Ontario municipal elections (Oct 24)

[adma]

What I find interesting about the Toronto election is that 4 years after all the hand-wringing over Faith Goldy's run (and with *two other* far-right standard-bearers on the ballot), there doesn't seem to be anyone at that end of the spectrum running for Toronto's mayoralty--I mean, the most the freedom-protest crowd might have to chew on is Sarah Climenhaga being anti-lockdown.  (And assorted "New Blue" types running for Council or whatever, w/o the slightest chance in blazes mainly because they're New Blue types in the first place)

And even then, Sarah Climenhaga is not remotely Faith Goldy. Everything in her platform except her opposition to mandates is fairly standard left-wing takes on municipal issues, although less "wonky left" and more "granola left". Although with that context, it's not that strange. Even though opposition to vaccine mandates and lockdowns has come to be something generally embraced by the right and generally shunned by the left, it's not an inherently right-wing position, there's a kind of left-libertarian, Harper-era Green Party appeal there.

That's why I said "at most"--like, if anti-mandate were the *sole* check-mark necessary, particularly for lack of a more satisfying alternative for that crowd.  The far-right freedom-march choice solely by proxy...

[Hatman 🍁]

Funnily enough, the school trustee race in my zone has become about masks and what not. The top two candidates have nearly identical platforms except for masks. They're both very progressive, both endorsed by Horizon Ottawa, etc. However, one is an over zealous doctor who has a huge Twitter following who insists on wearing a mask all the time, and got really upset at her opponent for not wearing a mask at a recent debate. Her opponent is more sane on the issue, saying we should follow Ottawa Public Health advice, but wrote an opinion piece in the Citizen saying we should go back to normal at schools and re-start school extra curriculars, etc.  She has attracted a rather usavoury following though, based solely on her opponent. The campaign is getting rather nasty.

I was originally going to vote for the doctor candidate, as she has been endorsed by McKenney and has some connections to the NDP, but now I am changing my vote (a very rare occurrence for me, to change my vote this late in the campaign). The fact that she didn't even send her kids to public school was the straw that broke the camels back. Plus, the provincial NDP candidate here endorsed her opponent, so I'm feeling good about my switch.

[DL]

Funnily enough, the school trustee race in my zone has become about masks and what not. The top two candidates have nearly identical platforms except for on masks. They're both very progressive, both endorsed by Horizon Ottawa, etc. However, one is an over zealous doctor who a huge Twitter following who insists on wearing a mask all the time, and got really upset at her opponent for not wearing a mask at a recent debate. Her opponent is more sane on the issue, saying we should follow Ottawa Public Health advice, but wrote an opinion piece in the Citizen saying we should go back to normal at schools and re-start school extra curriculars, etc.  She has attracted a rather usavoury following though, based solely on her opponent. The campaign is getting rather nasty.

I was originally going to vote for the doctor candidate, as she has been endorsed by McKenney and has some connections to the NDP, but now I am changing my vote (a very rare occurrence for me, to change my vote this late in the campaign). The fact that she didn't even send her kids to public school was the straw that broke the camels back. Plus, the provincial NDP candidate here endorsed her opponent, so I'm feeling good about my switch.

If you are referring to that Dr. Nili Kaplan-Myrrh - I don't blame you. If i had to choose between her and some rightwing Bible thumper I'd vote for her but if there is a sane progressive alternative I'll support that person. I had a lot of time for the Dr. in the early days of the pandemic but now she has just become histrionic and seems like a single issue candidate who wants the whole world to wear N95 masks in perpetuity. I saw her in a panel discussion on TVO and she was totally out of control screaming and name calling other panellists. I do NOT want that woman to have any future in the NDP or in progressive politics in Ottawa - the faster her political career is extinguished the better.

[The Right Honourable Martin Brian Mulroney PC CC GOQ]

Funnily enough, the school trustee race in my zone has become about masks and what not. The top two candidates have nearly identical platforms except for on masks. They're both very progressive, both endorsed by Horizon Ottawa, etc. However, one is an over zealous doctor who a huge Twitter following who insists on wearing a mask all the time, and got really upset at her opponent for not wearing a mask at a recent debate. Her opponent is more sane on the issue, saying we should follow Ottawa Public Health advice, but wrote an opinion piece in the Citizen saying we should go back to normal at schools and re-start school extra curriculars, etc.  She has attracted a rather usavoury following though, based solely on her opponent. The campaign is getting rather nasty.

I was originally going to vote for the doctor candidate, as she has been endorsed by McKenney and has some connections to the NDP, but now I am changing my vote (a very rare occurrence for me, to change my vote this late in the campaign). The fact that she didn't even send her kids to public school was the straw that broke the camels back. Plus, the provincial NDP candidate here endorsed her opponent, so I'm feeling good about my switch.

