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Ontario mayoral races
September 20, 2014 - 2:44pm
As fascinating as the Toronto mayoral race is, I wonder if babblers outside of the Big Smoke would like to discuss the municipal election in their neck of the woods.
In Hamilton, Brad Clark, a former cabinet minister from the Mike Harris government, is running for mayor. Here's a guy who sat around the cabinet table helping to decide how to download services on to the municipalities with no additional funding, which sent municipal costs soaring.
Having created a crisis that the McGuinty/Wynne Liberals did nothing to solve, he now is the candidate to keep taxes down and reduce spending. Talk about sucking and blowing at the same time!
If there's a sliver of a chance that Clark could win, I'll vote for whoever has the best shot at defeating him. He's done enough damage to our cities.
does anyone know who is the most NDP-like candidate for Mayor of Brampton? I will not vote for Fennell or Sanderson.
Is Brian McHattie the progressive pole bearer in Hamilton?
Yes, McHattie is the guy that progressives are likely going to rally around. His reputation as an environmental advocate will probably serve him well. However, his endorsement, in the provincial election, of the local Liberal in ADFW might give some progressives pause.
As I said, for myself, it comes down to who is best placed to defeat Brad Clark, the Common Sense Revolutionary who's bucking for the job. I've said in other rabble threads that I'm not a fan of strategic voting. At the municipal level, however, I look at things a little differently, because, at least in theory, it's more about the individual and less about political affiliation.
The Hamilton Spec has a new mayoral poll. Eisenberger leads but there are a lot of undecideds.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/hamilton/news/eisenberger-leads-latest-pol...
I do not know Karen Farbirdge personally but I would encourage all progressvies in Guelph to vote for her on election day as Guelph's Mayor. The Guelph Labour council has worked with a number of progressive commmunity groups to develop the We Are Guelph platform, and numerous candidates have signed on to endorse it.
There is a tight race for Mayor between Karen Farbridge (incumbent Myor) and Cam Guthrie (current City Councillor and Tory member), and progressives should suport the numerous candidates who have signed on to support the We Are Guelph platform.
(1) Then I am not sure why you would be considering anyone other than McHattie. If Clark is objectionable as a former Harris cabinet minister, why would a former Harper candidate in Stoney Creek-Hamilton East be any more acceptable?
The latest poll has Eisenberger in first and McHattie and Clark virtually tied for second. One progressive in Hamilton should be able to beat two Tories running for a position, if progressives will stick together and turn out in force on Election Day.
(2) My friend asked the question about McHattie's so-called "endorsement" of the Liberal in ADFW. McHattie's ward lies partly in ADFW and partly in Hamilton Centre. He was told that the Lberal incumbent in ADFW took an excerpt from a City Councillor letter to his provincial counterpart about an issue and used it in his leaflet without asking for McHattie's permission to linclude it in the leaflet alongside what were clear endorsements. Should McHattie have been more careful in the phrasing he used in writing to the MPP that overlaps with his ward? Yes. Is that a reason to withhold support? No. Especially when McHattie is runnign against two Tories.
Who is the progressive candidate to follow after Hurricane Hazel in Mississauga?
No one I know has given me an opinion on their mayorlaty race. There are a number of candidates endorsed by the Peel Labour Council -- I do not follow such lists without question, but they tend to be a good starting point for progressives -- it endorses no candidate for Mayor. The leading candidates are Steve Mahoney and Bonnie Crombie, neither of whom impresses me.
As unispiring as Chow's campaign has been, I only wish we in Ottawa had a progressive candidate to hate on for cozying up to the populist right. Our business-agenda Liberal mayor is essentially running unopposed.