I don’t get it. I mean, I REALLY don’t get it. Toronto is a city that has been terrorized by the Ford brothers for the last 5 years. People on the left in this city have been grumbling that they can’t wait until they can vote Ford and his yahoo brother out of office. We have yearned for a mayor who cares about the arts, who believes in social justice, who understands the importance of environmental stewardship, and who can work with others to help this city become the truly amazing metropolis it can be. We have three candidates running in this race and only one has consistently espoused the views that almost all of my progressive friends hold. And yet I can’t tell you the number of times I have had conversations with people I love and respect – including self-professed lefties – who have said that that candidate “isn’t impressing them” and that they’re going to vote for John Tory. WHAT????? “Olivia is flat,” they say. “She doesn’t have charisma.” OK, I get that. I know that feeling of watching the debates and seeing Olivia struggle stiltedly to be heard over the voices of the immensely privileged white men to either side of her. I cringe when her accent comes out and she sounds so much like the immigrant she is – not because it matters to me but because I fear how those language missteps will feed the fire of her opponents who somehow believe that if you don’t speak perfect English, then you must not be fit to lead. I hate that the scriptedness of her responses in interviews come off so often like left-wing platitudes – slogans that have become so tired that they frequently fail to say anything at all. But then I look at her opponents. Doug Ford, millionaire bully and alleged drug dealer. John Tory, freshly-pressed “nice guy” whose conservative lean is evinced in his support for publicly funded faith-based schools, his reasoning that the disparity in men’s and women’s wages is simply due to the fact that women fail to ask for more money, his lifelong commitment to the Ontario PC party. I have nothing against John Tory personally – I’m sure he’s a very nice guy (which puts him way ahead of Doug Ford in my books) – but his professional record makes me uncomfortable. This is the man who was in charge of Kim Campbell’s campaign when those nasty attack ads on Jean Chretien’s facial palsy ran. He’s the guy who was the top dog at Rogers – you know, everyone’s favourite price-gouger – from 1995 to 2003. And apparently, he served for 8 years on the Board of Directors – and the AUDIT committee – of Charter Communications, a telecomm company in the States that under his watch filed for one of the largest bankruptcies in American history. I confess – these facts are a red herring to appeal to left-leaning centrists. John Tory is an exemplary and successful specimen of his privileged conservative values. I’m sure he would be a fine mayor for people who also support those values. But if you don’t support those values, why on earth would you vote for him over someone who supports yours? Because he has charisma? Because he speaks perfect English? Because he’s not a woman? Because you think that he will have more appeal to other voters whose values don’t align with yours? Because you’re afraid a vote for Chow is a vote for Ford? Please. We need to stand up for the values we want in this city. We need to be counted. The Toronto I want to live in is compassionate, progressive, and creative. It is diverse, equitable, and socially and environmentally responsible. And if I want my mayor to be committed to those values, surely I should be as well. Win or lose, I should vote for the candidate who is the best bet to deliver on them. If your heart is with Olivia’s values, then why not vote for her? Sure, she has her flaws. But so do the others. And in the grand scheme of things, even if Tory walks away with the mayoralty as everyone is predicting he will, at least you’ll know you voted for what you believe in and that you did your part to try and build the city you want.
Posted on: Wed, 01 Oct 2014 16:23:50 +0000
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