Ah yes, Dr. Nili "return to normalcy is a far-right dogwhistle" Kaplan-Myrth.

[Hatman 🍁]

Funnily enough, the school trustee race in my zone has become about masks and what not. The top two candidates have nearly identical platforms except for on masks. They're both very progressive, both endorsed by Horizon Ottawa, etc. However, one is an over zealous doctor who a huge Twitter following who insists on wearing a mask all the time, and got really upset at her opponent for not wearing a mask at a recent debate. Her opponent is more sane on the issue, saying we should follow Ottawa Public Health advice, but wrote an opinion piece in the Citizen saying we should go back to normal at schools and re-start school extra curriculars, etc.  She has attracted a rather usavoury following though, based solely on her opponent. The campaign is getting rather nasty.

I was originally going to vote for the doctor candidate, as she has been endorsed by McKenney and has some connections to the NDP, but now I am changing my vote (a very rare occurrence for me, to change my vote this late in the campaign). The fact that she didn't even send her kids to public school was the straw that broke the camels back. Plus, the provincial NDP candidate here endorsed her opponent, so I'm feeling good about my switch.

If you are referring to that Dr. Nili Kaplan-Myrrh - I don't blame you. If i had to choose between her and some rightwing Bible thumper I'd vote for her but if there is a sane progressive alternative I'll support that person. I had a lot of time for the Dr. in the early days of the pandemic but now she has just become histrionic and seems like a single issue candidate who wants the whole world to wear N95 masks in perpetuity. I saw her in a panel discussion on TVO and she was totally out of control screaming and name calling other panellists. I do NOT want that woman to have any future in the NDP or in progressive politics in Ottawa - the faster her political career is extinguished the better.

Yes, that's her.

[toaster]

In Toronto, the Viamonde (French Public board in Southern Ontario) trustee race in Ward 3 (Viamonde's Ward 3 - no the city's, represents much of the downtown area) has been cancelled as neither candidate spoke French, and don't meet the requirements outlined in the Education act.

[Hatman 🍁]

In Toronto, the Viamonde (French Public board in Southern Ontario) trustee race in Ward 3 (Viamonde's Ward 3 - no the city's, represents much of the downtown area) has been cancelled as neither candidate spoke French, and don't meet the requirements outlined in the Education act.

lol

[Krago]

If you looking for which school trustee candidate NOT to vote for, this site is a big help.

Find a trustee in your area that is non-woke.

[Krago]

If you looking for which school trustee candidate NOT to vote for, this site is a big help.

Find a trustee in your area that is non-woke.

It seems that the website has been 'cancelled' for reasons that will forever remain obscure.

For what it's worth. they have a Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100087045550975

[DL]

So the final poll in Ottawa by Mainstreet seems to show that whatever momentum Sutcliffe had in recent weeks has stalled and McKenney leads him 42-38 among decided voters.

Of course its very close and could go either way. Looking at the crosstabs I'd say that Sutcliffe's advantage is that he does better among elderly voters who are usually more likely to vote. But on the other hand, McKenney has big leads among those with university educations and those with higher incomes and those are also segments who are more likely to vote so it may be a bit of a wash.

https://www.ipolitics.ca/queens-park/catherine-mckenney-has-very-narrow-lead-in-ottawa-mayoral-race-poll

  

[toaster]

Scarborough Councillor Cynthia Lai has died.  Not sure what happens on Monday in this case.

[MaxQue]

If you looking for which school trustee candidate NOT to vote for, this site is a big help.

Find a trustee in your area that is non-woke.

It seems that the website has been 'cancelled' for reasons that will forever remain obscure.

For what it's worth. they have a Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100087045550975

They've been "cancelled" because, like all far-right movements, they like to pretend they are victims, when they're just low-life scum.

[DL]

Scarborough Councillor Cynthia Lai has died.  Not sure what happens on Monday in this case.

The election goes ahead and her votes are discarded and the only other serious candidate is a leftwing activist named Jamaal Myers and he will likely win replacing LI who was a rightwing conservative

[Hatman 🍁]

So the final poll in Ottawa by Mainstreet seems to show that whatever momentum Sutcliffe had in recent weeks has stalled and McKenney leads him 42-38 among decided voters.

Of course its very close and could go either way. Looking at the crosstabs I'd say that Sutcliffe's advantage is that he does better among elderly voters who are usually more likely to vote. But on the other hand, McKenney has big leads among those with university educations and those with higher incomes and those are also segments who are more likely to vote so it may be a bit of a wash.

https://www.ipolitics.ca/queens-park/catherine-mckenney-has-very-narrow-lead-in-ottawa-mayoral-race-poll

  

We helped them out with the poll. They some how have fringe candidate Param Singh in third at 11%, when he wasn't even included in our script. lol

Scarborough Councillor Cynthia Lai has died.  Not sure what happens on Monday in this case.

