Posts Tagged ‘John Tory’
Smitherman or Tory Pre-Election Decision Highlights the Problem
Simply put, our municipal election system sucks. There are some very real challenges in guarenteeing a free and fair municipal election. There are legitimacy concerns in the eyes of some when turn out is so low. Many aspects of election procedure in Toronto favour incumbents and hurt the chances of a first time challenger to an incumbent Mayor or Councillor. There is also the flagrant use of staff, promotional materials and media advantage that sees incumbents able to steam roll weaker opponents. I recall meeting many voters in the 2006 election who told me that the Constituency Assistant to the Councillor for their area was making calls on behalf of the incumbent. The idea being if the incumbent had helped someone, the staff member who had done the helping would call the voter to remind them and put some pressure on them to support their boss. Not only does it breach ethics rules at City Hall, it’s also so transparently gross, I don’t know how anyone with any sense of integrity can do it. That being said, it demonstrates how perverted our municipal democracy has become.
I have a number of views on reform to the municipal system that I would support. Broadly speaking – a broader ability for Toronto residents to participate through ease of registration, location of polling stations, earlier access to the voters list, and a ‘Challenger’s advocate’ working at City Hall ensuring no abuse of public resources or unfair incumbency advantage are used by incumbents. But in this post, I’m going to focus on the voting system as it seems to the the unmentioned reality that is causing this ‘Smitherman/Tory’ thing in the first place.
The voting system allows for a first past the post result that allows someone to win office in an election where a minority of voters vote, and a minority of the minority who chose to vote elect the winner. David Miller’s 2006 election saw him win with 56% of ballots cast by just 39% of the eligible voting population. 56% of the vote in the context of the 2006 municipal election represents the will of just 22% of the eligible voting public.
In an election where nearly forty candidates sought the office of Mayor, and at least three of them staged very serious campaigns – first past the post isn’t cutting it. Consider that 61% of voters are so disallusioned they currently don’t bother to vote. Is the solution for two serious candidates to get together and decide how best to solidify the 1 in 5 Torontonians it would take to defeat the current Mayor ? Or, is the solution to adopt a voting system where voters could rank candidates for Mayor, Council and Trustee by order of preference, embracing the diversity of grassroots opinion found in a municipal election?
I expect no one will be surprised to know casting a ballot for George Smitherman isn’t something I am prepared to do under any circumstances. He and Dalton McGuinty are equally responsible for my current status as a political independent as it relates to the Provincial scene. Smitherman attacked my community, calling residents absurd, accused them of working themselves into an ‘artificial lather’ in addition to lying about the conduct of Toronto Hydro. He politicized an issue we had not, he attacked us as he tried to legislate our rights to participate in our democracy, through decision making, away.
The day before Smitherman’s first attack on Scarborough residents – I still considered myself an Ontario Liberal and was preparing to renew my membership. The day after, with virtually no time to think about it, as I was doing a flurry of press to defend my community, I wrote:
“As someone who has traditionally been a Liberal both in the card carrying sense and the ideological sense, being pitted between my community and party is not a comfortable position to be in. I joined the Liberal Party when I was 14. I came home from the hospital to Guildwood. Choosing between the two was not difficult. It was principled.” On the Conservative Payroll? NIMBY? Nuclear Lobbyist? Unemployed and Without a Life? No, Not Me. – February 11th 2009
My refusal to support George Smitherman for any electoral office is equally principled.
I don’t want a backroom deal to deprive me of my right to have a choice between all interested candidates for Mayor, while knowing my vote won’t be either ‘wasted’ or part of a vote split that elects the person I don’t want to office.
As I wait for Smitherman and Tory to work it out, I can only imagine how positive an impact electoral reform at the municipal election would have at engaging voters, strengthening our democracy and ending the strangle hold incumbents have on democracy in our City.
I can say with some certainty, should George Smitherman seek the office of Mayor, I will be actively involved in that campaign in addition to the by-election to replace him in the legislature. I know I will not be alone. I encourage anyone else with strong views on this to contact me and get involved in the future of our City.
My hope is that our next municipal council, or provincial legislature will decide after this election to modernize our voting system in Toronto, something I support and hope you do too.
