The Day After
I hope all the Nine Inch Column's faithful readers voted yesterday in the municipal elections.
Here in your humble scribe's hometown of Mississauga, Mayor Hazel McCallion cruised to victory with 98,293 votes - compared to Donald Barber's 5,571 or Roy Willis' 3,667.
For your word of the day, see: Juggernaut.
Also, disappointingly, Eve Adams was re-elected in Mississauga'a Ward 5, despite numerous campaign violations. It begs the question of just what an incumbent has to do to lose an election in this town. Beat a puppy to death with a sack of doorknobs, maybe? (Readers will note -with gratitude, I hope - that I have not sought out a hyperlink for that last sentence.)
But, new to council, thanks to some geographical redistribution, is Carolyn Parrish. Her victory will at least bring some much needed drama to Council meetings. She has already declared future intentions of seeking the mayoralty, and this means she'll be trying to make a name for herself at Council, while Hazel (and other councillors with similar ambitions) try to prevent her.
Finally, looking east across the Etobicoke Creek, a comment about hapless Toronto mayoral candidate Stephen LeDrew. Here's LeDrew, an influential lawyer, former President of the Liberal Party of Canada, with political experience and connections out the wazoo, who managed only to get 1.4% of the votes for mayor (8,078 compared to David Miller's 332,969).
He's a cautionary tale if ever there was one. I can see the thought process: "I've got a national profile. I've got the Liberal machine behind me," he probably thought to himself. "There's no doubt I can be a legitimate contender." Perhaps his bow tie was a little too tight, or perhaps he's spent too much time protected from the rest of the world by the oak-panelled walls of the National Club.
My point is this: I'm a political junkie. I ran for office in 2003 and made a reasonable go of it. I'll likely run again some day. But God protect me from the blindness that afflicts so many candidates - the hubris, the inflated sense of their own importance and influence. It must truly be a rare thing in politics to be aware of your place in the universe, and to respect the limits of your own notoriety.
Here in your humble scribe's hometown of Mississauga, Mayor Hazel McCallion cruised to victory with 98,293 votes - compared to Donald Barber's 5,571 or Roy Willis' 3,667.
For your word of the day, see: Juggernaut.
Also, disappointingly, Eve Adams was re-elected in Mississauga'a Ward 5, despite numerous campaign violations. It begs the question of just what an incumbent has to do to lose an election in this town. Beat a puppy to death with a sack of doorknobs, maybe? (Readers will note -with gratitude, I hope - that I have not sought out a hyperlink for that last sentence.)
But, new to council, thanks to some geographical redistribution, is Carolyn Parrish. Her victory will at least bring some much needed drama to Council meetings. She has already declared future intentions of seeking the mayoralty, and this means she'll be trying to make a name for herself at Council, while Hazel (and other councillors with similar ambitions) try to prevent her.
Finally, looking east across the Etobicoke Creek, a comment about hapless Toronto mayoral candidate Stephen LeDrew. Here's LeDrew, an influential lawyer, former President of the Liberal Party of Canada, with political experience and connections out the wazoo, who managed only to get 1.4% of the votes for mayor (8,078 compared to David Miller's 332,969).
He's a cautionary tale if ever there was one. I can see the thought process: "I've got a national profile. I've got the Liberal machine behind me," he probably thought to himself. "There's no doubt I can be a legitimate contender." Perhaps his bow tie was a little too tight, or perhaps he's spent too much time protected from the rest of the world by the oak-panelled walls of the National Club.
My point is this: I'm a political junkie. I ran for office in 2003 and made a reasonable go of it. I'll likely run again some day. But God protect me from the blindness that afflicts so many candidates - the hubris, the inflated sense of their own importance and influence. It must truly be a rare thing in politics to be aware of your place in the universe, and to respect the limits of your own notoriety.
posted by Benjamin Thornton at 1:05 p.m.
1 Comments:
Hi Benjamin,
I live in Ward 5. Don't blame me, I voted for Karam Singh Punian (he finished second). The obvious problem with not voting for Adams was that there was no one else to vote for unless you really went digging.
There was no obvious (or semi-obvious) alternative to most people, given that there were nine other options, each with lawn signs all over the place.
Finally, like it or not, Ward 5 isn't the most literate or savvy ward in the city. I have to believe that a large portion of the 5,000+ who voted for her weren't really aware.
Post a Comment
<< Home