The election goes ahead and her votes are discarded and the only other serious candidate is a leftwing activist named Jamaal Myers and he will likely win replacing LI who was a rightwing conservative

Fairly undemocratic decision by the city clerk. The proper thing to do is cancel the election and hold a by-election OR indicate that a Lai win prompts a council vacancy.

[toaster]

Scarborough Councillor Cynthia Lai has died.  Not sure what happens on Monday in this case.

The election goes ahead and her votes are discarded and the only other serious candidate is a leftwing activist named Jamaal Myers and he will likely win replacing LI who was a rightwing conservative

Fairly undemocratic decision by the city clerk. The proper thing to do is cancel the election and hold a by-election OR indicate that a Lai win prompts a council vacancy.

As much as I disagreed with her politics (she was more right of centre), I don't think this is an appropriate decision by the clerk. If the Lai name wins, a by-election should be held.  You are forcing the 2nd place candidate (in what was essentially a 2 person race - so the precise person the community was not going to choose) onto the community - this is not how you engage or appropriately represent community. I wonder if (god forbid) Tory died, would they do the same thing - let the person with less than 30% support of the people be the mayor? This is a dangerous decision, the way to power in Toronto in the future could be to just literally have your leading challenger eliminated (read killed).  Insane.

[adma]

Scarborough Councillor Cynthia Lai has died.  Not sure what happens on Monday in this case.

The election goes ahead and her votes are discarded and the only other serious candidate is a leftwing activist named Jamaal Myers and he will likely win replacing LI who was a rightwing conservative

Fairly undemocratic decision by the city clerk. The proper thing to do is cancel the election and hold a by-election OR indicate that a Lai win prompts a council vacancy.

As much as I disagreed with her politics (she was more right of centre), I don't think this is an appropriate decision by the clerk. If the Lai name wins, a by-election should be held.  You are forcing the 2nd place candidate (in what was essentially a 2 person race - so the precise person the community was not going to choose) onto the community - this is not how you engage or appropriately represent community. I wonder if (god forbid) Tory died, would they do the same thing - let the person with less than 30% support of the people be the mayor? This is a dangerous decision, the way to power in Toronto in the future could be to just literally have your leading challenger eliminated (read killed).  Insane.

It's a reason the pre-megacity of Toronto changed its electoral rules in the 1970s; otherwise, the risk in the event of vacancy would have been of the mayoralty going to David Crombie's distant runner-up, which in 1974 was white supremacist Don Andrews.

Speaking, once more, of the absence of far-right figures on the ballot; I wonder if it's also in part because their chosen technique this cycle is that of trolling and harrassment rather than of running--undermining democracy from without rather than from within, perhaps because they know there's no viable avenue "within"...

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/hamilton/campaign-hatred-municipal-election-2022-1.6626205

[The Right Honourable Martin Brian Mulroney PC CC GOQ]

Fairly undemocratic decision by the city clerk. The proper thing to do is cancel the election and hold a by-election OR indicate that a Lai win prompts a council vacancy.

It's also not the precedent in Canada, at least as far as I'm aware. I remember an instance in the last PEI election where a non-incumbent candidate died during the writ period, when it was too late for their party to replace them, so they just deferred the election in that riding to a by-election. Considering this is the death of an incumbent, it seems even worse that the City of Toronto wouldn't do the same.

[The Right Honourable Martin Brian Mulroney PC CC GOQ]

Patrick Brown charged Brampton taxpayers for CPC leadership campaign social media posts


Seems like old news, I know, but this hadn't actually been confirmed, just alleged. A FOI request found that it did indeed happen. The funny thing about "Patrick Brown scandal" is that it could be a headline from 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021 or 2022. Hard to say whether he's actually in trouble in Brampton though.

It's funny to me how there's a certain kind of left-leaning voter who furiously defends Patrick Brown, just because of an "enemy of my enemy is my friend" thing, given his relationship with Ford and Poilievre. But Patrick Brown is like a caricature of a sleazy career politician whose only real aspiration is to hold some kind of political power and is willing to do anything to get it. It's kind of fitting that he's the mayor of a GTA city in that sense, tbh. But I do hope he loses.

[DL]

Fairly undemocratic decision by the city clerk. The proper thing to do is cancel the election and hold a by-election OR indicate that a Lai win prompts a council vacancy.

It's also not the precedent in Canada, at least as far as I'm aware. I remember an instance in the last PEI election where a non-incumbent candidate died during the writ period, when it was too late for their party to replace them, so they just deferred the election in that riding to a by-election. Considering this is the death of an incumbent, it seems even worse that the City of Toronto wouldn't do the same.

