#munipoli Matters - ISSUE 42 - Are seismic shifts in Windsor on the way?
Welcome to another edition of #munipoli Matters, where we cover the often under-reported arena of municipal politics, local elections and civic government happenings.
A prominent Windsor City Councillor, whose name was being touted as a potential mayoral candidate, is instead retiring from politics…while his colleague next door is gunning for the top job.
Meanwhile, another Ontario mayor’s name is being bandied about to lead the third place provincial party that took a drubbing at the polls. I also have a few notes from Prince Edward Island and a few spots around Ontario.
As one Windsor councillor leaves, another runs for mayor
Ward 3 Councillor Rino Bortolin is not seeking a third term, nor is he running for Windsor mayor as some had previously speculated. "I have loved being a city councillor and found it some of the most rewarding work I have done in my life," Bortolin said.
Bortolin was first elected to council in 2014, serving on the Board of Health and the Windsor Police Board. He tried getting elected provincially in 2018, running for the Ontario Liberals in their former stronghold of Windsor West.
After coming in third place, Bortolin ran for reelection municipally and won with 72% of the vote. He was seen as a ‘progressive’ voice on Windsor City Council, frequently butting heads with Mayor Drew Dilkens.
But while Bortolin isn’t running for mayor and neither is Dilkens (officially, yet), Ward 4 Councillor Chris Holt is, making the announcement outside the steps of City Hall with his family along with a slick introduction video.
An autoworker with Ford for over two decades, Holt was first elected in 2014 with 28% in a crowded field of six candidates, then won reelection in 2018 with close to 80%. He serves on several Committees such as Environment, Transportation, Public Safety, Planning, Heritage and Economic Development.
“We need to move beyond adequate,” Holt said at the press conferences explaining why he’s running for mayor, adding how the current council supports only halfway measures and not going beyond just what is needed.
“We need to go further, address what matters to residents. I think our quality of life needs to be elevated to the top tier...what I'm talking about doesn't require increasing the budget. It takes a leader with vision and inspiration...I'm that guy"
If Dilkens does indeed seek a third term, at least Windsorites will have a clear contrast between two personalities and visions to see which one they would prefer to be “their guy” come October 24.
Barrie Mayor in the mix Ontario Liberal leadership race
The Ontario Liberal Party (OLP) once again find themselves with a rump of MPPs that can barely fit a minivan and no official status. That has not stopped speculation on who will replace former leader Steven Del Duca at the helm.
Barrie Mayor Jeff Lehman, who ran as a provincial candidate for the party in last month’s election, lost his local race to Tory MPP Doug Downey by around 600 votes, has expressed interest and said he would offer a viewpoint outside of the traditional OLP power bases of the GTA and Ottawa.
Other potential candidates include Kingston MPP Ted Hsu, current Beaches East York federal MP Nathaniel Erskine-Smith, former Ottawa city councillor and current MPP Stephen Blais, Ottawa MPP John Fraser, the party’s former interim leader from 2018-2020.
Even Mohamad Fakih, the CEO of the Paramount Fine Foods restaurant chain, was included as a possible candidate. If you’ve followed Fakih beyond his philanthropy, the Lebanese-born businessman clearly has political views and can deliver a solid emotionally investing speech to a crowd.
Clearly there are political ambitions on the horizon.
Manitoba’s rather progressive municipal election rules
I was scrolling through the municipal election website for Brandon, MB, and I noticed a very interesting provision: The conventional practice of incumbent local politicians putting the line “re-elect” next to their names on election signs is not allowed, nor can they refer to themselves as being the sitting officeholder.
It can’t be more clear than “a registered candidate who is a member of a council must not use their incumbent position as their title in an election communication”.
During the writ period for provincial and federal elections it is more common to refer to previous sitting members as ‘incumbents’ by the media and they are allowed to say ‘re-elect’ on their signs, though references to their title are not used, such as MP, MPP, or MLA.
To me, having this minor provision in a municipal election contest does provide a modicum of a level playing field.
In other news
Cambridge, ON: Former mayor Doug Craig has registered to run for Waterloo regional councillor, representing one of the city’s three seats; the mayor gets an automatic seat on Regional Council.
Craig has had a long career in municipal politics, dating back to the late 1970’s when he first an alderman. He served as mayor from 2000 to 2018, when he lost to current Mayor Kathryn McGarry.
Charlottetown, PEI: Usually during a municipal election period on Prince Edward Island, Elections PEI has the contract to administer the vote for the provincial capital, but that may not be the case unless the city makes some changes to current bylaws. Specifically, the City of Charlottetown’s proposal to put up mobile polling stations at seniors’ apartment buildings.
The Chief Electoral Officer of the province said that was not in compliance with Municipal Elections laws, saying this move would open the voting "to manipulation by those who have a vested interest in the outcome.”
"Allowing a polling location outside of the regulations could allow one to be located in an area that is known to be sympathetic to a particular candidate," CEO Tim Garrity wrote in the letter to council. The locations "should not be dictated by council members," he said.
My own experience with similar matters has seen voting locations taken away from areas with a high percentage of a particular demographic group in favour of ‘vote anywhere’ programs that allow residents to go to any polling location in the municipality to vote. From what I can see, Charlottetown was looking to add more polling stations.
Meanwhile, minor league hockey coach and longtime volunteer Ryan Ramsay announced he was running in Charlottetown’s Ward 6 (Mount Edward).
East Gwillimbury, ON: Speaking of the OLP, the party’s former president Brian Johns has gone from that role, to running for municipal office:
Born and raised in East Gwillimbury, Johns is contesting Ward 2 which contains his current residence in Sharon. The current CEO of Water Ambassadors Canada, a non profit focused on delivering access to clean water internationally, cites his past experience in entrepreneurial efforts and volunteering for a national trade advocacy group.
Each ward in East Gwillimbury elects two councillors. The current registered candidates are Johns and Aida Kostuck. The current incumbents are Tara Roy-DiClemente and Joe Persechini.
I did find it telling on how Johns described his past experience with the OLP, saying he was a “volunteer president of a provincial political organization.” It’s almost like saying, “oh the spectacular flame-out the party sustained on June 2? Don’t look at me, I was JUST A VOLUNTEER.”
Stratford and Cornwall, PEI: To be honest, there hasn’t been much I can find going on in these Charlottetown environs. The one big issue to emerge at Cornwall is a vote to keep a gate open, which raises concerns over access for disabled people.
Meanwhile, Stratford conducted its recent annual resident survey and came away with some findings on how the residents feel about town initiatives:
91% in favour of town establishing food truck regulations
71% in favour of regulations for short term rentals
97% of residents support the town using resources to ‘protect the environment’.
The third answer is essentially unchanged from previous surveys, where answers range from 95-98%, but that sounds rather vague. What specific resources or methods are being used to protect the environment?
Three Rivers, PEI: Mayor Ed MacAulay is not running for a second term. The municipality was created in 2018 after seven communities were amalgamated together: Georgetown, Montague, Brundenell, Cardigan, Lorne Valley, Lower Montague and Valleyfield.
MacAulay became the first mayor of Three Rivers by winning the election over former Montague mayor Richard Collin.
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