Voter responsibility is something I believe in as a candidate and an activist because, at the end of the day, it is the electors and not the candidates that control who runs, wins and loses. Unfortunately, without the financial support of electors who believe in me, my candidacy will be forced to end soon.

In late 2008 when people began approaching me about running, I told them very simply that ‘if I run you would need to help me by donating time and money’. Since that time, I’ve done my part, but can’t wait much longer on members of the community to do theirs.

I have spent countless hours fighting on behalf of my community and pushing back against attacks and attempts to victimize residents. It has become increasingly clear that our fight lies at City Hall and stopping Toronto Hydro will be easiest from there.

Residents asked and I answered their call to enter the race. Two months later I find myself with unbelievable levels of support on the door in high and low income communities, but with a campaign running on fumes. Campaigns need money to operate, and without finances we will not be able to compete against Paul Ainslie’s abuse of tax dollars (which is well underway) and the lobbyist and developer money he will surely take this time around (as he did last time).

I remain the only candidate that lives in the Ward, the only candidate stepping up to fight for the community and sadly the only candidate who could be forced from the race over a lack of financial support.

Those who believe I would be a good Councillor need to get involved and take ownership of the fate of my campaign. Our community’s future hangs in the balance.

If you want to see me in this race, I need your help today. Please donate to my campaign now. As an example, a  $300 donation will cost just $75 after the City mails you a rebate cheque. For a more detailed breakdown of the city’s rebate program and how much you can get back, click here.

Without your help, it is a matter of weeks before my campaign ends and with it my intention to devote the next four years of my life to standing up for residents who I believe currently have a failed representative. Elections are the opportunity for communities to decide who they want to represent them, and everyone should respect the outcome. If inaction causes my withdrawal and the re-election of Paul Ainslie, then, sadly, as Michael Prue said today, ‘you get the politicians you deserve’.

We have the opportunity to defeat a lying, weak, inactive member of Council and elect a strong, honest and committed representative in his place.

My pledge is simple – with your support we can win and I will do all that I can to make that happen. Together we can reclaim our voice and do the right thing. Without your support, I can’t and because I know I can’t win without the community investing in my campaign I can’t justify staying in the race.

If you believe as I do, please do something about it. Allow me to run, to be your voice and to stand up and fight for us. If you don’t then the next four years will be filled with more of the same and I will respect the community’s decision to be represented by an ineffective light-weight who does more harm than good.

Help fund the campaign and I pledge to devote myself fully to the task at hand. I will campaign until our victory is won and serve with honesty and integrity on your behalf.

I apologize to those who feel I am being too blunt, but a campaign without funds is not winnable. I believe residents and supporters have a right to know that I will not be in this race without them making it possible for me to run and win on their behalf.

For my part, I have begun making calls to community allies. A core group of volunteers are reaching out and I’ll be asking all friends and family to do their part to support me. If you’re someone who believes I should run and would like to see me elected, turn that belief into action.

Do your part today and donate now.

Watching the election unfold so far it seems clear there are going to be two camps, the folks who want to take drastic action to fundamentally alter how and what City Hall does and those who think tinkering is the way to go.

The province has used the 2010 municipal budget as an opportunity to use spending power to exert more control over the TTC. This is something Torontonians should approach with caution because it means local control will be shared with the province, likely through Metrolinx. This could create an even more unwieldy governance structure for the TTC.

The Premier’s suggestion that the Toronto Election is a good opportunity to discuss the idea of transit workers being declared an essential service was not only off base, but possibly a sign of what is to come with the permanent funding proposal from the Province, particularly in a race that sees the front runners running against City Hall, not for it.

With the significant decisions the next Council is going to have to make regarding Toronto’s future should be top of mind of all voters when they determine who to send to Council in the fall. I believe our next Mayor and members of Council need to focus the municipal/provincial relationship on building a sustainable and workable framework for Toronto to govern it’s affairs with the resources needed to meet the challenge. We need to make sure, whoever is elected doesn’t sell our city short in these negotiations and ensures the Premier understands providing adequate funding to the City of Toronto and the TTC isn’t optional, its necessary.