Yes but maybe it’s different in a jurisdiction with a party system where you might want the party to be able to sub someone etc.,.you know there are something like 60 people on the ballot for mayor. Do we postpone the entire municipal election of any of them die before election day?

[The Right Honourable Martin Brian Mulroney PC CC GOQ]

Fairly undemocratic decision by the city clerk. The proper thing to do is cancel the election and hold a by-election OR indicate that a Lai win prompts a council vacancy.

It's also not the precedent in Canada, at least as far as I'm aware. I remember an instance in the last PEI election where a non-incumbent candidate died during the writ period, when it was too late for their party to replace them, so they just deferred the election in that riding to a by-election. Considering this is the death of an incumbent, it seems even worse that the City of Toronto wouldn't do the same.

Yes but maybe it’s different in a jurisdiction with a party system where you might want the party to be able to sub someone etc.,.you know there are something like 60 people on the ballot for mayor. Do we postpone the entire municipal election of any of them die before election day?

Well for one, this isn't a mayoral situation, it's a City Council seat. It wouldn't be a catastrophe to leave one seat vacant for a couple months until a by-election could be held. Or even if the election goes as planned and someone gets elected, hold a "recall" style by-election to test their confidence in a more fair playing field.

You raise a good point about what would happen in a Mayoral situation. If John Tory dropped dead tomorrow, I don't think it would be at all fair to give Gil Penalosa the keys to the Mayor's office for the next four years by default due to a force of nature, but you can't just leave the mayoralty vacant either. I think a recall byelection could work in this situation too though.

[DabbingSanta]

You know you're sunk when your core demographic of Hatmans and r/Ottawa posters won't even back you any more. It will be great watching communist "Dr" Nili Kaplan-Myrth lose the election tonight.

[Hash]

As a Colombian politics aficionado, I find it very funny that Enrique Peñalosa's brother is running for mayor of Toronto (I didn't even know he had a brother living in Canada). It's interesting that Gil shares his brother's obsession with urban planning, bike lanes, public spaces, parks and even BRT (he cites Bogotá's broken TransMilenio amongst his sources of inspiration for his BRT plan), although unlike his brother he does seem genuinely progressive/left-leaning and not a centre-right liberal (although a lot of his policy stuff is about public spaces, so I'm not sure if the Overton window in Toronto city politics is just to the right of Bogotá's...), and he also doesn't seem to hate trees. I don't know if he's as clumsy, gaffe-prone and unintentionally hilariously tone deaf as his brother. He's probably better than John Tory in any case, but whatever.

The Ottawa election is certainly the most interesting election in the 15 years I've lived here, and while the negative campaigning was dumb and frustrating, it was still nice to see a more serious debate of important issues than in any of the past local elections (and a choice between pretty clear differing visions of the city). I'm obviously voting for McKenney as they are the only chance we have to improve this city, make it less boring and actually has a forward-thinking progressive vision for this city rather than the plodding managerialism/managed decline of Watson-Sutcliffe (whose urban visions seem to consist of building more expensive condos and the umpteenth weed shops downtown while catering to suburbanites who hate everything, and letting public transportation go down the drain while staging photo-ops on the train when it works). Obviously they win, because four years of Sutcliffe is obviously going to be Watson 2.0. That guy is obviously a phony and a hypocrite, the latest creation of this city's political establishment and their developer friends. For city council, I'll be voting for Lori Stinson - Dudas is a terrible Watson crony, although she's nice and responsive, which is more than can be said for some of the councillors in this city. Not particularly a huge fan of Horizon Ottawa and its leftist-NDP activist vibe (although the hate for them is very funny, and I obviously think we need more ideological and even partisan politics in local politics ffs), and Stinson is pretty leftist. For school board, I have little idea - my ward doesn't any anti-trans/far-right candidates or militantly pro-mandatory mask candidates, which are the two things I would never vote for. Obviously I hope Kaplan-Myrth loses so that her annoying ZeroCovid grift can be stopped before it attempts to go any further.

[Hash]

Toronto, 1223/1535 reporting:

Tory 60.76%
Peñalosa 18.09%
Chloe-Marie Brown 7.26% (rando who appears left-leaning)

[Hash]

Ottawa, 47/842 reporting:

Sutcliffe 53.06%
McKenney 34.39%
Chiarelli 6.8%

Hopefully these are old people who voted early or something, because this is a bad start.

[adma]

Toronto, 1223/1535 reporting:

Tory 60.76%
Peñalosa 18.09%
Chloe-Marie Brown 7.26% (rando who appears left-leaning)

She impressed in debates, so she's a bit of a sleeper.