacki?

Talking of Soknacki, I would like to know what he plans to do with respect to taxes & services. I'm not interested in a Mayor who wants to cut either, nor am I interested in a Mayor who panders to me. I do not live in poverty, so it's not me who needs lifting up. Anyone who understands that is in the running for my vote.
 
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Someone here at UT had a good theory that KS might also be doing this mayoral run to raise her name recognition profile. Sh may drop out of the mayoral election to run in the provincial election instead.
 
ehlow said:
I'm already sick of this desperate attempt to relate to and pander to "middle class, average, working families".
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Yep. What is an average family? I'd argue that no such thing exists. Further, it's not the mythical 'average' family which needs government protection & help the most: it's the far-from-average, living-on-the-breadline, waiting for social housing and working three PT jobs & leaning on the grey economy and payday loan sharks family.

Having said that, let's not act as though Karen Stintz is somehow unique in this sort of pandering. Far from it. I think she's probably a nice enough person, but like so many round here, I simply don't value her as a mayoral candidate because of her shameless abandonment of the fully-funded LRT, which she did for purely political reasons - and not even well-considered ones! As for the recent noise, her staff probably sent that well-intentioned but remarkably naïve tweet on her behalf, hoping to connect with the Mighty Middle.

newearthling said:
Someone here at UT had a good theory that KS might also be doing this mayoral run to raise her name recognition profile. Sh may drop out of the mayoral election to run in the provincial election instead.
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Yeah, could be. Even coming third could potentially open doors and make connections she wouldn't otherwise have access to. I don't think she will come third, though. I don't even think she'll make it to election day.
 
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SecretSquirrel said:
Yep. What is an average family? I'd argue that no such thing exists. Further, it's not the mythical 'average' family which needs government protection & help the most: it's the far-from-average, living-on-the-breadline, waiting for social housing and working three PT jobs & leaning on the grey economy and payday loan sharks family.

Having said that, let's not act as though Karen Stintz is somehow unique in this sort of pandering. Far from it. I think she's probably a nice enough person, but like so many round here, I simply don't value her as a mayoral candidate because of her shameless abandonment of the fully-funded LRT, which she did for purely political reasons - and not even well-considered ones! As for the recent noise, her staff probably sent that well-intentioned but remarkably naïve tweet on her behalf, hoping to connect with the Mighty Middle.
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Horwath uses the term "working families" at least one in each sentence. They seem to have been trained to say it as much as possible when speaking publicly.

Instead of saying:
"We should keep taxes low"

It becomes:
"Working families are struggling. We need to keep taxes low for working families so that working families can afford what a working family needs. Middle class families are the core of our society and taxing working families is wrong. My opponent wants to make being a working family more difficult for working families. I am the defender of working class families and will do anything to make life easier for working middle class families. Working families, working families, working, middle class, average, families"
 
ehlow said:
Horwath uses the term "working families" at least one in each sentence. They seem to have been trained to say it as much as possible when speaking publicly.

Instead of saying:
"We should keep taxes low"

It becomes:
"Working families are struggling. We need to keep taxes low for working families so that working families can afford what a working family needs. Middle class families are the core of our society and taxing working families is wrong. My opponent wants to make being a working family more difficult for working families. I am the defender of working class families and will do anything to make life easier for working middle class families. Working families, working families, working, middle class, average, families"
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Hah. Good point well made.

...although I am at the point where any politician saying "we must lower taxes" without providing a coherent explanation of exactly how that will be achieved without making life worse for the much-vaunted working family will earn my immediate disrespect.

Oh wait - that would be all of them.
 
SecretSquirrel said:
Hah. Good point well made.

...although I am at the point where any politician saying "we must lower taxes" without providing a coherent explanation of exactly how that will be achieved without making life worse for the much-vaunted working family will earn my immediate disrespect.

Oh wait - that would be all of them.
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It seems like it would be very difficult to win votes by saying "I want to raise taxes". I would probably vote for someone who said that, if say they spent that revenue on transit, but I have the feeling saying that you'll raise taxes is political death.
 
If Soknacki deserves to get media attention, then shouldn't Norm Gardner also get media attention? They're both former City Councillors who held prominent positions (chairing the budget and police committees respectively). Gardner's only been "out of the game" for three years longer than Soknacki. I wonder how the media decides which candidates to report on and which to ignore.
 
Silence&Motion said:
If Soknacki deserves to get media attention, then shouldn't Norm Gardner also get media attention? They're both former City Councillors who held prominent positions (chairing the budget and police committees respectively). Gardner's only been "out of the game" for three years longer than Soknacki. I wonder how the media decides which candidates to report on and which to ignore.
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Fair question. Though I'd place Soknacki in the second-tier (with Stintz, and behind Chow, Ford, Tory) and Gardner in the third tier. Gardner has not spoken to business groups like the Toronto Board of Trade (that I know of) - we heard of him registering, and that's about it. He hasn't made any noise. Soknacki is putting a team together.

I'd rank the candidates in this order. Serious candidates are always A and B tiers. As campaigns go on, there is some mobility within the tiers)

A-Tier:
Ford - incumbant. Automatically is top of the pyramid.
Tory and Chow - high profile challengers
(In 2010, Smitherman would have definitely been A-tier. Ford, but some may argue he wasn't until mid-campaign)

B-Tier:
Karen Stintz - somewhat well recognized as TTC chair and incumbant councillor; some talent on her team
David Soknacki - former councillor, also with talent and some attention-getting plays.
(In 2010, Joe Pantalone would have been B-Tier. Jane Pitfield would have been B-Tier in 2006. David Miller started as B-Tier in 2003.)

C-Tier:
Norm Gardiner
(In 2010, Sarah Thomson and Rocco Rossi would have been C-Tier, though Rossi might have started at B-Tier.)

Y-Tier:
Richard Underhill - some name recognition, especially in certain downtowner circles. Not a serious challenger, though.

Z-Tier:
Everyone else.
 
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Silence&Motion said:
If Soknacki deserves to get media attention, then shouldn't Norm Gardner also get media attention?
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Soknacki has at this early stage I think three councillors supporting him (Ainslie, Lindsay-Luby, and Matlow(?)) And he's been out there making proposals and developing a team. Why did Thomson and Rossi get elevated into serious contenders last election? At what tier did Neshi begin in Calgary prior to being first elected? Wasn't he a professor with little community profile and no direct political experience?
 
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