Welcome to another issue of #munipoli Matters, where we discuss all about municipal elections and the often unreported area of local government across Canada and beyond.
We have another smattering of municipal political news about new candidates emerging, yet ANOTHER couple of Canadian mayors bowing out from another term, other tidbits and some funny stuff to conclude today’s sharing.
Prominent ‘progressive’ will run for open downtown Toronto council seat
Canada’s largest city will undoubtedly get the bulk of the attention in Ontario’s municipal elections this year. But if I can offer some advice for local activists: focusing on the mayor’s race may not be beneficial, whether incumbent John Tory runs again or not.
No matter how important his job is, Tory is still one vote among 25 other councillors, so if you want to see a different political direction take place at City Hall, the best thing is to focus on the election outcomes where ‘your side’ (if I can use that phrasing) can get a majority on council.
In the Spadina-Fort York ward, Councillor Joe Cressy announced last year he was not running again. Cressy’s departure has attracted the first serious ‘progressive’ candidate to replace him: former school trustee Ausma Malik, who announced her candidacy on Twitter, saying she’s not “your typical candidate”.
If you’re wondering what Malik meant by not being “a typical candidate”, take a look at this photo of the current Toronto City Council and see if you can figure it out.
Malik is the current advocacy and organizing director at the Atkinson Foundation who was running for city council in 2018 before she dropped off the ballot after Doug Ford’s surprise council cuts basically erased the ward she was contesting.
To give one an idea of how politically viable Malik can be, one of Tory’s deputy mayors, Councillor Denzil Minnan-Wong, is already going on the offensive.
First elected back in the 1990s when North York was still an independent municipality, Minnan-Wong decrying someone being left wing sounds very early to mid-2000s. The only appealing thing he has done in the last decade is asking former mayor Rob Ford if he bought illegal drugs before openly in council chambers.
He is however, as mentioned, one of Tory’s close allies and the suburban, ‘conservative’ lean of council is more prevalent now than before…which brings me back to my original point, so-called “progressives” need to focus on more than just the mayoral race if they have any hope of changing the balance of influence on Toronto council in this next decade.
Vancouver left wing party launches platform
There have been a variety of political choices emerging in Vancouver even as incumbent mayor Kennedy Stewart is planning to run for another term. Stewart, a former NDP MP, would naturally be seen as the ‘progressive’ but for some that isn’t enough.
The Democratic Socialists of Vancouver, under the banner of Vancouver For All (VFA) have launched a pre-election platform process ahead of the fall elections in British Columbia, hoping to elect some socialists to Vancouver City Hall.
The VFA pattern themselves after the insurgent left platform that a ‘feminist socialist’ mayor in Barcelona, Spain named Ada Colau for two terms. Here is their 10 point platform from their website:
Just another choice for those inclined to vote for more left leaning parties such as COPE or Vision Vancouver. Although judging from who you talk to, these political parties might not be “left” enough.
A pair of Manitoba mayors are not running again
Winnipeg’s Brian Bowman isn’t the only Manitoba mayor to not run again in 2022; the mayor of Brandon, Rick Chrest, announced he would not be seeking a third term as mayor of the province’s second largest city.
A furniture store owner who first entered city council in 1995, Chrest served until 2006 and returned in 2014 when he defeated then incumbent mayor Shari Decter Hirst with 65% of the vote over Decter Hirst’s 30%. He was acclaimed in 2018.
Another mayor in Manitoba also announced his retirement after serving 16 years in the job: Martin Harder of Winkler. "In due respect to our wonderful city, it has been a joy and a pleasure to be of service. I have no regrets. I feel that I have done my best, and I feel I've had the support of a majority of people in Winkler all along, and I have had many encouraging comments made over the course of the last year where it has become a little tougher to be a leader in a difficult time,” Winkler said.
Former Calgary councillor seeking provincial NDP nod for Alberta election
While in Toronto a ‘progressive’ is seeking an open seat on city council, over in Alberta a former city councillor from Calgary is now looking to run provincially for the NDP in the 2023 election.
Former Ward 7 councillor Druh Farrell announced she is planning to seek the provincial NDP nomination in the riding of Calgary-Bow, according to the Livewire Calgary online local publication. She served on Calgary City Council for 20 years, from 2001 to 2021.
Farrell would not be the first councillor from Calgary to make their way, or try to make their way, to the provincial legislature. Current NDP MLA Joe Ceci was a Calgary alderman from 1995-2010. He got elected in 2015 to the Alberta Legislature in that year’s shocking NDP victory and served as Rachel Notley’s finance minister for that party’s one term in government.
In 2018, former Ward 11 councillor Brian Pincott, who was in office from 2007 to 2017, won the NDP nomination in Calgary-Acadia before ultimately stepping aside from running prior to the 2019 election. He cited the growing “divisive political climate” as one reason for doing so.
Notley’s government was turfed from office by Jason Kenney’s newly formed United Conservatives after one term in office. But a lot of things have changed since 2019; with the way Kenney has handled COVID-19 in Alberta, the NDP have a real shot at forming government again in 2023 with Notley at the helm.
Farrell may be one of those experienced political voices to be in a potential second NDP Alberta government.
Ontario town to allow unvaccinated candidates to run in municipal election
Apparently in the Northern Ontario township of West Nipissing, residents who wish to run as candidates in the October municipal election don't need to be vaccinated to do so. But all municipal employees, volunteers, contractors and councillors have to demonstrate they’ve been fully vaccinated as of March 2.
Doesn't that create a double standard whereby incumbent councillors looking to re-offer have to provide vaccination confirmation, but those looking to replace them, or fill an open council seat, do not?
Poor you…
Finally, we have the former Toronto mayoral candidate from 2018 and far right media personality Faith Goldy, virtually attending the Compliance Audit Committee meeting over her campaign finances.
Yes, the woman who preaches white nationalist views and has promoted the “white genocide conspiracy theory”, sitting there having to listen to an Indigenous Land Acknowledgement before the proceedings began.
I don’t really believe in Karma, but sometimes ‘faith’ has a funny way of coming around, huh Faith?
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