SIDEBAR - What Windsor can expect in city elections
A local breakdown of the municipal campaign coming up in Border City
Welcome to another issue of #munipoli Matters, where we highlight and discuss all things related to the often under-reported arena of municipal elections, politics and government across Canada, and sometimes beyond.
For this sidebar, let’s take a look at a city that is an important border crossing for the entire country and one that has some rather spicy local politics: the City of Windsor.
I tune in on a podcast called Rose City Politics, which focuses on Windsor municipal politics and the happenings at Windsor City Hall. As this is a municipal election year across Ontario, this podcast on the Border City has been profiling each of Windsor’s 10 city council wards, as well as on the mayor’s race.
They have very detailed episodes of “Ward Watch”, as they break down the demographic numbers, real estate stats of each ward, as well as the local political history, such as election results dating back to 1991, which you can find here when Windsor had five wards electing two councillors each until 2010.
Also included are deep dives into how each incumbent councillor’s job performance, their chances of reelection, potential challengers or whether they are running again at all.
The Windsor Star also inquired to all members of council whether they are running again. Mayor Drew Dilkens may draw his first serious challenger since upgrading himself to mayor from councillor in 2014, as Ward 3 Councillor Rino Bortolin says he’s running, though not sure whether for reelection…or for mayor.
Here are some interesting observations made from both the Rose City pod and the Windsor Star piece that deserves some highlighting.
A race between Dilkens and Bortolin would certainly be the most hotly contested election for Windsor since 2010 when former mayor Eddie Francis fended off former MP Rick Limonges.
Dilkens, a former Ward 1 councillor, won by healthy majorities in 2014 and 2018. The mayor is seen more as a centre-right political figure whereas Bortoin, who represents a more downtown ward and comes off as more a ‘progressive’ type.
Current Ward 1 incumbent Fred Francis’ sounds like a “one trick pony” with his repetition of ‘holding the line on taxes’...but it’s shown to have worked. Francis won 52% in his reelection bid in 2018 but Darcie Renaud, his opponent four years ago, appears poised to make another run.
Another rematch could be in Ward 2, where Fabio Constante ousted incumbent John Elliott by 56 to 43% in one of those rare two person races in a city council election. Elliott, who is Executive Director of a local non-profit for youth, is still active on Twitter and sounds like someone itching to get back onto city council.
Mayor Dilkens is probably breathing a sigh of relief that Irek Kusmierczyk, the Windsor-Tecumseh federal MP but former Ward 7 councillor who was a constant thorn in his side, was replaced by Jeewen Gill in a 2020 by-election. According to Rose City, Gill gets the appearances alongside Dilkens during announcements in the ward and the mayor has been more than happy to oblige in offering political support to Gill whenever he can.
Ward 8 Councillor Gary Kaschak won a tight 8 person race to replace veteran incumbent Bill Marra in 2018, but Kaschak just got the nomination for the Ontario Liberals to run Windsor-Tecumseh provincially, so Ward 8 could potentially be an open race. Coincidentally Gemma Grey-Hall, who also ran in for Ward 8 four years ago, is now the Ontario NDP candidate in the same riding.
NDP MPP Percy Hatfield, himself a former Windsor councillor, is opting not to run for reelection. He’s been Windsor-Tecumseh MPP since 2013.
Current rules allow sitting councillors to run provincially without resigning their seats; they usually take an unpaid leave. Three scenarios are likely to happen: Kaschak wins provincially, he would leave the opening for Grey-Hall to seek the candidacy for Ward 8. Grey-Hall holds Tecumseh for the NDP, which means either Kaschak seeks reelection or not.
The third scenario is neither of them win, as a Tory squeaks past both in a tight three way race, as the riding’s federal results show you that is possible. This would leave the possibility of a rematch between Kaschak and Grey-Hall in Ward 8.
As for the other councillors, Ward 4’s Chris Holt, Ward 5’s Ed Sleiman, Ward 6’s Jo-Anne Gignac and Ward 10’s Jim Morrison are all expected to run for reelection. But local Windsor blogger Frazier Fathers believes Sleiman may retire due to health issues and that Gill is vulnerable.
Windsor is one of those mid-sized cities in Ontario that either don’t get enough national or prominent media coverage except when it’s something to do with the border, like when the Freedom Convoy blocked the Ambassador Bridge, but big enough to have a strong local media infrastructure and engaged citizenry to scrutinize City Hall.
If you were looking for a local municipal race to watch in 2022, Windsor definitely offers some of that political intrigue that you seek.
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