How about the province just fund a proportion of the TTC’s operating budget because it’s the right thing to do, and historically a role they played.

If there is to be a ballot question regarding anything to do with the Provincial government it should be, which candidate for Mayor best represents our City’s long term interests in negotiating a sustainable framework with the Ontario Government.

Love him or hate him, or even his video for that matter, Giambrone’s campaign in my opinion has demonstrated the best understanding of social media of all major campaigns in the race so far. Sure the video content is doesn’t necessarily paint Giambrone looking mayoral but it has been seen by over 30,000 people in just over a day. Compare with George Smitherman’s official launch video on his youtube page with closer to 500 people, or Rocco Rossi’s Empire Club speech with around 400 viewers over a considerably longer period of time.

A lot of folks are debating the content, whether Giambrone struck the right cord or not, but this early in the game the ‘say anything you want about me, but spell my name right’ approach to public relations applies. For a Mayor’s race getting out there and getting noticed is a good first start.

Even if you’re Rocco Rossi and you’re suggesting it is a stunt unworthy of a campaign that should be about policy, the cold hard reality that Giambrone’s team was able to make a video go viral and get their unedited message (regardless of content or quality) to a group that big that quickly AND get traditional media coverage of the whole thing should have you taking him more seriously than you did before.

If you’re George Smitherman – you need to be worried Giambrone will be able to excite the 30,000 or so folks who tuned in in the first 24 hours, because they are an audience you surely need to be able to reach out and win over as well if you’re to maintain a commanding lead.

Finally if you’re Joe Pantalone, your ability to be the main candidate for progressives and those on the left of the spectrum could prove to be a lot more difficult as the new media types that have tuned into watch are a constituency you need to reach if you’re to compete.

Giambrone’s video is certainly not a game changer and likely doesn’t put him any closer to sealing the deal, but it surely will create a good turn out for his launch, and allow him to connect better with individuals early, making it easier to get his message out, unfiltered to a larger audience than the other big name candidates in the race.

At the very least it makes the case for an exciting race to come.

Would you like to comment? Please feel free to visit the Contact page on my site and contact me. Click subscribe if you would like to receive daily updates from http://laforet.ca in your inbox.

I responded to the calls from residents that began well over a year ago to consider making another run.  Members of the community have been frustrated by the vacuum of leadership and lack of local representation at City Hall. We’re going to work together to change that this fall.

They’ve asked for a voice. They want someone who is going to listen, stand up, speak out and represent their views. Someone who will rise above the self interested nonsense, mediocrity so often found at City Hall hurting our city.

I’m give it my all to be that voice, to champion the will of my neighbours, and community and to carry our message forward. Those who know me know I work long and hard, and never give up on something I believe in. It is that passion and drive I will bring to this race, and to my term as Councillor should residents see fit to enlist me in their service. But it can’t happen alone. It’s going to take the financial support and volunteer time from others who believe in shaking things up at City Hall. We’ll have more on this coming out soon – but feel free to email me if you’d like to act now.

Laforet.ca will begin changing to reflect my new role as my community’s candidate for Council as more residents begin visiting to find out more about my plans.

I have to say as day one of this campaign ends, I am proud of the team that has come together so far, and look forward to swelling our ranks in the days and weeks ahead.

Our campaign can only be successful with the financial support of those who believe in what we’re trying to achieve.

Would you like to comment? Please feel free to visit the Contact page on my site and contact me. Click subscribe if you would like to receive daily updates from http://laforet.ca in your inbox.

My life changed three years ago last night. I was twenty years old sick as a dog, running a high fever, feeling faint but refusing to rest until the day was through.

Close friends were telling me to go home, saying I should have been in bed all weekend. Family knew me better than to even try to suggest that.

‘If I lose by a hundred votes and was laying in bed during the dying hours of the campaign – I could never forgive myself. I just have to make it til polls close – win or lose, I will rest then.’ I said in response.

