I don’t follow municipal politics all that much, but I will be watching the mayor’s races with interest in Toronto (polarized candidates), Hamilton (to see what happens over the stadium issue) and of course here in Woodstock, which has its own set of issues that I just started getting into when I moved here.
One thing I wanted to say about the Toronto race – I’ve noticed at least one Blogging Tory who’s based in Toronto claim that a victory for Rob Ford means Premier McGuinty is in electoral trouble. I don’t buy that for a second; Mcguinty may or may not be in trouble next year, but it wont be due to a mayor’s race result in Toronto, anymore then I believe George Smitherman winning means Conservative leader Tim Hudak is in trouble.
If George Smitherman isn’t running in this race, that argument wouldn’t even be attempted. Municipal politics are a far cry from provincial politics, and I contend one doesn’t have anything to do with the other. For example, does Nenshi’s election in Calgary as that city’s mayor last week herald a wave of progressivism about to sweep Alberta provincially or federally? Of course it doesn’t, and the same thing applies here; municipal politics – even a high profile mayor’s race in Ontario’s largest city – is irrelevant to the federal or provincial scene.
You are right about the Toronto race for Mayor. I love my city and neither candidate at the top excites me. Anyone running for Mayor in Toronto should not start out by saying what a shitty city it is and that they can make it better. We have a great city Thanks to many people on Council and Mayor Miller.
[...] and/or Federal Politics Posted on October 25, 2010 by Dan| Leave a comment Scott has a great post dispelling the foolish notion that Rob Ford is harbinger of doom for Dalton McGuinty…. He writes: “Municipal politics are a far cry from provincial politics, and I contend one [...]
Nenshi isn’t very progressive. Not all brown people are. You’ll figure that out eventually, Scott.
There are some of his supporters I know that would beg to differ.
Real classy comment by the way…said behind a cloak of anonymity.
Toronto election not all bad, I counted 21 folks who are progressive and I don’t know some others so maybe more for the good side…