There is only one real progressive in the top ten candidates for mayor of Toronto on June 26. I base this on looking at the candidates who have shown themselves to be progressive in their thinking and their actions while working in the interests of people and while in politics. Maybe I am too rigid in my assessment of others but they are the same standards that I expect of myself.
Some people tend to identify with progressives when it is convenient. And in the same way, I do not assume that membership in the new democratic party entitles one to angel wings. I have now spent more than 60 years in the liberal party and must admit there are damn few of us who have earned the right to call ourselves progressive. Politicians such as Lloyd Axworthy in Winnipeg or the late Herb Grey from Windsor are few and far between. It was not that I did not respect some of the less progressive. There are those who will listen. There are those who appreciate a better way. And there are those who seek the easiest way.
Take Josh Matlow for example. He seems to go with the flow. He can call himself progressive but we have seen no actions to prove it. He was part of the team with John Tory which means he was less progressive. I also like John Tory. He not only listens but puts himself out for people. It does not make him progressive. Tory used those super powers offered by the premier only once. It was like a teenager trying out his dad’s car for the first time. Super powers are not so super if you need the permission of a parent to use them.
I have followed the career of Olivia Chow for many years as she made her way up the broken ladder of the new democrats. I particularly disliked her representation of the Toronto Islands when that part of the city was in her downtown ward. The islands belong to all Torontonians. They are part of our heritage. Her attitude was hardly progressive.
I also think she leans too heavily on the mystique of Jack Layton. It was a lovely funeral but politically motivated. Stephen Harper got more out of that state funeral than the NDPers recognized. Even for the dead, Harper showed his dislike of people.
And, oh yes, if you really want a progressive mayor in Toronto, the only possible winner for you is Mitzie Hunter. She is the progressive candidate. She knows housing, she knows where the cash controls are in Queen’s Park and Ottawa.
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Copyright 2023 © Peter Lowry
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