I was on the doorsteps – targeting town-houses with weak turn out, trying to run up the numbers. These were my kind of voters, lower income, cynical and occasional or non voters. 

My six month campaign with a budget of just five thousand dollars had run out of money two weeks before election day and our GOTV strategy had been hastily planned by the over-tired core team and had gone against all the wisdom I had collected in my years as a political organizer. 

 As the sun set I was reflecting on the campaign coming to an end. Sentimental that should I win or lose tomorrow would be fundamentally different than the day before.

I would either be the youngest City Councillor in Toronto and positioned to make good on my promises, or an unemployed former candidate. Quitting my job to run had stretched my finances to the point I was paying my phone bill on credit and just about out of cash with no employment prospects.

But that didn’t matter yet. Those were problems for the day after. 

The love I felt in my heart for those who believed enough in me to come out and help as I sought to bring my community outspoken, collaborative leadership is something I will never forget. 

I only wish we could have shared our message with more voters together.

The campaign took a toll on me as a person in many ways and was very much an odyssey in finding out who I am, what I care about and what I believed.

I learned it was principles not politics that drove me and people not parties that really mattered. The idea of basic fairness, a sense of right and wrong, of justice and equality drove a principled and progressive platform that I was proud to present myself on. I resolved that I would never become the vision of ‘politician’ many hold in their minds and loved when people would tell me they didn’t see me as a politician, but instead as a guy who wanted to do something, was honest and could be trusted.

I was honoured to be the only union endorsed candidate in the race with the brothers and sisters of Amalgamated Transit Union local 113 (the TTC’s largest union) lined up in my corner, encouraging their members to vote for me, donating to my campaign and providing encouragement as I went along.

My health went through quite a ringer at one point landing me in the emergency room certain I was having a heart attack. It turned out I had an infection of the sack lining my heart and the swelling was causing the stabbing pain and shortness of breath. Being told to rest by a doctor who was unsympathetic to the desire of his patient to meet voters was a bitter pill and advice I could only really follow for a couple of days before getting back to the hustings.

I carry many of the hopes, fears and aspirations of residents with me to this day from the many who opened up to share with me. I was honoured to have their trust and support and for their sake wish I could have lived up to my end of our ‘if you vote for me, I will… 

It was the first municipal election where I had been eligible to vote and I found myself on the ballot, standing up to protect green space from irresponsible development, advocating for systemic reforms and increases support and programming for at risk youth and low income residents, while standing shoulder to shoulder with the workers that literally keep our city moving.

As poll closed I went home to watch the results with my sister and her fiancee awaiting my fate. It was an early night, by the 7th poll reporting it was clear I would be lucky to run third. 

I got in the shower, cleaned up and walked to the unheated, one room campaign office we’d been renting for $75 dollars a week. I had two speeches prepared, but not one for coming forth. I don’t think a single thought was in my head for the fifteen minute walk to where friends and loved ones had assembled.

I walked into a room of mostly sad faces with sprinkles of shock and bits of surprise mixed in. People were deflated but social. 

My first contact in the room was from someone who had been there for me each and everyday both to help and support me as I went through the most intense roller-coaster of my life. She started by telling me that a woman I had met during the campaign and who had campaigned for me each day without fail had called to say she wouldn’t be up because she was too upset, but that tomorrow we had to start planning for four years from now. We’ve lost touch over the wind turbine issue, but I am still grateful for all she did.

I thanked everyone, kept it short and joined those drinking budget beer and shooting the breeze trying to avoid the ‘what happened’ discussions.

When the night was over, I went home musing about what it means to be a forth rate candidate and beginning to feel the sense of personal crisis coming on. My life had been preparing to be or being a candidate for nearly a year. This is who I had been and identified as hundreds of times a day, but it was now over and not even close. What was I going to do with myself?

Sleep seemed like a good start.

When I woke up my Dad told me that he and my future brother in law had been driving around during the night hauling down many of the three hundred lawn signs we had put up during the campaign. I walked into the garage and found my signs battered and beaten by the weather, piled and stacked – each representing a family that believed in me. 

