“Change doesn’t always mean progress, but the status quo is not always the best result, either. It is merely the most convenient.” – Harsha Bhogle, Indian cricket commentator and journalist.
102 candidates are running to be Toronto’s 66th mayor.
Which of these candidates…
Looks like a mayor?
Talks like a mayor?
Listens like your neighbour?
It may be just me, but I have trouble trusting anyone seeking government power, whether federal, provincial, or municipal. Therefore, I view what any of the current Toronto mayoral candidates say or promise with skepticism, if for no other reason than the promises being made by all 102 candidates have been made many times over in previous elections. Mayoral candidates, as well as candidates for city council, have been throwing around, since Toronto was founded on January 1, 1834, promises that if elected, they will change the status quo… and here is Toronto today, with its existing state of affairs, for better or worse.
In 2022, when John Tory was running for a 3rd term as Toronto mayor, there were only 31 mayoral candidates. Now that Tory is not running, there are 102 candidates. Seven candidates (Ana Bailão, Brad Bradford, Olivia Chow, Anthony Furey, Mitzie Hunter, Josh Matlow and Mark Sauders) are considered leading candidates by the media and pollsters. None of the seven ran against Tory in 2022 or the 2018 elections. Suddenly all these candidates, who didn’t run against Tory nine months ago, are “concerned” about Toronto. To be blunt, the seven leading candidates and all the candidates who didn’t run against Tory in 2022 are opportunists. (SURPRISE!)
Anyone seeking political power is an “opportunist” to some extent, even those who seek to use their power for new initiatives or to correct the injustices and social ills they perceive.
Regardless of how much a Toronto mayoral candidate shouts, “I’m not the status quo!” they are still offering Torontonians some form of “status quo.” Like Baskin Robbins offers a variety of ice cream flavours, the Toronto mayoral candidates, especially the seven leading candidates, offer a wide variety of self-serving status quo that will serve their self-interests (to obtain political power) and the self-interests of a large number of voters.
Speaking of “self-interests,” nothing has spoken more loudly about protecting one’s self-interest (to hold onto political power) than the fact that none of the high-profile candidates—actually the majority of the candidates—have talked about where they stand on ranked ballots, whether they support term limits, how they will use their veto powers, or except for a few candidates who stated they will raise property taxes, a cliche status quo strategy for increasing the city’s revenue, how they plan to deal with Toronto’s almost $1 billion budget deficit.
The irony is not lost on me that many candidates say Toronto is unaffordable and then say property taxes need to be increased, as if higher taxes will not increase the cost of homeownership or not be passed on to renters, thus making Toronto even more unaffordable.
Left-leaning vs. right-leaning status quo
Left-leaning candidates have their status quo (e.g., increasing taxes to fund more government services). Right-leaning candidates have their status quo (e.g., reducing government services to avoid tax increases). It would be naive not to think that the mayoral candidates running serious campaigns do not have self-serving agendas. Great politicians leverage the adage, “You scratch my back, and I will scratch yours,” knowing voters with a keen sense of their own self-interest vote for the candidate whose platform promises, if they are to be believed, are most aligned with their self-interest.
Increasingly, love, in its most general and drawn-out definition, exists only when the other person serves your self-interest. Astute politicians know this.
BOTTOM-LINE: Voters vote for the candidate who offers a status quo that is in their best interest.
A person’s perspective influences their desired status quo.
How someone defines the status quo is greatly influenced by their perspective. A person’s perspective is shaped by their location and experiences. The view of Toronto from a barstool in Sneaky Dees on a Friday night, while sitting on a bench on the Guildwood Inn’s lawn, while jogging along the Beaches Boardwalk, while watching TV in a Regent Park apartment, or while eating Szechuan Express’s crispy ginger beef in Sherway Gardens food court would hardly offer a definitive definition of the “Toronto experience,” yet for many it is.
In many European cities, bike lanes are part of the status quo, and Toronto cyclists want bike lanes to be part of Toronto’s status quo. On the other hand, removing bike lanes is in keeping with a dated status quo still desired by drivers (it would serve their self-interest) since bike lanes take up road space and appear to be underused. Which status quo would you choose if you were experiencing Toronto as a cyclist versus a driver?
In many American cities, such as New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Seattle, Milwaukee, and Baltimore, a new status quo was adopted when the police were defunded in order to increase social services funding. This is not a status quo that victims of crime and people who feel unsafe want in Toronto. Therefore, they tend to support candidates who promise to increase police spending.
Political success is based on selling your status quo to as many voters as possible.
Olivia Chow does not stand for anything.
According to polls, Olivia Chow is expected to become Toronto’s next mayor. I believe the reason Olivia Chow is leading, and by a large margin, is not because she stands for something. Chow’s popularity stems from the fact that she has spent her entire political career challenging the status quo (READ: promoting her version of status quo) the right cherishes, which has not served the self-interest of many Torontonians for quite a long time. This is why the very pointed anti-Olivia Chow campaigns—vying for the “anyone but Chow” votes—Bailão, Bradford and especially Saunders have been running have worked against them.