No Comments »John Tory Tribute
I’ve written about John Tory before, and I’ve often said that I don’t dislike him and have often been critical immediately following my expression of not disliking him. Fundamentally John Tory is a good guy who means well and has made real sacrifices to participate in public life. He is thoughtful, hard working, honest and has gone through far more in a shorter period than many politicians do in an entire career.
When John Tory stepped down after his bi-election defeat, I felt for him. The raw emotion he displayed at his final press conference as leader made it very difficult to not see the well intentioned man who was unfairly pilloried right out of public life.
Over the last number of weeks, as speculation has mounted about whether Tory will run for Mayor of Toronto – its an idea, I frankly think is a good one, and a candidacy I could easily find myself supporting and encouraging others to.
I spoke with John Tory today after his tribute and had a really good chat with him about a number of topics. He shared with me that two of his proudest accomplishments as leader of the Ontario PCs has been the work the party did on outreach, making the PC Party a bigger tent, and the fundraising work he undertook to clear the party of it’s debt and prepare for the fight in 2007.
We spoke about the intense political career he’s had, the six elections in five years he’s faced and the great challenge and impact on his ability to do other things as leader. On that point, if viewed through the lens of John Tory’s commitment to public service and participation, it is nothing but admirable.
Tory recognizes the need for a clearer message when facing voters, and I made a point of not asking or talking about the religious education funding thing and instead focussed on Tory’s timing issue. In 2003 when he ran for Mayor, Torontonian’s were close but not totally open to the idea. In 2006, many Torontonians had wished Tory had not become Leader of the Opposition so he could re-contest that fight. I suspect with the current economic crisis, folks who cared and voted based on religious education are re-thinking their decision.
Now that John Tory has left public life and isn’t a candidate for anything for the first time in five years, I think someone like me would be ready to give a guy like John Tory a try. I guess that’s what being post partisan has done to me at least.
1 Comment »Re: John Tory’s Take on Toronto – Sunday Sun
John Tory recently wrote a piece for the Toronto Sun’s ongoing series “Saving TO” where he outlined the need for a plan for Toronto, took some veiled and some not so veiled shots at the Mayor and Council and outlined some priorities. It is the priorities that I was interested in.
Before I say anything substantive, let me start by saying I don’t dislike John Tory. I don’t agree with his politics, but I can appreciate the struggles he’s gone through over the last half decade and the personal battles he must have faced trying to serve the public. Tory came a close second when he ran for Mayor of Toronto in 2003. He made some sense in that race, and I’m still not sure the city would have burned had he won. He carried a lot of the suburban wards, including Ward 43, where he had the support of Conservative and then local Councillor, David Soknacki. He later became leader of the opposition and ultimately lost a Premier’s race polls and pundits said was within his grasp, and also managed to lose the seat he had staked out for himself. That must have been a tough night for him. Weaker men could not have even surfaced to face their supporters and concede, but he did, and fought on to stay leader of the opposition, but without a seat still to this day.
Anyways, this post is not intended to be about my empathy for the defeats Tory has been dealt, or his personal struggle with the electorate. But, reading his priorities for Toronto — I began to see a glimpse of Tory’s failed strategy to win… and felt it was worth pointing out, because for me at least it is also why much of what he says does not deeply resonate at least for me I think.
Tory picked five issues to deal with, and I’d suggest with varying degrees of success.
1) Attracting Jobs and Growth — He made some sense here, and it is an important aspect of ensuring a world class city, but is it the top priority? Maybe it depends who you are and what you’re most worried about.
2) Clearing Gridlock — He called for increased investment in transit from all governments here. The name was the throw back to a previous issue he tried to make hay out of, and likely would seem more relevant if it was something like “increasing investment in public transit” or “building a world class transit system for Toronto” or really anything that was not a reference to cars stuck in traffic on a highway.
3) Cleaning our city up — I have to say I hoped this would be about a climate of secrecy or a lack of transparency at city hall, but he meant it literally, which is still good. Who is against clean cities? The only point I felt here was unnecessary was his commenting about doing a lot of travelling and Toronto being “far from the cleanest” city he’d travelled too. I mean he is the leader of the opposition for Ontario, so in fairness if he is referring to other Ontario cities, size and scale may be factors. He didn’t say what cities were cleaner so it is hard to say if he is suggesting something like say London, England or London Ontario.
