"Cowardice asks the question...is it safe? Expediency asks the question...is it politic? Vanity asks the question...is it popular? But conscience asks the question...is it right? And there comes a time when one must take a position that is neither safe, nor politic, nor popular but one must take it because it is right." ~Dr. Martin Luther King

Sunday 19 October 2014

It's a business alright....unlike any other

I take my mind off the campaign by watching other  campaigns.  Particularly the Toronto mayoralty .

Today, the three were together in a forum  in North York. Non starter ,No Chance Lance was included.

John Tory had been  on camera  for a while when there was a break for a commercial.

An Olivia Chow commercial. It went on and on about the perfidy of John Tory. A request to vote for Olivia Chow came at the end without a reason for doing so.

The commercial ended. The camera returned  to John Tory.

Olivia had no control over the sequence.  Probably no-one did.  But...there it was.

John Tory was front and centre in valuable media space he neither asked nor paid for and may or may not to have been to his advantage.

Olivia Chow is a candidate of note. Gave up a safe seat in the federal parliament to serve Toronto .
Not the first municipal politician to prefer home turf.

Her experience  is extensive and professional.  An enviable reputation has been established at both government levels.

If  an option is timely in  thecity's politics, Olivia Chow is a real one.

Other than style, John Tory is not an option.

Toronto is only partly Rose-dale Golf Clubbish.

Without experience, he has no city politic skills.  Eminence gris  stature at Queen's Park and connections in Ottawa  avail him nothing.  Old boy at the Empire Club impresses little.

Local politicians tend to be  a mixed bag and notoriously independent.

Municipal politics are about people and people are the same the world over....  in towns villages and  cities...  quite unlike the denizens of the rarified atmosphere of corridors of power substantially removed from ordinary existence.

Toronto is Calvinist with a strong moral compass. It's a humane city with hundreds  of helping
agencies. Thousands of volunteers. Many programs are offered without user fees for other than the profit factor.

A  municipal corporation is a business..... not like any other. It's a business with a  difference...with a heart ....and circumscribed on all sides  by provincial regulation.

If John Tory understands the concept he hides it well.

The Mayor's office is not an entry level position.

So the campaign continues with drama . a series of lost opportunities, some misadventures and  continued possibility.

26 comments:

Anonymous said...

22:44
There's you with the labels again.
Go Olivia !

Anonymous said...

Toronto is a modern, multicultural, polyglot of a city. According to the most recent census, half of its residents were born outside of Canada. Toronto hasn't been Calvinist in decades. Again, Cllr Buck, you're living in the past.

Anonymous said...

@22:44
Have you even bothered to read how Tory wants to fund his " Smart " plan ? It does not make fiscal sense. And Olivia's does. She also uses the transit system so she knows what has to be done.

Anonymous said...

8:26 Seems to me Cllr Buck is talking about the election happening now in 2014. How is that living in the past?

Anonymous said...

I will be watching London & Brampton to see if they clean house. It is long over-due on both councils.

Anonymous said...

Olivia may not be as wealthy as Tory or Ford, but I can tell you this, she isn't at any food pantry either. She and her late husband have done quite well for themselves. She may get the Mayor seat, but she’ll do extremely well in the private sector, and the NDP will pick her up again in the not too distant future, if she decides to jump in again.

Anonymous said...

Transit users want subways, and believe it or not, they'll pay for them as well. Start digging already, bunch of cowards.

Anonymous said...

11:39
Excuse me, please. We already pay more taxes than those in TO.

Anonymous said...

By referring to Toronto as being "Calvinist," 11:04.

Anonymous said...

I'll be watching Richmond Hill hopefully Mayor shakeup.

Anonymous said...


There is a council candidate who has started to use smutty language on his Twitter tweets.

There should be a moderator on Twitter to ensure that this sort of thing does not reach the public, and in particular children who may have become hooked on this latest form of social disease.

Anonymous said...

@16:35 (a.k.a. Free Speech Advocate)

Don't like it? Don't read it.

Anonymous said...

14:06
Good luck with that one. When we lived in RH there was a mayor who managed to offend a lot of people. He was removed from office but it was not pretty. As far as I know he became some sort of consultant to developers.

Anonymous said...

I don’t think luck has anything to do with it. If people want change, they’ll let you know about it come election time. It’s going to be a close call in Richmond Hill. It's demographics have changed, win or lose the old boys club has been shaken up, and that’s a good thing.

Anonymous said...

16:57
But how would we do without laughter ?
Endlessly entertaining.
I do hope that one is keeping track of all the free drinks and coffee doled out. Election expenses and all that'

Anonymous said...

He reminds me of a fellow who once ran for councillor here. Every morning, he would stride through the centre of town wearing a slouch hat and a very long flapping trench coat ensemble. Never knew his name.

Anonymous said...

18:23
Thank you for the info - without a score card it is difficult to judge from a distance.

Anonymous said...

Anna has a great photo of the Town Park taken this morning

Anonymous said...

Christopher

Anonymous said...

Anna would have been a really good candidate. Those who remain above the fray this time are very special -including our hostess.
Thank you, Councillor Buck.

Anonymous said...

She does not have a snowballs chance in hell.

Anonymous said...

A rainy Tuesday night with no council.

Anonymous said...

I still do not think a ward system would be good for Aurora but 28 candidates for 8 council seats is impossible. Those trying to get into politics for the first time are getting reduced to nothing by the big spenders & big talkers. There is one candidate from whom I expect to receive a pony to go with the rest of his platform.

Anonymous said...

I am so glad to have voted - really nasty out there.
18:33 - you missed the apostrophe.
.

Anonymous said...

14:38

Got to love how he get's all bent out of shape about using stock pictures and the grass is not real. This is the same guy that steals images from all over the internet.

Anonymous said...

A mass of contradictions, 08:11.