I sat around not sure what to do. Normally I got out of bed, ate, answered email’s and went out to hawk for votes. Not the day after though, that chapter was over, I told myself, perhaps forever. 

I checked my email and voice-mail and found each flooded from supporters, friends and family. 

The generous comments coming in on a job well done and a campaign others were proud of was very touching. Perhaps most touching of all was a book of Churchill’s famous speeches with a hand written note from a dear family friend saying that a lot of people don’t win on their first try, but what matters in winning when it counts.

The campaign voice-mail messages ranged from sad  – “I voted for you, what happened?” – to angry – “you convinced me to vote for the first time in 15 years, why didn’t you win?”

It was then I realized that I had not lost, but me and the 932 other people who cast their ballots for me and those who couldn’t but still believed in our message.

Disappointment turned to guilt and thoughts of those I talked about empowering with my victory and what my defeat would mean for them. I’m young, time is on my side and my life will be OK, but what about the people I met who lived between the cracks in government or were disengaged? The guy who won didn’t care about them. 

When folks would ask me what I was going go do next, I would say ‘I’m going to move to Costa Rica and grow coffee and oranges. I will drink the coffee and eat the oranges and sell what is left for everything else I need.’

When I was met with a look of surprise I would respond that I thought it was a silly question and deserved a silly answer and remind how young I was and what a great opportunity it had been. 

One friend suggested elected politics may not be in the cards for me, but subsistence farming in a country where I don’t speak the language probably wasn’t either.

Many know I did not move to Costa Rica and while I did try to grow my own coffee before during and after the campaign for almost three years, I did not intend it for commercial distribution. 

Instead I lucked my way into a great opportunity to be the Field Manager of a well respected national research firm and got to travel to different provinces and lead focus groups on the future of democracy in Canada in addition to many other projects. But professionalism required me to silence my public, political voice. I got itchy like this and during the Democratic primary in the United States announced to my employers that I would like to take the week and a half after new years off in addition to the days in between Christmas and New Years to travel to Iowa and New Hampshire to join the John Edwards for President campaign.

After some resistance and parternalesque concern I was given the time off. Christmas night, after family dinner I boarded a Greyhound bus at 1am with Dubuque Iowa as my ultimate destination. Two days later I arrived and got to work. Edwards came second to Obama in the Iowa Caucus, the most profound and touching deliberative democracy I have ever seen.

Fourteen hours and three planes later I arrived in New Hampshire with a ‘I felt the momentum in Iowa’ message. Edwards lost by a lot and I got on the next bus heading for the Canadian border.

It was clear to me however over-tired and disappointed I was that maintaining the quality of life I enjoyed in Toronto through a job that requires my lack of participation was not worth having.

So I moved out of my nice apartment, resigned from my great job and sought employment that work allow me to live my life as an active citizen.

Materialistically I am and have been decidedly worse off since, but it has been good for the soul and my sense of worth as a person.

My new found freedom led to laforet.ca being born, my first step in reclaiming my voice. Since then I’ve stood up for low income residents of my community, spoken out against government inaction on poverty alleviation, gun violence and most recently have found myself standing publicly on principle with my neighbours in Guildwood and now across twenty-six counties in Ontario as president of Wind Concerns Ontario.

I regularly look back and appreciate the wisdom of Ward 43 voters for putting me middle of the pack. It demonstrated my candidacy wasn’t dead on arrival, but a clear decision that it wasn’t my time to win.

They instead opted for a bland continuation of the status quo with an underwhelming 38% of the vote to the victor.

I am thankful for the life experiences I have been afforded since and the opportunities to serve my community through volunteer work and  advocacy that has since flowed.

Since my defeat I have found other ways to be involved and to shape and influence policy from the outside. I have never been more committed to my community, it’s future and the lives of residents or frankly as effective as I have been after running and losing.