Here is the rub; except for Furey, all the forerunners are career politicians who have had time to demonstrate that they can bring about the changes they promise. They are either lying to themselves or just to voters. Change does not come from stagnation. It requires new vision, energy and presence. None of the leading candidates, in fact, most of the mayoral candidates (I can think of a few exceptions, Bahira Abdulsalam, Darren Atkinson and Sarah Climenhaga come to mind.) offers any meaningful change other than proposing their status quo be implemented—to continue, and enhance, the current right-leaning status quo or to go back to the left-leaning status quo Toronto had under Barbara Hall and David Miller.
Distancing themselves from their political past
It is mildly amusing how the sitting councillors now running for mayor (Brad Bradford, Josh Matlow, Anthony Perruzza) are trying to distance themselves from city hall and their record. They had years to make things right, or at least show they were “trying” to make things right. Now that their former boss is gone, suddenly, they have “solutions” for all that ills Toronto. I question voting for a current sitting councillor who suddenly has all the answers. Is it not better to have them return to their jobs and see what they do to prepare for the next Toronto election, which is just three years away in 2026?
Current and former city councillors (e.g., Oliva Chow, Rob Davis, Giorgio Mattoliti), along with former Ontario MPP (Mitzie Hunter) and former Liberal MP (Celina Caesar-Chavannes) and former Toronto Chief of Police (Mark Saunders), seem to have forgotten and hope voters will forget, that they were, or are, part of the city and provincial government and therefore were part of the problems they are now trying to convince voters they will now fix. There is one thing you can be sure of, candidates running for office will make, regardless of their politics, experience (if any), or the status quo they are trying to sell… promises, promises, promises.
Except for Anthony Furey, the forerunners have had years to demonstrate that they can be the kind of mayor Toronto now needs, someone who is fiscally prudent (READ: Respects the taxpayer’s money.) and has the political diplomacy to work well with Doug Ford’s temperament.
It would be nice if voters educated themselves on a candidate’s background, with the understanding that past behaviour is indicative of future behaviour. Social media makes it easy to thoroughly research candidates and grasp what kind of representation to expect from them.
All you see around you, the good, the bad, the ugly, the Toronto that is, was created, for the most part, by politicians. If you like what you see, then vote for one of the career politicians (lots to choose from). Regardless of which career politician you vote for, the three issues that are top of mind for most Torontonians, housing affordability, crime, and public transit, will continue to be of increasing concern.
Immigration to Canada makes it almost impossible to build housing fast enough to accommodate the influx of people moving to Toronto.
It would be naïve to think massively populated cities like New York, Chicago, London, Paris and Toronto, the 4th most populous city in North America, will never have crime.
The mayoral candidates do not seem to understand, let alone empathize with, the logistical nightmares associated with moving a constantly increasing population via mass transit, not to mention continuously building and maintaining infrastructure.
However, if Torontonians do not like what you see or where Toronto is heading (My read: ‘San Francisco of the North.’),they should consider voting for a candidate whose status quo has yet to be tried, which may “somewhat” change how Toronto looks and feels like.
____________________________________________
Nick Kossovan, a self-described connoisseur of human psychology, writes about what’s on his mind from Toronto. You can follow Nick on Twitter and Instagram @NKossovan
MONCTON, N.B. – New Brunswick RCMP say two youths have been arrested after an emergency alert was issued Monday evening about someone carrying a gun in the province’s southeast.
Caledonia Region Mounties say they were first called out to Main Street in the community of Salisbury around 7 p.m. on reports of a shooting.
A 48-year-old man was found at the scene suffering from gunshot wounds and he was rushed to hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.
Police say in the interest of public safety, they issued an Alert Ready message at 8:15 p.m. for someone driving a silver Ford F-150 pickup truck and reportedly carrying a firearm with dangerous intent in the Salisbury and Moncton area.
Two youths were arrested without incident later in the evening in Salisbury, and the alert was cancelled just after midnight Tuesday.
Police are still looking for the silver pickup truck, covered in mud, with possible Nova Scotia licence plate HDC 958. They now confirm the truck was stolen from Central Blissville.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 16, 2024.
MISSISSAUGA, Ont. – Golf Canada has set an impressive stretch goal of having 30 professional golfers at the highest levels of the sport by 2032.
The World Junior Girls Golf Championship is a huge part of that target.
Credit Valley Golf and Country Club will host the international tournament from Sept. 30 to Oct. 5, with 24 teams representing 23 nations — Canada gets two squads — competing. Lindsay McGrath, a 17-year-old golfer from Oakville, Ont., said she’s excited to be representing Canada and continue to develop her game.
“I’m really grateful to be here,” said McGrath on Monday after a news conference in Credit Valley’s clubhouse in Mississauga, Ont. “It’s just such an awesome feeling being here and representing our country, wearing all the logos and being on Team Canada.
“I’ve always wanted to play in this tournament, so it’s really special to me.”
McGrath will be joined by Nobelle Park of Oakville, Ont., and Eileen Park of Red Deer, Alta., on Team Canada 2. All three earned their places through a qualifying tournament last month.
