Poke your head into any city hall across the country, and there’s a chance you’ll find a former MP or member of the provincial legislature sitting in the mayor’s chair.
Recent municipal elections in B.C., Ontario and Manitoba saw scores of seasoned politicians making the jump — or the return — to the local level.
Andrea Horwath is among them. The former Ontario NDP leader is the newly elected mayor of Hamilton, Ont.
”Certainly I had accomplishments that really did affect all of Ontario, as an opposition leader,” she told CBC Radio’s The House. ”But the municipal order of government really is the closest to the people.”
Horwath is one of at least a dozen politicians in Ontario alone who previously held provincial or federal seats and last week won their race to become mayor.
CBC News: The House8:11Why are so many federal and provincial politicians moving into the mayor’s chair?
CBC’s Emma Godmere speaks to newly elected mayors and experts about why so many provincial and federal politicians are making the leap to municipal politics.
But why are so many political veterans taking their talents to the local level?
“I understand that folks may have some cynicism,” Horwath said.
“It’s not that you’re in it for any kind of personal aggrandizement or personal agenda. You’re in it to serve your community.”
‘People have a real stake in you:’ former Calgary mayor
According to one of Canada’s best-known former mayors, there’s simply no better gig around.
“It is the only political job in Canada — the only executive level political job in Canada — where you are actually elected by everyone you serve,” said Naheed Nenshi, who served as mayor of Calgary for just over a decade.
“The prime minister is not directly elected, premiers are not directly elected, but the mayor is,” he explained. “Because of that, people have a real stake in you.”
Naheed Nenshi speaks to the media the day after being elected as mayor of Calgary in October 2010. ‘[Mayor] is the only political job in Canada — the only executive level political job in Canada — where you are actually elected by everyone you serve,’ he said. (Jeff McIntosh/The Canadian Press)
Even if voters recognize that stake, some might expect mayors to become MPs — and not the other way around.
“I think we’re actually very wrong to see politics as this kind of progression, of city council being the minor leagues and then provincial and federal politics somehow being the major leagues,” said Shannon Sampert, a political analyst and columnist for the Winnipeg Free Press.
Sampert — who just helped guide new Winnipeg mayor Scott Gillingham’s campaign to victory — is also quick to push back on the idea that politicians hopping from campaign to campaign could be looked down upon.
“I think that we need to think that being a career politician isn’t necessarily bad,” she said. “I think you have a best-before date … constituents will let you know when they’re sick of you as well.”
MPs can face long periods away from home, election uncertainty
Former Conservative MP Alex Nuttall, just elected mayor of Barrie, Ont., is one of several federal representatives who chose to leave Ottawa and switch to municipal politics. Previously a Barrie city councillor, he was first elected MP in 2015 but declined to run again in 2019, opting to spend more time with his family.
“When I made that decision, it was one that I didn’t take lightly,” he told The House.
Nuttall’s father recently dug up an old hockey card from when the mayor-elect was 13 years old.
“And on the back of my hockey card, my future ambitions were to become a member of Parliament.”
Nuttall admits that dream job came with plenty of challenges.
“When you’re elected as a member of Parliament, and really any position — it’s not a job, it’s a lifestyle, right? It’s most severe on the federal level,” Nuttall explained.
“I was lucky. I was only a five-hour trip to Ottawa from Barrie. But there were lots of folks who, it’s 12 hours for them to get from their home to Parliament Hill. And you know, that has a humongous effect on family life.”
Ken Boshcoff, right, is congratulated by a supporter after winning the mayoral race in Thunder Bay, Ont., earlier this month. (Marc Doucette/CBC)
Ken Boshcoff remembers those personal impacts well. The newly elected mayor of Thunder Bay, Ont., held the job before, back in the 1990s, before becoming a Liberal MP under the minority governments of Paul Martin and Stephen Harper.
“Every day was the possibility of an election,” Boshcoff told The House.
“You know exactly, right now, when the next municipal elections are — in four years. So it truly makes a difference in terms of stability, and your ability to plan and even act as a human. Whereas in federal Parliament, you certainly wouldn’t be buying a car or a house if you were with the government at that time. It was just not doable.”
Taking the parties out of politics
While remaining an MP comes with obstacles, leaving Parliament Hill can also be difficult for some.
“In our research, we found challenges with transitioning to a non-political career,” said Sabreena Delhon of the Samara Centre for Democracy.
The non-partisan group has spent years holding exit interviews with MPs to get a sense of why many choose to move on from federal politics.
“Once you have been a politician, it’s quite difficult for your community to see you as anything else,” Delhon explained.”So a cynical view might be that there’s this insatiable appetite, a narcissism related to being elected. But it might also be that political life has closed other professional doors for you.”
Nuttall, the mayor of Barrie, said he left a successful business career to return to municipal politics.
“I’ve been very blessed in my private sector career,” he said. “And I’m going back to public service, taking a pay cut, and wanting to contribute.”
The former Conservative MP said it can be easier to make that contribution without the partisanship Parliament often brings.
“You take the political parties out of it, and the reality is that there’s a lot more opportunity for consistency, for continuity on the items that are being worked on.”
Horwath announced her resignation as NDP provincial leader on June 2, 2022, after leading the party through four elections. (Tara Walton/The Canadian Press)
Horwath agrees.