While the outcome was far from what was desired and impossible to have predicted the day I filed my nomination papers, the experience has made me proud of who I am today and the work I do to help others.

Finally – I would like to end by sincerely thanking David Soknacki for getting me to think about myself as a candidate and a leader, not just a political organizer for local partisans.

I was a 19 year old Queen’s Park intern when he challenged me to run against him – a budget chief who won 83% of the vote in 2003 and acclaimed in 2000. He withdrew from single candidate challenge in a two person race – four months into the campaign entirely focused on his record and me not being him, opting to retire instead of finishing what he’d started.

If he had not refused to hold public meetings and engage citizens honestly on what I felt was the most important issue facing Guildwood, I may never have run.

His ‘if you think I am doing a bad job, throw down your hundred bucks and run’ are famous last words for a man who decided to retire from public life a year after his challenge and four months into a campaign entirely focused on his failures as a representative. 

In many ways Soknacki’s call for me to put my money where my mouth is, and ageist ridicule determined how is political career would end, and what would spark my first attempt to seek to change how politicians serve and represent their constitutients. 

It made me vow to myself that should I have the responsibility of representing my community given to me that I would never utter the phrase ‘one day you may sit in a chair like mine, then you would understand (why demolishing heritage buildings and privatizing 7.5 acres of parkland made more sense than preservation and maintaining green space as public space).

Tonight I write this as someone who has gone back and forth on what I will do in 2010 over the last three years and mindful of many peoples views on the merits for and against. I write tonight also as someone who is at peace with the decisions I’ve made in the past and am at peace with the work I am doing now and will continue to do in the future.

As I’ve demonstrated since losing, it is ultimately what is best for residents that drives my political decisions. It is for that reason I painted an epic sized target on my chest in standing up to Toronto Hydro, the Ontario Liberal Party, and the wind industry in general. It is for that reason when Tamil Canadians were experiencing some of the most hateful, racist language I’ve heard spoken in Toronto – I joined protesters on the Gardiner, made my way to the front and stood face to shield with riot police and told the story that was playing out around me. It’s the same reason I have been outspoken on issues of social justice in our City and why without even thinking twice I vigorously defended the right of free speech against it’s coordinated and deliberate attack from Dalton McGuinty.

None of this could be described as ‘good politics’ by anyone, but all felt/feel like the right thing to do and once worrying one stops about political expediency, the virtues of participation rise to the surface and direct one’s energy and actions.

 As I mark the third year anniversary of my defeat, I have to say on the whole it has been a very liberating experience, not one I would ever want to repeat, but one that I appreciate having experienced once.

I don’t agree with what Sandra from Toronto did. I understand that as a fervent member of Toronto City Council’s establishment on the left, she felt duty bound to defend the record of the Mayor who made her less obscure and acted on many of the things the two believe. I get that as his former Deputy Mayor, and the current City Speaker, defending Miller and attacking a possible mayoral candidate who would likely undo much of what Miller has done made sense to her. But the tactic and approach was all wrong, and even her reaction to her bizarre call in, makes the depth of her lack of judgement appear even deeper than her first appearance did.

Personally speaking, I don’t think you slug someone for trying. One thing a guy like John Tory, or anyone else who has run for public office going for them is the right to say they’ve tried to act on the convictions they hold, and for anyone to try to use electoral failure as an attempt to silence someone else to me (as someone who has failed electorally)seems like a pretty bad thing to do in a democracy. We need opposition to those who govern if we are to maintain a vibrant exchange, accountability and the ability to not get stuck in the status quo. We need incumbents to lose to ensure change for good or bad happens. That’s how our system works. When he is a candidate, hit him for what he says, positions he holds and plans he has – that’s all fine with me, but slamming a guy for holding true to his convictions and sacrificing from his own life to advance his ideas, especially considering he lost in doing so – is totally wrong. If folks of diverting opinions don’t butt heads before, during and after elections, the actual voting part is meaningless and soon so do is the governing.