“I love my teammates so much,” said McGrath. “I know Nobelle and Eileen very well. I’m just so excited to be with them. We have such a great relationship.”
Shauna Liu of Maple, Ont., Calgary’s Aphrodite Deng and Clairey Lin make up Team Canada 2. Liu earned her exemption following her win at the 2024 Canadian Junior Girls Championship while Deng earned her exemption as being the low eligible Canadian on the world amateur golf ranking as of Aug. 7.
Deng was No. 175 at the time, she has since improved to No. 171 and is Canada’s lowest-ranked player.
“I think it’s a really great opportunity,” said Liu. “We don’t really get that many opportunities to play with people from across the world, so it’s really great to meet new people and play with them.
“It’s great to see maybe how they play and take parts from their game that we might also implement our own games.”
Golf Canada founded the World Junior Girls Golf Championship in 2014 to fill a void in women’s international competition and help grow its own homegrown talent. The hosts won for the first time last year when Vancouver’s Anna Huang, Toronto’s Vanessa Borovilos and Vancouver’s Vanessa Zhang won team gold and Huang earned individual silver.
Medallists who have gone on to win on the LPGA Tour include Brooke Henderson of Smiths Falls, Ont., who was fourth in the individual competition at the inaugural tournament. She was on Canada’s bronze-medal team in 2014 with Selena Costabile of Thornhill, Ont., and Calgary’s Jaclyn Lee.
Other notable competitors who went on to become LPGA Tour winners include Angel Yin and Megan Khang of the United States, as well as Yuka Saso of the Philippines, Sweden’s Linn Grant and Atthaya Thitikul of Thailand.
“It’s not if, it’s when they’re going to be on the LPGA Tour,” said Garrett Ball, Golf Canada’s chief operating officer, of how Canada’s golfers in the World Junior Girls Championship can be part of the organization’s goal to have 30 pros in the LPGA and PGA Tours by 2032.
“Events like this, like the She Plays Golf festival that we launched two years ago, and then the CPKC Women’s Open exemptions that we utilize to bring in our national team athletes and get the experience has been important in that pathway.”
The individual winner of the World Junior Girls Golf Championship will earn a berth in next year’s CPKC Women’s Open at nearby Mississaugua Golf and Country Club.
Both clubs, as well as former RBC Canadian Open host site Glen Abbey Golf Club, were devastated by heavy rains through June and July as the Greater Toronto Area had its wettest summer in recorded history.
Jason Hanna, the chief operating officer of Credit Valley Golf and Country Club, said that he has seen the Credit River flood so badly that it affected the course’s playability a handful of times over his nearly two decades with the club.
Staff and members alike came together to clean up the course after the flooding was over, with hundreds of people coming together to make the club playable again.
“You had to show up, bring your own rake, bring your own shovel, bring your own gloves, and then we’d take them down to the golf course, assign them to areas where they would work, and then we would do a big barbecue down at the halfway house,” said Hanna. “We got guys, like, 80 years old, putting in eight-hour days down there, working away.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 16, 2024.
NEW YORK (AP) — Fenway Park has the Ted Williams seat. And now Citi Field has the Grimace seat.
The kid-friendly McDonald’s character made another appearance at the ballpark Monday, when the New York Mets unveiled a commemorative purple seat in section 302 to honor “his special connection to Mets fans.”
Wearing his pear-shaped purple costume and a baseball glove on backwards, Grimace threw out a funny-looking first pitch — as best he could with those furry fingers and short arms — before New York beat the Miami Marlins at Citi Field on June 12.
That victory began a seven-game winning streak, and Grimace the Mets’ good-luck charm soon went viral, taking on a life of its own online.
New York is 53-31 since June 12, the best record in the majors during that span. The Mets were tied with rival Atlanta for the last National League playoff spot as they opened their final homestand of the season Monday night against Washington.
The new Grimace seat in the second deck in right field — located in row 6, seat 12 to signify 6/12 on the calendar — was brought into the Shannon Forde press conference room Monday afternoon. The character posed next to the chair and with fans who strolled into the room.
The seat is available for purchase for each of the Mets’ remaining home games.
“It’s been great to see how our fanbase created the Grimace phenomenon following his first pitch in June and in the months since,” Mets senior vice president of partnerships Brenden Mallette said in a news release. “As we explored how to further capture the magic of this moment and celebrate our new celebrity fan, installing a commemorative seat ahead of fan appreciation weekend felt like the perfect way to give something back to the fans in a fun and unique way.”
Up in Boston, the famous Ted Williams seat is painted bright red among rows of green chairs deep in the right-field stands at Fenway Park to mark where a reported 502-foot homer hit by the Hall of Fame slugger landed in June 1946.
So, does this catapult Grimace into Splendid Splinter territory?
“I don’t know if we put him on the same level,” Mets executive vice president and chief marketing officer Andy Goldberg said with a grin.
“It’s just been a fun year, and at the same time, we’ve been playing great ball. Ever since the end of May, we have been crushing it,” he explained. “So I think that added to the mystique.”