4) Fixing Toronto’s Finances — This isn’t a bad idea either. I don’t like the sound of “trimming municipal expenditure” coming from a conservative, because that will very likely mean Toronto’s social programs. Also it is important to note when the City of Toronto Act was voted on at Queen’s Park, Tory and his party were the only party to vote against it, and the bill did give Toronto significantly more control to plot its financial future.
5) Bringing hope to our troubled neighbourhoods. — I was getting worried Tory might make it through his article and forget so many of Toronto’s residents live in poverty and at risk communities, but it looks like he got it… Or did he? Take a read to his entire point on this one and decide for yourself.
We can’t go on turning a blind eye to the physical and social decline that has spread across our city. It’s unfair, its a tremendous waste of human potential and it’s a root cause of crime.
These neighbourhoods need physical renewal and they need effective programs that don’t duplicate each other or disappear every few months when funding runs out. So, let’s pool all of the resources – governments, private sector, non-profits and community associations – into a comprehensive and funded program, commit the money and resources for the long haul and the big picture and get on helping every neighbourhood in need with a real sense of urgency.
A few questions I have:
When you say “they need effective programs” or there is a need to pool resources into a “comprehensive and funded program” “for the long haul and big picture” – what is the big picture? what will this program even do? It seems hard to take someone seriously when they want to “trim municipal expenditure” and create funded programs for the long haul to reflect a big picture that appears not be to painted before the mechanics of the program are assembled. I thought that is how good ideas become waste in government.
John Tory forgot to say what besides physical renewal is needed to help “these neighbourhoods” he speaks of. He also forgot to tell us what “these neighbourhoods” were, or even some characteristics about them so we could figure it out for ourselves. Are they at risk? High crime? High poverty? Areas with higher rates of recent immigration or child poverty? Or just ones that need physical renewal?
Before designing a program it would be helpful to know.
I would also suggest Tory take a look at the United Way’s Poverty by Postal Code or the Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation’s Growth Management and Affordable Housing in Greater Toronto report as each would argue that the physical and social decline may not be spreading, but in fact intensifying in some areas, a problem I would argue is far more corrosive as it separates citizens by income.
Although I’ve never supported Tory when he has sough any political office in Ontario his inability to see any of his near victories through is a frustration to some degree even if you’re not supporting the guy. I mean I am happy when my guy wins, but still puzzled that he managed to let it happen. Tory makes the same mistake in every campaign and it has to do with something really simple. Controlling the agenda. He just turns out to really be bad at deciding what the discussion is going to be about and subsequently gets painted on the wrong side of all of them.
In 2003, Miller went from “also ran” status to Mayor by controlling the agenda. He got citizens all riled up over a bridge that realistically affected a very small percentage of harbour users, and co-ops on the waterfront near Little Norway park, but that and his broom saw him through. Tory could not close the gap and win a winnable fight because people just weren’t interested in what he was selling in comparison, however good it may have been.
In 2007 Ontario’s first fixed election was a bit like a Seinfeld episode. An election about nothing. It was boring. Pollsters could photocopy polls from May of that year in August and still be dead on. But all that changed when McGuinty decided that Tory’s comments about funding religious education was worthy of an election issue. Turned out he was right, Tory tanked, McGuinty rose. All the other ideas he had didn’t matter, because everyone else was talking education.
It’s got to be a tough spot to be in, but as a general idea, talking to people, especially busy people, about something they’re already actively thinking about or have an opinion on is an easier way to build support or start debate around something. Introducing ideas that just aren’t top of mind takes a whole lot more work and runs the risk of ending badly. Tory has shown he’ll take risks, he even has the battle wounds to prove it.
If I was Tory either in person or in pen name and I was writing this, I would have led with the fifth point, and said something coherent. I would have forgotten the third point all together, because most would not argue that our city is not clean, and I’d rename the gridlock argument something transit friendly. I’d probably mould his first point into the fifth and find a nicer way of putting the municipal expenditure bit. That way at least he would be engaging in the debates and discussions that are actually happening in this city, and people may find it easier to resonate.
The last sentence of his article shows his difference from his predecessors. Tory says he loves Toronto, but then throws in a line about helping to “get it back on top, where it belongs”. This rubbed me as too close to the Fraser Institute and COMPAS poll that questionably presented Toronto as in decline. Who knows, maybe if Tory won, he would have found some Potash or Oil under our city. If we built a Scarborough subway, who knows what we’d find buried under all of that land. Just an idea.
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