“I have to admit that when I left municipal politics to become an MPP, one of the things I missed the most was that idea that we’re all in it together and we’re all working from the same space, or the same imperative,” she said.
Whether they make the jump for personal reasons or political reasons, former Calgary mayor Nenshi will tell any veteran-politician-turned-mayor that they made the right choice.
“I always joke — and I’ve been doing it for years — that if the federal government disappeared while we were talking, it would be a week or two before anyone noticed … but if your municipal government were to disappear, you’d have no roads, no parks, no transit, no emergency response,” he said.
“The issues that we are working on at the municipal level are the cool ones, the interesting ones. And I think more and more politicians are figuring out — that’s really where it’s at.”
Quebec legislature member Youri Chassin has announced he’s leaving the Coalition Avenir Québec government to sit as an Independent.
He announced the decision shortly after writing an open letter criticizing Premier François Legault’s government for abandoning its principles of smaller government.
In the letter published in Le Journal de Montréal and Le Journal de Québec, Chassin accused the party of falling back on what he called the old formula of throwing money at problems instead of looking to do things differently.
Chassin says public services are more fragile than ever, despite rising spending that pushed the province to a record $11-billion deficit projected in the last budget.
He is the second CAQ member to leave the party in a little more than one week, after economy and energy minister Pierre Fitzgibbon announced Sept. 4 he would leave because he lost motivation to do his job.
Chassin says he has no intention of joining another party and will instead sit as an Independent until the end of his term.
He has represented the Saint-Jérôme riding since the CAQ rose to power in 2018, but has not served in cabinet.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 12, 2024.
MONTREAL – NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh says he will not be taking advice from Pierre Poilievre after the Conservative leader challenged him to bring down government.
“I say directly to Pierre Poilievre: I’m not going to listen to you,” said Singh on Wednesday, accusing Poilievre of wanting to take away dental-care coverage from Canadians, among other things.
“I’m not going to listen to your advice. You want to destroy people’s lives, I want to build up a brighter future.”
Earlier in the day, Poilievre challenged Singh to commit to voting non-confidence in the government, saying his party will force a vote in the House of Commons “at the earliest possibly opportunity.”
“I’m asking Jagmeet Singh and the NDP to commit unequivocally before Monday’s byelections: will they vote non-confidence to bring down the costly coalition and trigger a carbon tax election, or will Jagmeet Singh sell out Canadians again?” Poilievre said.
“It’s put up or shut up time for the NDP.”
While Singh rejected the idea he would ever listen to Poilievre, he did not say how the NDP would vote on a non-confidence motion.
“I’ve said on any vote, we’re going to look at the vote and we’ll make our decision. I’m not going to say our decision ahead of time,” he said.
Singh’s top adviser said on Tuesday the NDP leader is not particularly eager to trigger an election, even as the Conservatives challenge him to do just that.
Anne McGrath, Singh’s principal secretary, says there will be more volatility in Parliament and the odds of an early election have risen.
“I don’t think he is anxious to launch one, or chomping at the bit to have one, but it can happen,” she said in an interview.
New Democrat MPs are in a second day of meetings in Montreal as they nail down a plan for how to navigate the minority Parliament this fall.
The caucus retreat comes one week after Singh announced the party has left the supply-and-confidence agreement with the governing Liberals.
It’s also taking place in the very city where New Democrats are hoping to pick up a seat on Monday, when voters go to the polls in Montreal’s LaSalle—Émard—Verdun. A second byelection is being held that day in the Winnipeg riding of Elmwood—Transcona, where the NDP is hoping to hold onto a seat the Conservatives are also vying for.
While New Democrats are seeking to distance themselves from the Liberals, they don’t appear ready to trigger a general election.
Singh signalled on Tuesday that he will have more to say Wednesday about the party’s strategy for the upcoming sitting.
He is hoping to convince Canadians that his party can defeat the federal Conservatives, who have been riding high in the polls over the last year.
Singh has attacked Poilievre as someone who would bring back Harper-style cuts to programs that Canadians rely on, including the national dental-care program that was part of the supply-and-confidence agreement.
The Canadian Press has asked Poilievre’s office whether the Conservative leader intends to keep the program in place, if he forms government after the next election.
With the return of Parliament just days away, the NDP is also keeping in mind how other parties will look to capitalize on the new makeup of the House of Commons.
The Bloc Québécois has already indicated that it’s written up a list of demands for the Liberals in exchange for support on votes.
The next federal election must take place by October 2025 at the latest.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 11, 2024.
Montreal Mayor Valérie Plante is defending her decision to turn off comments on her social media accounts — with an announcement on social media.
She posted screenshots to X this morning of vulgar names she’s been called on the platform, and says comments on her posts for months have been dominated by insults, to the point that she decided to block them.
Montreal’s Opposition leader and the Canadian Civil Liberties Association have criticized Plante for limiting freedom of expression by restricting comments on her X and Instagram accounts.
They say elected officials who use social media should be willing to hear from constituents on those platforms.
However, Plante says some people may believe there is a fundamental right to call someone offensive names and to normalize violence online, but she disagrees.
Her statement on X is closed to comments.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 11, 2024.
