“It was the best of times. It was the worst of times.” No, no, not in those cities as told by Charles Dickens. This tale is of two cities in Ontario. We are talking here of Brampton, a city near Toronto, and of Toronto. Both cities are in the process of electing mayors. They have challengers and they have incumbents. One of the winners will become a super mayor. The other can only complain from the bleachers.
John Tory in Toronto wants the super mayor title. He has already served two terms as an ordinary mayor. In this observer’s opinion, he has done a good job. He deserves a third term with, or without, super powers.
The other incumbent is Patrick Brown in Brampton. Brown has spent a distracted and controversial four years calling Brampton home. Between troubles in Brampton city hall and a failed run at going back to federal politics, Brown has not made many friends in Brampton. He is the last person I would choose as mayor.
But then, nobody is perfect. John Tory in Toronto has his detractors. He would certainly earn an extra credit from me if he ditched his side job of advising that kid trying to run Rogers Communications. He obviously does not need the money.
I have listened to John’s detractors and I am amazed that they should blame him for the state of things after the worst of the pandemic. Have you seen New York, London, Paris or Rome lately. Big cities are always a work in progress. You cannot stop the process of building and rebuilding. Cities are a challenge to manage, maintain and to control. John Tory has brought Toronto through tough times; huge challenges and he has been with Torontonians every step of the way.
And Patrick Brown is not fit to shine John Tory’s shoes.
I have no insight into the current problems of Brampton City Hall. I just know that having Brown in the mayor’s chair would not be pleasant. I imagine, he would be sitting in that chair during council meetings wondering what was in it for him.
The only redemption I could imagine for him is to withdraw from the mayoralty race. As he leaves the mayor’s office, he could quote Charles Dickens with the line: “It is a far, far better thing I do, than I have ever done.”
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Copyright 2022 © Peter Lowry
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