As difficult as it may be for Bussin to accept, she could be the poster girl for the status quo at this point. She represents the problem with politics at City Hall. She has been a City Councillor since 1997, and given the opportunity I would ask her whether she believes her 13 years on Council have been productive in shaping the City, and the community she represents. When she said yes (as I expect she would), my follow up would be, after 13 years what do you still believe you have to contribute that you haven’t in this particular role. If she seeks re-election will 17 years be enough time to get it done? or will she need 21? or 25 years to get whatever it is she set out to do in 1997. It’s clear I don’t accept the idea of career City Councillors, but I’ll stop here on this as although I think it’s a problem, its a discussion for another time.

Before I continue condemning what Sandra from Toronto/ Councillor Bussin did, I’m going to explore how I think she could have done it better, recognizing that what she was trying to do if it wasn’t so poorly executed and haphazard could have been part of a broader political strategy of progressives to weaken John Tory.

Progressives do have an interest in painting Miller as an icon and guys like Tory as a bad, scary, failure. It makes perfect sense why they would like to do this. Let’s accept that Sandra from Toronto/ Councillor Bussin’s actions were based on furthering this legitimate attempt of the left on Council to shore up support for their next candidate and tear down what they see as the greatest threat.

If you’re Sandra Bussin and you want to roll in the mud on this – do it as Councillor Bussin, not Sandra from Toronto. Sandra from Toronto can’t make news nearly as effectively as Councillor Bussin can. She also doesn’t have the weight to frame an argument as effectively either. If Councillor Bussin decided to wish John Tory luck, to tell him that she expects he will fail and opted to blame it on how strongly his views differ from David Miller, who is probably the most brilliant municipal politician in Canada – that would make news. She could have said almost everything she did, and likely set the agenda for the ‘should John Tory run’ story that will be ongoing until he decides what to do. She couldn’t have been as rabid about it as Sandra from Toronto and been effective, but had she have calmed down before going off at the mouth, she really could have framed the issue. The frame of the story would have been Councillor Bussin takes strip off wannabee Mayor. Not Councillor Bussin screws up huge, critics question judgement in light of bizarre attack on John Tory.

Sandra from Toronto screwed up. She weakened Councillor Bussin, and damaged the ability of progressives to go after someone they will need to if they seek to control to control City Hall.

If Councillor Bussin wanted to be evasive on air, – which is wrong and should never have been done, she should have been smarter about it. My first suggestion would be not to identify by ‘Sandra’ as there is a Councillor Sandra Bussin who is publicly very much a fan of David Miller, who also happens to be from Toronto. My second suggestion would be not to split hairs on who you work for. Councillor Bussin’s income comes from the Corporation of the City of Toronto, her letterhead carries that corporation’s symbol, as does her business card. Her email address directs people to email her at the City of Toronto, and her website calls her ‘Speaker of Toronto City Council’. Yes, ideally Councillors work for their constituents, but they are still very much employed by the City of Toronto in doing so.

My final suggestion would be don’t do it because it is really stupid, dishonest and inappropriate.

I don’t agree with Councillor Bussin or Sandra from Toronto did and think what she said was poorly thought out. Her defense was even worse. This ‘give me my own show bit’ is truly crazy stuff. But at the same time, I do understand why someone with her views would want to frame an argument on the topics she attempted to. Sandra from Toronto messed it up so badly though that it not only backfired, but it got Councillor Bussin pretty good too.

My personal view on any statements I give, is that I only say things I am prepared to stand behind. For me, its just a matter of integrity and sort of a check I have on myself to ensure everything I am saying is honest, and provable. In doing so I am prepared to stake my reputation on the words that come out of my mouth (or fingers). If I were an elected official I imagine that would continue to be the same, particularly because the ability an elected official has to direct media attention on an issue.

Had Sandra from Toronto been thinking rationally and not lashing out in anger as it is clear in her voice and temperament she is, Councillor Bussin could have done a lot of good in trying to frame the argument for a progressive replacement to David Miller, but in failing to do so, she called in an airstrike on herself and left her opponent on the high road, looking down on her perplexed.

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.